Jay Bilas was a senior center on a memorable 1985-86 Duke basketball squad that tallied a program-record 37 wins and reached the national championship game. Plus, he was an assistant coach under Mike Krzyzewski for a few years, including the Blue Devils' back-to-back national championship seasons in 1990-91 and 1991-92.

Now, the 62-year-old Bilas has been working as a color commentator and studio analyst for ESPN for over 30 years.

And consider the fact that Bilas remains such a fervent member of The Brotherhood, still frequently showing up to Cameron every offseason to show support for the program and just enjoy his time with former and current Duke basketball players. With that in mind, it's only fitting that his first assignment of the 2026-27 regular season is, of course, to be on the call for his alma mater's opener versus the Army Black Knights in Cameron Indoor Stadium at 6:30 p.m. ET Monday (ESPNU).

While preparing for those duties in his old stomping grounds, Bilas had a chance to talk to the 2026-27 Blue Devils on Sunday. He noted that Duke's fifth-year head coach, Jon Scheyer, asked him to speak to the team.

Jay Bilas Expresses Thanks for Players Excelling the Duke Basketball Way

"I know when I sat there, we didn't have facilities this nice, but I always loved when old men came in to talk," Bilas joked at the beginning of his speech to the deep collection of talent on the preseason No. 2-ranked Blue Devils' roster. "The first thing I want to do is, as a guy who played here and was lucky enough to be on the coaching staff of some of the teams here, I just want to say thank you to you guys.

"It's hard for you in your position now to think about 20, 30, 40 years from now. But for the guys who played here, what you guys are doing has elevated all of us. Not just the fact that you guys are all great players and you have a great team and you win games and go to Elite Eights and Final Fours and that all stuff, but the way you do it, the way you conduct yourselves, the way you relate to each other, the way you relate to the community around you, it's an elevating thing."

Bilas again asked the current Duke basketball players to look ahead a few decades themselves.

"You'll be in this position I'm in, where you're an old guy supporting the current guys," Bilas, who spoke to the team for 11 minutes to share his words of wisdom, explained to the players. "And the way you guys do it, just know that you have a lot of people that are behind you and grateful for the way that you go about this. So, thank you."

Monday night will mark Duke's earliest season opener in history. Following the bout against the Black Knights, the Blue Devils will gear up to host the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers at 8 p.m. ET Thursday (ACC Network) before heading to Chicago for a highly anticipated Champions Classic matchup against the No. 6-ranked Michigan State Spartans on Tuesday, Nov. 10, at 7 p.m. ET (ESPN).