DURHAM, N.C. — Bobby Hurley made himself college basketball royalty inside Duke ‘s Cameron Indoor Stadium, the Jersey kid who became the All-America point guard for two national championship teams.
Moments from that journey — having his jersey retired, tense tussles with rival North Carolina, love overflowing from the Blue Devils’ famously rowdy home crowd — remained pristine in his memory. He wanted nothing to change those vibes three decades later, and that’s why he couldn’t help but feel some trepidation about his return Sunday night on Cameron’s opposing sideline with Arizona State in a charity exhibition game.
The good news was he found open arms awaiting him.
The bad? His Sun Devils were treated as rudely on the court by the seventh-ranked Blue Devils as he had seen so many visitors from his own playing days, at times leaving him helplessly calling timeouts to stop Duke’s romping second-half momentum in the 103-47 loss.
“All the other stuff was outstanding,” Hurley said with a frustrated chuckle. “It’s just, sometimes you should leave well enough alone or something. That’s why I never wanted to come back here. … We used to do this to everybody. It was a tough night, tough night.”