When the #4 Duke Blue Devils face off against the #14 North Carolina Tar Heels tonight
at 6:30 pm EST, it will mark the 266th time the teams have played each other. UNC
holds a 145-120 edge, and every matchup is legendary, but who are the Duke North
Carolina all-time starting fives?

When these teams are assembled every year, the question that has to be asked is,
should a player’s NBA career count, or just their college career? It’s important to
consider that Duke’s top five scorers, NBA-wise (points per game) in school history,
were one-and-done. It seems unfair to pass up a three or four-year player for a guy who
played 30 games.

On the flip side, it also seems unfair to include a four-year player for Duke with no
personal collegiate accolades over a one-and-done player of the year. These things
don’t need to be considered for North Carolina, or at least not as much, since their
players, even in recent memory, tend to stay longer. Agree or disagree with the
reasoning behind these picks, here are the all-time starting fives in honor of the Duke
North Carolina game.

Point Guard: Jay Williams VS Ed Cota

Both of these players fly under the radar, in large part because neither had a long and
successful NBA career. Williams was the second overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft
behind Yao Ming, but his career was derailed after a motorcycle accident. That doesn’t
diminish his college career, though. He played three seasons for Coach K, scoring 19.3
points, dishing out 6.0 assists, and getting 2.2 steals per game over his career.

In Williams’ junior season, he led the ACC in scoring, at 21.3 points per game, and won
the Wooden Award, as well as the USBWA and Sporting News player of the year. He
also led that Blue Devils squad to a National Championship. Cota was the opposite of
Williams in that he was a true point guard, not a scorer.

When reviewing the North Carolina leaders for assists per game in a season, Cota is
ranked 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 8th. He had career averages of 9.1 points and 7.5 assists per
game. In his senior year, he averaged 10.1 points and 8.1 assists. He was a three-time
All-ACC and three-time NCAA All-Region player.

Shooting Guard: JJ Redick VS Michael Jordan

Reddick did not win a title like Williams, but in four years for Duke, he amassed a school
record 2,769 points (19.9 points per game). He was a consensus All-American twice, a
two-time ACC player of the year, and a two-time ACC Tournament MVP. During the
2005-06 season, Redick averaged 26.8 points per game on 47% shooting (42.1% from
three).

The easiest choice for either team. Even leaving out that Jordan is widely considered
the greatest NBA player of all-time, he absolutely dominated at North Carolina. From
the time he hit the NCAA Championship game winner as a freshman, his Airness was
impossible to guard. He was a two-time All-American and the 1983-84 player of the
year. His career 17.7 points per game is due to playing fewer minutes per game every
year of his career, while other players’ minutes increase as they get older.

Small Forward: Art Heyman VS Antawn Jamison

Heyman was a 6’5 forward who played from the 1960-61 season until 1962-63. He
played in an era when freshman players didn’t get to play on the varsity team, so his
first season, as a sophomore, he averaged 25.2 points and 10.9 rebounds per game. As
a second-team All-American in his junior season, he averaged 25.3 and 11.2. Finally, as
a senior, he averaged 24.9 and 10.8, was a first team all-american, and the player of the
year.

Jamison may seem like an interesting pick over James Worthy, but that’s only because
Worthy allegedly had a better pro career. Jamison was a monster in his three seasons
playing in Chapel Hill, and his numbers dwarf those of Worthy. Jamison averaged 19
points and 9.9 rebounds in three seasons for North Carolina. In his junior year, he
averaged 22.2 and 10.5, winning the National Player of the Year.

Power Forward: Christian Laettner VS Tyler Hansbrough

This is a battle of the four-year college juggernauts. Both players are in the conversation
of the greatest college players ever for any team. Laettner has the third most points in
Duke History (2,460) and averaged 16.6 points per game. He finished his career with
back-to-back NCAA Championships and was the 1991-92 player of the year, and a first
team all-american.

Hansbrough ended his career for North Carolina with a National Championship. He
averaged 20.2 points and 8.6 rebounds per game over his 142-game career. He was a
first team all-american three times and the national player of the year as a junior. He
was bloodied in a battle against Duke, giving the world an iconic image of competitive
basketball.

Center: Sheldon Williams VS Armando Bacot

Williams was listed as a forward, but he and Laettner are interchangeable, which is
good, because it was a Williams cheap shot that bloodied Hansbrough. Williams led
Duke and the entire ACC in rebounding and blocked shots three years in a row. He
ended his career averaging 13.9 points and 9.1 rebounds, making three All-ACC teams
and All-ACC Defensive teams.

Bacot played five seasons (thanks to Covid-19) and a total of 169 games. In his final
three years, like Williams, he led the ACC in rebounding. He finished his career
averaging 13.9 points and 10.1 rebounds. The battle between him and Williams won’t
involve much scoring, but they will be consummate role players alongside the studs of
Duke North Carolina basketball past.

Duke North Carolina All-Time Thoughts

There’s no way of knowing how this battle would play out on the hardwood, but it would
undoubtedly be a classic. No other rivalry in college sports comes close to Duke and
North Carolina basketball. Not even Michigan and Ohio State football. That lineup may
be an article for a later date.