Nick Horvath: The highlight of his career is in the first year

Horvath joins the super team

The 1999-2000 Duke basketball team was exceptional. The best players included Shane Battier, Chris Carrawell, Carlos Boozer, Nate James, Mike Dunleavy, and Jason Williams. The team finished with a very respectable 29-5 season.

This group was joined by several freshmen, including 6’11 “250-pound Nick Horvath. He had led his high school team to the Minnesota State Championship in 1999 and was named Mr. Duke’s basketball hit man.

Dogfight vs. DePaul

Although Duke started the season losing two close games to Stanford and UConn respectively, they then won the next four games comfortably. At this point they faced the DePaul Blue Demons who boasted a very good team that year. It was obvious from the notice that the teams were even. At the end of the first half, the Blue Demons led, 38-36. Then in the second half, Duke scored 37 to DePaul’s 35 to tie the game on the buzzer and send it into overtime.

Sick Freshman With Crucial Minutes

Horvath probably wasn’t sure why he dressed for the game that day. He was so ill that he claims he could barely stand up. Whenever he took a deep breath, he would start coughing uncontrollably. Coach K had sent Horvath into the game for two minutes earlier and he had committed two quick personal fouls.

Then Nate James fouled near the end of the game and the coach turned to Horvath again during the final two minutes of overtime. It seems a bit questionable that Coach K said this to a green freshman, but Horvath claims that when Coach sent him in, he said, “If you’ve got the ball, shoot it.”

It’s a victory

Duke got the ball onto the court with less than a minute left in overtime. DePaul was ahead 83-81. Dunleavy passed the ball to Horvath, who was behind the three-point strip. Seven-footer Steven Hunter pounced on Horvath and the freshman jumped, dropping the ball as high as possible to avoid Hunter’s long reach. Hunter made contact with Horvath’s hand, but the umpires didn’t see him. The ball was also thrown too hard. He hit high on the board. However, it was close enough to the rim that it leaned against the rim and went through the rim.

With 14.6 seconds remaining in overtime, DePaul gave it to his star, Quentin Richardson, but Chris Carrawell played it so tight that he couldn’t make a decent shot. Duke had won with an unlikely triple from a rookie as weak as a sick puppy.