INDIANAPOLIS (AP) _ Twenty-four years ago, Grant Hill arrived in Indianapolis as a wide-eyed freshman whose Duke team was trying to take down a juggernaut from UNLV in the Final Four.
Now, he’s back as part of the broadcast crew for Saturday night’s national semifinals.
During an interview with The Associated Press on Thursday, Hill recalled several memories from that 1991 tournament, including one that illustrated just how loose the Blue Devils really were.
“The night before the game, me and a couple of teammates took a cab to downtown Indianapolis, to one of the malls,” he said, “and we were just going to hang out. We found this, like, karaoke thing, where you picked the song you wanted to sing, and we went into the booth, and they put the music on the background, and then you made a video, and we did this Prince song.”
While the parents were back at the hotel, watching game film and dissecting matchups, Hill and fellow freshman Antonio Lang were “gonna party like it’s 1999.”
“All the parents are like, a nervous wreck, and we have this tape and put it on, and it’s this horrible signing, horrible dancing, and we’re just having fun,” Hill said. “I remember that was the night before. We were that confident. That relaxed.”
The following night, the Blue Devils knocked off unbeaten UNLV in one of the biggest upsets in Final Four history. Two nights later, they beat Kansas for the national championship.
“We felt like we were going to win that game,” Hill said. “It was really a pivotal turning point for Duke, and that team, kind of beating them.”