'Goblet of Scheyer' Endures Cold for Epic Duke Basketball Experience

Jai Gupta and Krish Ramesh are the only two freshmen in their 12-person tent, embracing the opportunity to put their Duke basketball support to what is undeniably the most extreme test of any student fanbase across the college hoops landscape. They first met the other 10 tent-mates when chatting in the stands as Cameron Crazies during the now-top-ranked Blue Devils' 67-66 home win over the Florida Gators back in early December.

And their group of fanatics has since nicknamed its Krzyzewskiville dwelling, where they spend six weeks in the heart of winter, "Harris Potter and the Goblet of Scheyer." They creatively coined the movie-reference tribute after Blue Devil sophomore reserve guard Darren Harris and fourth-year head coach Jon Scheyer.

Duke basketball fans — Duke basketball enthusiasts and freshman students Jai Gupta and Krish Ramesh | Matt Giles-Duke Blue Devils On SI

Hours before the 67-49 victory over the Boston College Eagles on Feb. 3 and with ice still on the ground from a recent winter storm, Duke Blue Devils On SI asked Gupta and Ramesh — among the countless students packed in Krzyzewskiville and whose tent lies closest to the Crazies' entrance to Cameron Indoor Stadium — to provide a full breakdown of what it's like to camp out night after night just to secure a spot for Duke's home game against the archrival UNC Tar Heels on Saturday, March 7.

Waking Up Over and Over in Duke Basketball's 40-Year-Old Krzyzewskiville

"It was Jan. 18 when we started," Gupta, an economics major from nearby Raleigh, N.C., and a fixture alongside Ramesh on the front row of Crazies this season, noted about the starting date for camping out in anticipation of what will now serve as Duke's chance to avenge its 71-68 road loss to the Tar Heels earlier this month. "We'll pick up [the tents] on Feb. 28, the week before the UNC game."

Duke basketball's Krzyzewskiville | Matt Giles-Duke Blue Devils On SI

In the meantime, Gupta and Ramesh must adhere to the well-established K-ville rules and tent-check requirements, enforced daily by the Line Monitors wearing special coats.

"They have a database, and they keep track of your points," Gupta explained. "So, if you miss checks, you move down the ranking. If you go to other sporting events, you move up. It's a very complex system...They'll wake everybody up like three times in a night. Then, you wake up in the morning. Then, you go to class. Then, you come back."

Ramesh interjected, "Then, you get woken up again!"

"But it's Duke basketball," Gupta said with a look of full appreciation on his face after shooting some hoops with Duke Blue Devils On SI on the concourse below Scheyer's office at the north end of Cameron. "I mean, this is why you come to Duke."

Duke basketball's Krzyzewskiville sign | Matt Giles-Duke Blue Devils On SI

Gupta estimated that, on average across the entire stretch of tenting for the Duke-UNC game, he and Ramesh spend well over a third of each day in or nearby their priceless plot of land in K-ville. Every night, at least 10 of the 12 tent members must be on site.

"When it snows [or dips below 32 degrees outside], they'll let you go back inside," Gupta added. "But most of the time otherwise, you're sleeping in that tent.

"But when you're here, they have a study tent — no heater...You just spend time here. You play basketball with your friends. You throw the football around; that's what I was doing the other day. You know, you're coexisting together in this big tent village and doing your thing."

Noisy Nights Leading Up to the Ultimate Duke Basketball Party in Cameron

No matter the hour, it's pretty much never quiet, a fitting environment in light of all the noise the Cameron Crazies are sure to make when they finally get to sprint through the doors to fill up the courtside bleachers and cheer on the Blue Devils as they battle their rivals from 10 miles down Tobacco Road.

"So, one night at like 3 a.m., someone is just blasting music or having a party," Gupta said.

In other words, they are often left with no choice but to just get up and join the party themselves.

"Because you can't sleep," Ramesh, a Greenville, S.C., native who is majoring in history and actually grew up a UNC basketball fan yet 100 percent flipped his now-forever allegiance to the Blue Devils as soon as he received his acceptance letter from Duke, confirmed during the chat. "It's too loud. Plus, they do the tent checks so often that you can't sleep at all...But it's worth it."

Duke basketball | Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images

Gupta chimed in, "You're sleeping in two-hour increments, basically, but you know, we have the stamina — we're young kids — so we can do it."

For Gupta, tenting out in K-ville is more of a lifelong dream come true.

"I grew up a Duke fan," Gupta said. "My dad went here in the '90s. [My parents] brainwashed me as a kid...I always mess with [my dad] because I don't think he did [tenting] for as many weeks as I have to get into the Duke-Carolina game...It takes a lot of stamina now, but as you're engulfed in this and you're going to each of the games, you're really soaking in all the traditions here."

All in all, the crazy weeks on end spent in Krzyzewskiville, featuring occasional visits from the Duke basketball players along the way, represent a badge of honor for Jai Gupta and Krish Ramesh. It's a treasured Duke basketball experience that they shall never forget.

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