The Best Thing That Happened This Week: Mike Buckmire’s Big Shot

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Germantown Friends hoops star Mike Buckmire knew his playing days were over when he chose the number one basketball college in the country over all the lesser schools that had recruited him. “Not playing is going to be hard for me,” he told the Chestnut Hill Local last winter, “especially after being on varsity for four years. This has just been a part of my life. …” But his college decision ultimately came down, he added, to “fit and academics” — “It had to be a school that I actually wanted to go to.” And that school was Duke, even if Buckmire knew he’d never make the powerhouse’s storied team. Except — the six-foot-two walk-on guard did, a last-minute add to Mike Krzyzewski’s roster in September and an instant fan fave. (You can say what you like about Cameron’s Crazies, but they love an underdog.) And on Tuesday night, in a lopsided win against St. Francis that the Blue Devils wound up winning 124 to 67, Buckmire notched his first minutes of the season and his first basket, a layup on which he was fouled by the defender. The stands erupted in delirium — the loudest cheers of the night. “I just kind of saw the court open up and just kind of took him one-on-one and was just trying to finish,” Buckmire said after the game. Oh, he nailed his free throw, too.

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