Mr. Bubas' Business

COLLEGE BASKETBALL

In Detroit's Cobo Arena, 12,000 wildly partisan fans whooped with delight. Led by All-America Cazzie Russell, the University of Michigan's No. 3-ranked Wolverines were running the lanky legs off Duke's Blue Devils, the nation's No. 1-ranked college basketball team. Russell was all over the court, snaring rebounds, intercepting passes, scoring points in bunches of six or eight at a time. With barely four minutes to go, Russell had accounted for 28 points, and Michigan was leading Duke 80-70. The game seemed out of reach. "They can't do it," sighed a lonely Duke fan. "They can't do it."

O fan of little faith. To the surprise of just about everybody in Cobo Arena, the Blue Devils did it. Over those last four minutes, they outscored the Wolverines 15-5, and it took a last-second basket by Michigan's John Clawson to force the game into overtime, with the score tied 85-85. After that, it was strictly no contest. "Wave those arms! Keep Russell covered!" Duke Coach Vic Bubas bellowed from the bench; surrounded by two and sometimes three Duke defenders, Cazzie managed to get off six shots during the 5-min. overtime period--and missed all six. Duke's Bob Verga scored nine points, and the Blue Devils won 100-93--for their seventh victory in eight games this season,*and their 139th (against 36 losses) since Bubas took over as head coach six years ago.

Timed to the Second. Afterward Bubas called it "the greatest comeback any Duke team has ever staged"--a little regretfully, perhaps, because showmanship is not Vic's cup of tea. (Nor Michigan's apparently, because the demoralized Wolverines went out and got clobbered again, 79-64, by little Butler.) "Basketball should be businesslike," says Bubas, and from his walnut-paneled executive suite on the Durham, N.C., campus, he directs Duke's basketball fortunes with the crisp efficiency of an investment banker. Practice sessions are timed to the second and preceded by staff meetings that would, remarked one observer, "make a Cabinet session appear spontaneous."

Bubas' files bulge with dossiers on rival players--including their personalities (Does he rattle when razzed?) --and he scouts important opponents for weeks ahead of time. Scheduled to play U.C.L.A.'s defending N.C.A.A. champions twice this month, Bubas ordered his varsity to practice against a six-man team of scrubs that faithfully copied U.C.L.A.'s unusual "zone press" defense. Compared to those workouts, the five-man Bruins were a breeze. Duke won both games, 82-66 and 94-75.

Coal & Candy. One of Bubas' key approaches to his business is good recruiting: ten out of the twelve players on the Duke squad are out-of-staters. To land Center Mike Lewis, a 6-ft. 7-in. sophomore who has averaged 13.3 rebounds per game this season, Bubas reached all the way to Missoula, Mont. --on the recommendation of a Duke coed whose brother had played with Lewis in high school. Figuring that the coal and steel country of Pennsylvania ought to be a happy hunting ground for raw basketball talent as well as for football, Bubas conducted a discreet investigation--and found Forward Jack Marin (Farrell, Pa.), Forward Bob Riedy (Allentown, Pa.) and Guard Steve Vacendak (Scranton, Pa.).

In fact, Bubas' knowledge of where the boys are has been a coaching legend ever since a friend challenged him to a contest a few years ago. One by one the friend would describe a series of high school players, and Bubas was to name and locate each one. "Six feet eight inches, great hands, mother and father divorced, sister likes Fanny Farmer cherries," the friend began. Bubas instantly identified the boy. The game went on and on, until the friend described a boy "6ft. 10-in., 240 Ibs., averaged 32.1 points per game, an orphan with one gold tooth in front." Vic's brow wrinkled. "There is no such boy," he said finally. "Right," sighed his friend.

-The only loss: a 73-71 upset at the hands of South Carolina.

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