COLLEGE BASKETBALL : NCAA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME : No Fooling: Duke Is Final 1 : Blue Devils: Laettner, Hurley spark 72-65 victory over Kansas for the school’s first title.

Until Monday evening, Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski always had been April’s fool. His Blue Devil teams would skip happily through March Madness only to disappear when the calendar struck April.

But on a magical night--April 1, to be exact--Duke would be denied no longer. The Blue Devils, more preoccupied with beating Kansas, 72-65, than revising history, finally presented Krzyzewski the national championship he wanted.

At last, Krzyzewski was able to scale the steps of a wooden ladder and snip the remaining strings from a Hoosier Dome basketball rim. This time, after going 0 for April in each of the past three seasons, he left the court with a thin smile, an NCAA title and maybe a little vindication, too.

“Believe me, he’s just so happy,” said Duke forward Greg Koubek, who was making his fourth trip to the Final Four. “You can see it in his face.”

But you could hardly see it in Krzyzewski’s actions. When the game ended, he turned to his assistants and clenched his fists. He hugged Kansas forward Mark Randall, who played for Krzyzewski on a U.S. amateur team. He hugged Duke center Christian Laettner, whose 18-point, 10-rebound performance against the Jayhawks helped earn him the tournament MVP award. He hugged Duke forward Grant Hill.

Moments later, he stepped atop the victory stand with his team. In typical Krzyzewski fashion, he stood off to the side, as if he were the team manager rather than the head coach. When called to the front to accept the NCAA trophy, he did so hesitatingly. He waved at the Duke fans and half-heartedly hoisted the award.

Even when he cut down the net, Krzyzewski did so with the dignity of an undertaker. He raised the cords meekly in the air and then stepped down from the ladder.

That done, he was surrounded by reporters. Only then, did he admit to a certain relief.

“We finally won a game in April,” he said.

No one has ever questioned Krzyzewski’s coaching credentials. Duke has been invited to the tournament each of his eight seasons at the school. It has advanced to the Final Four four consecutive times and five of the past six. But only with Monday’s victory could he fill in the one missing piece to an otherwise wonderful career.

Krzyzewski can thank a variety of people, beginning with Laettner, who, despite tired legs, scored those 18 points and grabbed two crucial rebounds and blocked a gimme jumper by Alonzo Jamison in the final minute of Monday’s game.

And if Kansas, which is a horrible team from the free-throw line (60% for the season, 50% against Duke), ever needs a consultant, the Jayhawks might want to hire Laettner. He was 12 for 12 from the free-throw line, which broke an NCAA record set in 1954.

In career tournament play, Laettner is an impressive 121 for 143.

Krzyzewski also will need to do something for guards Bobby Hurley and Bill McCaffrey, who joined Laettner on the all-tournament team. Hurley, who was absolutely awful in last year’s championship game against UNLV, responded this time with 12 points, nine assists, two steals and another 40-minute night.

Add it up. In the semifinal and final, Hurley played all 80 minutes and committed only six turnovers. In the six-game tournament, Hurley had 53 assists and 10 turnovers.

And if you’re looking for reasons why the Blue Devils will soon be fitted for championship rings, Hurley isn’t a bad place to start.

As for McCaffrey, he came off the Duke bench and made his first five shots, including two three-pointers. He finished with 16 points in 26 minutes.

And in nearly every matchup, Duke came out ahead. Hurley guarded Adonis Jordan and allowed him little working room. The Kansas point guard could only manage three assists. The battle between Laettner and Randall, who matched the Duke center in points and rebounds, was a wash. Kansas guard Terry Brown scored 10 points in the first half, but Thomas Hill held him to a two-for-seven second half.

“Kansas is just as good (as UNLV),” Duke forward Grant Hill said. Then he realized his mistake. “Well, not as good, but they’re pretty good.”

Kansas had its chances to challenge Duke, but not many. The overachieving Jayhawks could never quite repeat the spurts that pushed them past such teams as Indiana and Arkansas and North Carolina. Against Duke, Kansas never owned a lead, not even in the opening minutes. The closest the Jayhawks would ever come to overtaking the Blue Devils was with 6:25 remaining in the first half and the score 26-25. After that, Kansas would get no closer than five points.

“I thought Duke reacted to everything we threw at them,” Kansas Coach Roy Williams said. “I know they’re feeling extremely well right now. Mike and his staff got something off their backs that never should have been there in the first place--I mean winning tonight after not winning the so-called ‘big game’ before.”

Hill seconded Williams’ comments.

“We wanted to win it for Coach K,” he said, “and get that monkey off his back, that gorilla, that King Kong.”

The prime concern, at least to Krzyzewski, was how his team would play after defeating then-unbeaten UNLV two nights earlier. So worried was he about the Blue Devils’ state of mind, that he made sure to pop some egos on Sunday and then Monday.

“We got here for practice (Sunday) and he kind of let us have it,” Koubek said. “He said, ‘You guys are too big-time right now.’ In the back of some our minds, we thought our biggest game was Saturday.”

Krzyzewski would have none of that. He criticized the way his team dressed. He even criticized the way they walked.

“We got the message,” Koubek said. “He’s telling us our attitude wasn’t in the right spot.”

Duke led by eight points, 42-34, at halftime and never looked back. Later, they stretched the lead to eight, then 10, then 12, then 14 points with 6:54 to play.

Kansas, which overcame a 12-point Arkansas lead in the second half of the regional final, tried to mount one more miracle finish. No such luck.

The Jayhawks whittled the lead to five points, 70-65, with 36 seconds left, but it was hardly enough.

As the final seconds ticked off, Hill skipped down the court, yelling as the scoreboard lights clicked toward zeroes.

“Five, four, three, two, one!” he screamed.

A championship was Duke’s. But in a special way, it belongs only to Krzyzewski.