The Duke men's basketball program has the fourth most wins in NCAA history. The university's famous Gothic-style gymnasium later named Cameron Indoor Stadium (in honor of Duke's early basketball and football coach Eddie Cameron) opened its doors in 1940, but it wasn't until the 1950s and '60s that Duke began to achieve national recognition as a hallowed hoops haven. Duke left the Southern Conference in 1953 to become a charter member of the Atlantic Coast Conference. Two decades before Coach K would arrive, head coach Vic Bubas led the Blue Devils to its first three NCAA Final Fours (1963, '64 & '66), four straight ACC regular season titles (1963-66), and four ACC Tournament titles (1960, '63, '64 & '66) beginning with his first season in Durham, NC.

The 1959-60 season marked Duke’s first ACC Tournament Championship. Duke had gone 17-11 under coach Bubas and knocked off Wake Forest in the ACC Final in Raleigh, NC. For his efforts, Duke guard John Cantwell received this tournament trophy along with an actual piece of the game-used net from the championship game. The trophy stands 12” tall and features a brass player preparing to take a two-handed set shot. The black plastic base (5" diameter) has a brass plate engraved with “CHAMPIONS 1960 DUKE JOHN CANTWELL” along with a raised Atlantic Coast Conference logo. The trophy shows minor wear from age and, despite a repair to the black base, it stills displays wonderfully. We are unsure if every player on the team received one as this is the first known example to surface. The accompanying piece of net used in the tournament, which presumably each Blue Devils player got to cut off after the final buzzer, shows its age and remains presentable. And finally, this extraordinary lot includes am 8x10 photo of Duke's 1960 ACC Championship team (framed to approx. 12x14), that has been signed by Head Coach Vic Bubas. Include letter of provenance from John Cantwell.