In the early 1960’s, Jeff Mullins was a terrific guard/forward for Duke. Amazingly, the Blue Devils recruited him away from Kentucky, no small feat since Mullins went to high school in Lexington.
Mullins spent time in Scranton, Pennsylvania one summer and came across a 6-2 guard who really impressed him.
He went back to Duke and told coach Vic Bubas that he should look at Steve Vacendak. Bubas was lukewarm but when assistant coach Bucky Waters also spoke positively about Vacendak, calling him a “warrior,” Bubas decided to recruit him to Duke.
And not only was he a success at Duke in the 1960’s, winning ACC Player of the Year in 1966, he also played a key role in hiring Mike Krzyzewski.