Tag: Cameron Crazies

Did the Cameron Crazies help Duke football land transfer quarterback Darian Mensah?

Former Tulane QB Darian Mensah committed to Duke just hours after he stood among the Cameron Crazies at a Tuesday night basketball game.

The Duke football program made its first offseason splash on Wednesday morning when Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah committed to transfer to the Blue Devils, but did the Cameron Crazies play a role in his decision?

Mensah visited Durham on Tuesday and attended the Duke basketball game against Incarnate Word. During the second half, the student section chanted for him to join them in the stands.

The former Green Wave passer, it seems, is a man of the people, because he obliged. WXII 12’s Chanel Porter shared a video of him walking along the baseline and clambering up the stairs among his future classmates, much to the appreciation of the home crowd.

Perhaps the Tulane transfer was always going to choose the Blue Devils, and he may have made up his mind before the Crazies started chanting his name. But it’s hard to imagine the student section didn’t make a positive impression at the very least.

Oh, and [autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag] and his teammates won their fourth straight game, surging past UIW with a dominant second half for the 72-46 victory.

Cooper Flagg says the Duke basketball atmosphere ‘kind of shocked’ him

Cooper Flagg played in front of the Cameron Crazies for the first time on Friday night, and even the top-ranked freshman felt their presence.

[autotag]Cooper Flagg[/autotag], the top-ranked freshman in college basketball and the much-anticipated addition to Duke basketball history, made his Cameron Indoor Stadium debut on Friday night at the Countdown to Craziness.

While the Maine native looked smooth on the offensive end during the two intrasquad scrimmages, he said after the games that he felt the crowd more than he expected.

“I wasn’t ready for that, man,” Flagg said. “It kind of shocked me a little bit. I had energy but I felt it in my lungs a little bit, just being a little bit gassed.”

Flagg still played well despite his words. The presumed No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft helped the White team to a 20-17 victory in the first 10-minute game, and he finished with 13 points between the two contests.

The freshman gets two more games in front of the Cameron Indoor Stadium crowd before the regular season begins. The Blue Devils host Lincoln on October 19 before the Brotherhood Run game against Arizona State (and head coach Bobby Hurley) on October 27.

College basketball writer ranks Duke’s Cameron Crazies as the nation’s best student section

College basketball reporter Andy Katz ranked the 10 best student sections on Tuesday, and it shouldn’t shock anyone who came in first.

College basketball fans won’t need to deal with the Cameron Crazies for another two months, but according to college basketball reporter Andy Katz, that might still be too soon.

Katz released his rankings of the 10 best student sections in the sport on Tuesday, and the Duke Blue Devils sat right at the top of the list.

Cameron Indoor Stadium might not match the capacity of some other names on the list. Purdue and Kansas sat second and third on Katz’s list, and both of those stadiums can seat more than 14,000 fans. Cameron Indoor can’t quite reach 10,000, but the building’s narrow design means Duke’s students sit nearly within arm’s reach of opposing players. Every Blue Devils fan has seen iconic photos of a North Carolina star inbounding a basketball with the Cameron Crazies stretching their arms out behind him, an intimacy that gives Duke an assured advantage.

Through two years of the [autotag]Jon Scheyer[/autotag] era, the Blue Devils are 31-3 at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Notre Dame Basketball: Battling the Blue Devils

If Notre Dame is indeed in the mix for the NCAA tournament according to some experts, it needs to support that opinion with an upset over No. 7 Duke on Saturday. The Irish (15-9, 6-7) will be at the end of a challenging three-game road trip. That it …

If Notre Dame is indeed in the mix for the NCAA tournament according to some experts, it needs to support that opinion with an upset over No. 7 Duke on Saturday. The Irish (15-9, 6-7) will be at the end of a challenging three-game road trip. That it concludes against the Blue Devils (21-3, 11-2) and the Cameron Crazies along with the fact that it will be telecast on ESPN with Dick Vitale at the mic only ups the pressure.

You know what? Let’s dig into the vault just because (Warning: NSFW).

Anyway, the Irish are going to have to find some momentum after an overtime loss to Virginia that shouldn’t have been. All they had to do was make one more basket, and they’d be riding a five-game winning streak. Instead, they’re up against a program they’ve lost five straight against and one that’s having another big season.

If John Mooney is going to have one of his double-doubles mean something, now would be the time to do it.

WATCH: Duke’s Coach K apologizes after yelling at Cameron Crazies to ‘shut up’

Coach K went off on Duke students over a chant about Jeff Capel.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is apologetic following the No. 9 Blue Devils’ 79-67 win versus Pittsburgh. The Hall of Fame coach interrupted the Cameron Crazies’ “sit with us,” chant during the first half of Tuesday night’s game.

Krzyzewski crossed the court from Duke’s (17-3, 7-2 ACC) bench and yelling at the young fans to “Shut up.” The crazies were cheering at Pitt head coach Jeff Capel, who played at Duke and was an assistant on Krzyzewski’s staff for seven seasons before leaving Durham for the Panthers’ head job in 2018. It’s routine for the Duke student section to invite former players (or even committed high school players) to their side of the court to “sit with us.” But, it turns out Coach K couldn’t quite hear anything other than Capel’s name.

“I don’t know if I made a mistake on that, but I’ve never heard another coach’s name yelled out in the middle of the first half when we’re in a war with the team,” Krzyzewski said postgame. “I don’t know if they were saying, ‘Come sit with me.’ We got a different look at what the hell was going on. I thought it was something personal…. I apologize to the students for that.”

Krzyzewski emphasized that more than anything, he wanted the students to understand Capel is one of Duke’s own and added that once he heard the name in the middle of the game, he didn’t exactly waltz over and ask what exactly was being said.

The Duke coach offered up a solution that included cheering for the Blue Devils, saying “Leave the other guy alone.”

The Crazies without taunting? Feels like that goes a bit against their reputation.

Duke’s Coach K apologizes after yelling at Cameron Crazies to ‘shut up,’ for chanting at Pitt coach

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is apologetic following the No. 9 Blue Devils’ 79-67 win versus Pittsburgh. The Hall of Fame coach interrupted the Cameron Crazies’ “Sit with us,” chant during the first half of Tuesday night’s game.

Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is apologetic following the No. 9 Blue Devils’ 79-67 win versus Pittsburgh. The Hall of Fame coach interrupted the Cameron Crazies’ “Sit with us,” chant during the first half of Tuesday night’s game.