Incredible backstory behind Duke basketball icon’s retired number

Duke’s most successful 16-season basketball run in history included nine Final Four appearances (1986, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1999, 2001) under coach Mike Krzyzewski and the program’s first three national championships (1991, 1992, 2001).

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Every Duke basketball team from 1986-2001 that accomplished any of the aforementioned feats featured at least one legend who wore a jersey number for 30-something years as a Blue Devil and then hung said number in the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium forever.

And according to the Blue Devil who cemented No. 31’s lofty status in the Duke basketball history books by becoming a 2001 national champion, a three-time NABC Defensive Player of the Year, a Naismith Award winner and the inspiration for a “Who’s Your Daddy?” chant that resonates in Cameron Indoor Stadium lore, that 1930s magic is what led him to select his jersey number long before he arrived in Durham as a freshman.

Evidently, as the forward explained in the following clip from his appearance on The Brotherhood Podcast during his return to Duke basketball land for Pro Devils Weekend earlier this month, the spark toward No. 31 came to him around 1996, after sneaking into the mecca of college basketball at Duke:

“The first time I came to Cameron was my junior year (at Detroit Country Day School),” Battier told The Brotherhood Podcast host, sophomore guard Caleb Foster, after jokingly apologizing for his answer, which exceeded the standard for his rapid-fire question segment. “I drove all night (from Michigan) to get here.

“All the doors were locked except for an exit window. I walked in and went into Cameron. They used to have big felt banners with retired jerseys on one end and championship banners on the other. And the only two things that were lit up were the banners and the jerseys. And I looked up and I saw No. 32 Christian Laettner, No. 33 Grant Hill, No. 35 Danny Ferry. And I said, ‘I’m not going to be here.’ Hmm, I’ll try to close 30… Then, I’ll be 31..”

And so it was: Shane Battier, future NBA player for 13 years and two-time champion with the Miami Heat, is the last to wear the number 31.

“That’s great,” Foster confirmed.

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