If the NCAA’s Tuesday ruling concerning student-athletes’ rights to profit off their names, images, and likenesses plays out to the extreme it realistically could — a proposed tax-code change from lawmakers might ensure it will — then the Duke basketball program stands to bask in the benefits from having one of the most outrageously wealthy fanbases.
Nerdy graduates — some of whom earn millions or even billions and many of whom are lifelong Duke basketball supporters who annually cut five-, six-, or maybe even sometimes seven-figure checks just to lay claim to Cameron Indoor Stadium’s best seats for 20 or so home games — may have the opportunity to dictate the success of the program well beyond the future retirement of Mike Krzyzewski.