DURHAM, NC – Maybe it was because an old Dukie was in the house, bringing a formidable team with him. Maybe it was just that the Cameron Crazies sensed their team was on the ropes and needed the boost.

Whatever the reason, the best home-court advantage in the ACC – no, the entire country – was amped up to its highest degree since the retirement of Mike Krzyzewski on Wednesday.

“I thought it was just a vintage Cameron night. I thought the crowd was special,” Blue Devils coach Jon Scheyer said after his team’s 77-69 victory against Pittsburgh. “I’m talking to the team in the huddle (and) it was the first time in Cameron where the team couldn’t hear me.

“There’s been many moments with Coach K where that’s happened, where somebody’s 2 feet away and you can’t hear. We got to that level (Wednesday night).”

Scheyer’s young team needed all the help it could get after spotting the Panthers an 11-point halftime head start. And they got it from the raucous home crowd that according to Pitt coach Jeff Capel, played as much a role in the rally as the Blue Devils’ dominating 51-28 rebounding edge.

“This build­ing is never out of it,” Capel said of Cameron. “You an­tic­i­pate a run at some point. They made a run, the crowd was go­ing all game and when they got go­ing, I think those guys fed off it.”

The atmosphere and the result was anything but a surprise to Capel.

As a 4-year starter for Duke in the late 1990s who spent 7 seasons as Krzyzewski’s assistant – on the same staff as Scheyer – it was something he’s seen, heard and felt many times before.

It just looks, sounds and feels a lot different from the visitors’ side of the court.

And not for the better, although this trip back to Cameron was significantly more welcoming than the first time he returned as coach of the Panthers in January 2020.

That night, Krzyzewski verbally admonished Duke’s student section for taunting Capel, telling them to “shut up” and reminding them “he’s one of us.” He was given a warm ovation this time when his picture was shown on the video board during an in-game segment honoring former Blue Devils in attendance at the game.

Those Duke roots helped make for a nostalgic homecoming.

But only to a point.

“Once the ball goes up, there’s competition so you don’t think about any of those things,” Capel said before the game. “But when I walk out and I see some of the people I’m sure will be behind their bench, up in the stands, some of the legacy people that will be there, that’ll be a little weird.”

Even stranger was the sight of someone other than Krzyzewski coaching the home team.

“Obviously that will be very different, very weird,” Capel said. “But there’s still guys on that staff that I have really good relationships with.”

One of those guys is Scheyer.

The point guard on Duke’s 2010 national championship team, Scheyer was something of a surprise selection to succeed Krzyzewski. He’s only 35 and had no previous head coaching experience.

But Capel said he saw something that convinced him Scheyer was a rising star in coaching from the moment he joined the Blue Devils’ staff in 2014.

“He just wanted to learn and do so much. I felt like he had ‘it,’ whatever ‘it’ is,” said Capel, who at one time was considered to be Coach K’s heir apparent. “You could tell he had ‘it’ because of his feel for the games, his feel for the people and the ability to get along with people.”

Capel isn’t the first former Duke player or assistant to bring a team of his own back to Cameron.

Notre Dame’s Mike Brey, a Krzyzewski assistant from 1987-95, has done it several times. 

He recalled his first return, with Delaware in 1995, as “a little mind-blowing.” But that was nothing compared to the experience he and his Fighting Irish had during the COVID-impacted 2020-21 season.

“The weirdest one was the last time we were there. The only people in the upper deck were (former Duke athletic director) Kevin White and (Coach K’s wife) Mickie Krzyzewski,” Brey said. “It didn’t feel like the same thing.

“But it’s a great atmosphere to play in. The one thing they have is a great home-court. The way Cameron is set up, they’re right on top of you, the students, and it’s really cool. It’s a great experience for the visiting team to be part of.”

Brey’s definition of great is a matter for interpretation. But it’s certainly unique.

It’s a deceiving old building.

Outside it resembles a Gothic castle. It would be easy to walk right past it without noticing if not for the tent city set up on the lawn next door 2 months out of the year. When empty, it has the appearance of a high school gym.

It’s not until the place is shoehorned to capacity, as it has been for the past 499 home games in which fans were allowed dating to 1990, that it transforms into the monster that continues to chew up and spit out some of the nation’s best players, teams and coaches.

Even those who have experienced it before and know what to expect.