So, Nifong trashed the reputation of Duke (early applications are down), the NC criminal justice system, and the lives of a number of people just to get re-elected.
I can only speak for one non-applicant, and the decision not to apply was based entirely on the administration's, faculty's and (small but vocal) segment of the student body's immediate PC-based rush to judgment and condemnation (privileged white jocks have to be guilty of something). I believe Duke will be reeling from this perception for a long time.
Nifong did not inflict this part of the reputational damage: it was all Duke. And it's funny, but no one will even acknowledge this element of the institutional harm and its role in the decline of applications.