DURHAM – Fans were back in Cameron Indoor Stadium, and Duke’s famed arena was loud again.

“To finally have thousands of people come together in Cameron, it was just a great atmosphere,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said.

Excitement surrounded Cameron in the hours leading up to Countdown to Craziness on Friday night.

“Our game is supposed to be played in front of fans,” Krzyzewski said. “Basketball, even more than – it’s indoors, it’s intimate, they’re right on the court. There’s a … feel. There’s no way you felt Cameron last year, no matter how hard the two teams played.”

It’s been 587 days since a crowd of any sort saw a basketball game in this hallowed building.

One of the nine Duke players who played in that 89-76 win over North Carolina – junior Wendell Moore – is still on the roster.

Sophomore Mark Williams experienced the home crowd as a player for the first time – and loved it.

“You can’t even put into words, that environment,” Williams said. “It was actually so electric in there, it was a lot of fun. … I mean, you can’t even put it into perspective how loud the environment of, like – you really can’t describe it.

“You’ve got to go out and experience it for yourself, and I got to do that, which was great.”

Basketball is ingrained into the culture and campus life here at Duke – so much so that senior student Jackie Jaffe transferred from Emory University to be a part of crowds like this.

“I feel like Duke is so synonymous with the Cameron Crazies, so it was actually a big part in my decision of transferring,” Jaffe said.

That was the void created last season because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I think it was kind of sad, because people would watch it on TV,” Duke senior student Francesco Cavallero said. “But like, I couldn’t actually feel the attachment of the student body.”

Cavallero, an international student, was getting ready to go into Cameron for the first time Friday night. He arrived at Duke in the same class as Zion Williamson – but he just couldn’t manage to get here that season, or the following one.

“I mean, I lived in Italy. I didn’t even know what Duke was,” Cavallero said. “The first time I came here, I didn’t know anything about it. But you’re on campus, you understand the craziness.”

Not being able to come to games last season further convinced Cavallero that he needed to start coming to Duke basketball games this year.

Plus, there’s the added benefit this season of being able to see a fellow countryman.

“This year there’s this player, Paolo Bachero, he’s Italian by citizenship and he’s going to play on Italian national teams,” Cavallero said. “So, I mean … I look forward to seeing him play.”

Junior student Izzy Costanzo just missed Williamson, but went to as many games as she could in the 2019-20 season.

That made last season’s empty Cameron all the more difficult to deal with – and meant this year’s return was something to be cherished.

“Oh, it was so upsetting. It was so sad, because that’s a huge part of the Duke experience,” Costanzo said. “I feel like that’s something that a lot of people look forward to every year, so it was really sad not being able to be in Cameron.”

Students being allowed to return to Cameron represents a shift back toward normalcy, confirmed senior student Rita Anthenor.

“This year I think we’re really embracing it because it’s – now everything is open, students can go places and experience events,” said Anthenor, another student who transferred to Duke and mentioned how much she was looking for a vibrant campus life. “So, essentially, it’s just overall better and great.

“It seems more normal now.”

It wasn’t just students who were barred from Cameron last season – no fans were allowed in the building. Duke’s health and safety protocols prohibited anybody other than essential team personnel and broadcast media from entering the building.

For Duke fan Lindsay Diles, watching on TV last season was surreal.

“It was just almost like a movie that we just kept reliving, that you just think only happens in the movies or on TV and we’re living it,” Diles said. “It’s just history, you’ve never seen it happen before.”

Diles, an East Carolina graduate whose been a Duke fan for 20 years, has walked around Duke’s campus and seen the Blue Devils play in other places.

But Friday night marked some history for her: Diles had never been inside Cameron.

“I’m like, ‘Well I’ve gotta get in there. … Gotta see Coach K Court when he’s actually Coach K Court,’” Diles said. “It was definitely an eerie feeling watching the games and not really seeing all of the hustle and bustle and passion that usually you see in the crowd.

“So I’m excited to experience it firsthand – safely. Hoping that it’s really about bringing back that heart and soul and passion.”