Duke reminds us all that five stars don't guarantee national championships

The Blue Devils' national championship drought continues, even though the program has secured top-tier talent over that span.
Houston v Duke
Houston v Duke | Jamie Squire/GettyImages

In what felt like a year in which no one would get in Duke's way, Houston put together a remarkable comeback in the Final Four to send the Blue Devils home earlier than anticipated.

Up by as much as 14, Duke went absolutely cold from the field, connecting on just one field goal over the final 10:30 of the second half.

With 1:26 remaining, Duke held a 66-59 lead, but from that point on, Houston outscored them 11-1 to secure the victory. This will go down as one of the biggest collapses in NCAA Tournament history, as Duke's recent history in the Final Four hasn't been very memorable to say the least.

Do we need to show the clip from 2022?

Anyways, Duke continues to remind us that five-star talents don't guarantee national championships, as the list of players who have come to Duke (primarily for one season) since their last title in 2015 have resulted in zero national title game appearances.

Just look at the list of five-star talents that the program essentially wasted.

The narrative throughout the season for each of these years seems to be the same: everyone hypes Duke for their top-tier freshman talent, that group puts together a solid regular season, the majority of the country thinks no one will beat them in the NCAA Tournament and then...

They lose.

Sure, Duke fans will say that anyone who follows the UNC basketball program has no room to talk, given they beat us three times this season. Yes, that is a fact, but it doesn't change the fact that we've actually had more success with much less highly-rated talent.

Cooper Flagg was the latest example of the NCAA poster child, as you couldn't turn on a sports channel without hearing the name of the likely No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft. Like his fellow stars that came before him (shoutout to the likes of Zion Williamson and Paolo Banchero), Flagg will depart Duke without winning a national title (unless he makes an insane decision to return to Durham for another season).

Rinse, wash, and repeat- the narrative simply repeats itself every year, the only difference is that it features essentially a whole new cast and crew that do their best to keep the trend going.

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