While the Pittsburgh Panthers are looking to recover against Louisville this weekend after experiencing a blowout loss at Duke, the Blue Devils’ fan base is still riding high after their “revenge” victory against Pitt. Last season, Jeff Capel and the Panthers strutted into Cameron Indoor Stadium and handed Duke an upset loss. A post-game reaction from one of the Panthers left many Blue Devil fans with a bad taste in their mouth.
2024- Pitt Defeats Duke and Blake Hinson Celebrates
In January 2024, Pitt Panther sharpshooter Blake Hinson went on an offensive tear in Durham vs. the Blue Devils. After a Hinson-led victory with a perfect 7 for 7 from three point range and 24 points total, the contagiously animated Pitt player targeted the Cameron Crazies after claiming they were “too friendly” during pregame. Jumping on the scoretable, Hinson celebrated in the face of Duke’s “Cameron Crazies” student section, blowing kisses and taking delight in Pitt’s upset. Certainly discontent at the time, Hinson’s actions had still not left the minds of Duke fans before last weekend’s game:
A year ago, senior citizen Blake Hinson came into Cameron and disrespected the Duke program. Jeff Capel, who played for, graduated from, and was paid millions to coach at Duke, did nothing to stop or admonish it.
Just winning tonight isn’t good enough. Duke must disrespect Pitt.
— The Brotherhood (@BrotherhoodCBB) January 7, 2025
“Disrespected” is quite a strong word to use when Duke students and fans were photographed repeatedly throwing middle fingers in Hinson’s direction during and after the game. While the Duke fanbase likes to play the role of gatekeeper for college basketball, they are certainly continuing to focus on trivial matters from the Pitt game last January, even when commenting on this past weekend’s Cooper Flagg fast break slam:
Only thing that would have made that Dunk better was if it was on Blake Hinson
— Positive Duke Fan (@PositiveDukeFan) January 8, 2025
Even after the Blue Devils demolished Capel’s Panthers on Saturday, members of the Duke faithful were continuing to harp on last year’s completely harmless behavior:
Jeff Capel had this ass whooping coming. Hopefully now he can apologize for Blake Hinson’s disgusting behavior and we can go back to being friends again.
— The Brotherhood (@BrotherhoodCBB) January 8, 2025
The Case for Smaller Conferences
It is undoubtedly bad for the college basketball world that Pitt won’t play Duke again in the 2024-25 regular season. The Oakland Zoo, one of the country’s most recognized student sections, would have had a field day with the Duke Blue Devils coming to town after this prolonged reaction to a 2024 upset.
While it is understandable that not every team can play each other twice during the regular season, the expansion of conferences to include non-regional teams has limited the ability for rivalries to grow and develop. Although Duke has the historical upper hand on most college basketball teams, Pitt’s Big East history and basketball culture makes for an enticing matchup every time the Panthers and Blue Devils face off. If Pitt and Cooper Flagg’s Blue Devils match up in the ACC tourney, look out for a passionate performance from the Panthers.
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