Stanley Borden is ready to follow up last year’s “Careless Whisper” intro

DURHAM – Last year’s Countdown to Craziness was memorable for trying to glean, based on introduction dances, the health of freshmen Dereck Lively II and Dariq Whitehead.

You’ll recall that the biggest takeaway from that night’s scrimmage was that Christian Reeves might not redshirt. It was memorable because it was the first official look at Jon Scheyer on the sidelines as Duke's head coach.

And memorable, of course, for the 7-footer who walked — didn’t dance — onto the stage in the middle of Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Wearing sunglasses. And a trench coat.

Revealing a saxophone.

“Last year, I started thinking about it in May,” said walk-on center Stanley Borden of his unforgettable entrance, complete with a 20-second riff of “Careless Whisper.”

“This year, I started thinking about it in October, the day after (last year’s),” Borden said at the team’s media day. “I may or may have a solution. I may or may not have any performance.”

There was so much more that went into the introduction for Duke’s international walk-on of mystery.

Borden asked Duke’s band director for help — the instrument had to come from somewhere, right? He had a little experience playing saxophone in middle school and high school. He learned the riff in eighth grade. He practiced for two weeks.

And then came the audition. That was in front of Debbie K. Savarino, who runs the preseason event.

When he first pitched the idea, the answer was no.

“Then I said, ‘No no no, please. I really don’t want to do anything else. There’s nothing else that’s as representative of me as a person,’” said Borden, who was born in New York, is from Turkey, and holds citizenship in Portugal.

The pitch was received and Borden got his audition after a practice. The saxophone was approved but there was a caveat; no trench coat.

“I’m like, ‘Please. If they see me walking up with it, then the element of surprise is gone,’” Borden said.

This is when former assistant coach Amile Jefferson enters the story.

Savarino suggested Borden play Jefferson one-on-one to earn the trench coat. While the former Duke forward is the closest size to Borden, he was also the member of the staff who had most recently been on an NBA roster.

So … that matchup doesn’t sound like it went in Borden’s favor, but he still wound up wearing the trench coat.

“I’m not going to actually say who won that,” Borden said with a laugh. “It might have actually been him, but they let me wear it anyway.

“Amile’s got moves, man. That’s all I’m going to say.”

So, it all worked out. Borden had the trench coat and saxophone under the scorer’s table. He was “on edge” as he was setting himself up and teammates were dancing on the stage, but was fine when it came time to perform.

Borden didn’t expect last year’s performance to get the attention it did, thought that doesn’t mean he’s unappreciative of it.

“The crowd was great. But then on social media afterward, because DukeMBB posted it, that then blew up,” Borden said. “The fact that that ended up happening was quite cool.

“I think it just shows what happens when you do something that you’re kind of scared to do but you want to do anyway, and you still pull through.”

And now? Well, Friday night will be Part II.

Just don’t expect another trench coat.