So I already tried this with Virginia so I thought I would try again with Duke.
Hope you enjoy!
NOTE: Not being 100 years old or having access to lots of old footage, this list is the top players of the COACH K era which means from 1980-present. So for those looking for men like Art Heyman, Gene Banks and Jeff Mullins you won't find them. Even though they would all be locks for the all-time team I simply do not know enough about them to give them justice.
PG—Johnny Dawkins
Even with other greats like Bobby Hurley, Jason Williams, and Jeff Capel this is a no-brainer. Dawkins is an amazing point guard who was always able to make the players around him better while still finding moments to take over the game. Dawkins finished his career with 2,556 points, which is the third highest total in the history of the ACC.
His senior year he won the Naismith award, as well as helped lead the Blue Devils to a 37-3 (which was an NCAA-record for wins in a season at the time). Dawkins had 555 assists sixth best in school history and nearly 200 steals. Dawkins simply did a little bit of everything.
Dawkins was named one of the top 50 players in ACC history and was pegged as the 78th best college basketball player of all-time according to the Sporting News magazine. He went on to a nine year career in the NBA and became a long-time assistant at Duke before recently accepting a job at Stanford.
Undoubtedly, Dawkins will be a favorite to take over for Coach K when retirement eventually comes, a testament to his leadership and significance to Duke Basketball.
SG—J.J. Redick
Love him or hate him, Redick had one amazing career at Duke. Redick is probably one of the best pure shooters in the history of the game and even if he was not a lockdown defender, he shattered some records that once seemed unbreakable.
Redick broke former Cavalier Curtis Staples' record for three-pointers in a career, Jeff Lamp's ACC record for most consecutive free throws and became the all-time leading scorer at Duke and ACC history with 2,769 points in his career.
Redick won eight different national awards his senior year for player of the year and simply knew how to hit big shots when it mattered. The truth is that teams had to plan against Redick and most of the time that could never really stop him.
Redick will be remembered by Duke-haters for not being able to win a national championship, but he still led his team to a 112-23 and three ACC tournament titles.
I think most teams will take that any day.
SF—Grant Hill
It's hard not to like Grant Hill. As much as everyone remembers Laettner's miracle shot against Kentucky, it was Hill who made the equally impressive 75-foot pass that most Duke quarterbacks may not have been able to make.
25 comments Last one added 10 months ago — Leave a Comment
Nick Martin 11 months ago
No shout out to Coach K?
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Ben Gibson 11 months ago
Well obviously Coach K played a big role in making all these talented players even better, let alone making Duke not just relevant in the ACC but the top program of the past 20 years or so.
Besides, he gets enough pub as it is haha. Just watch USA basketball the next few weeks and you'll see what I mean :-).
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Nick Martin 11 months ago
Haha
That is oh so true.
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Brant Young 11 months ago
Jason Williams. Had he sayed his senior year, he would have had the scoring record. Maybe the best point guard ever at Duke? I'll never forget the win at Maryland. I was the AMOI at Duke then, and saw him in the quad a couple of days later.
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Ben Gibson 11 months ago
You're definitely right about that Brant. Williams is certainly on the full roster he would have finished second, at worst, in scoring if he had stayed and still finished 4th in assists and 5th in steals in Duke history.
He's way above Capel but I just like thinking about that shot :-).
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BabyTate 11 months ago
Sir: I appreciate the fact that you wish to create this list but I believe you would be better served to call this "The All-Time Duke Team Of My Lifetime" or perhaps "The All-Time Duke Team Of Players That I Know About". Perhaps if you change the parameters of the discussion to reflect a more relevant title for the article then maybe some folks who have been involved with Duke basketball will feel more welcome to comment upon your article.
As with any positive reflection of the the Duke program, I truly thank you for the kind words regarding the listed players.
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Ben Gibson 11 months ago
I apologize for not being specific enough. If you look at my edits though I think you will be happier.
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BabyTate 11 months ago
Thank you, Mr. Gibson. The Bleacher report is fortunate to have a fine gentleman like you covering college basketball.
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Brian Hood 11 months ago
Tommy Amaker or Trajan Langdon over Jeff Capel
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Chris Kelly 11 months ago
Does Shaun Livingston count due to the fact he was comitted to DUKE.
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Matt Smith 11 months ago
I hated that SOB Redick but I respected him. I believe Tyler has taken his spot as the mosted hated ACC player in the nation.
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Chris Kelly 11 months ago
I hate how people get on Duke. It is a class act program, as the kids don't have tatoos, long hair or get in trouble. Look at some other schools like Memphis and you will see what I mean.
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Dave Finocchio 11 months ago
Jeff Capel? Seriously?
I'd take Wojo, Chris Collins, Amaker, Daniel Ewing, and Chris Duhon before Jeff Capel.
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Ben Gibson 11 months ago
I certainly agree that Amaker is on the list before Capel. It's more like I give Capel honorary status. The "walk-on" of the all-time team if you will.
Because you're right his numbers and career are not as impressive but being from Richmond I liked what he did at VCU and that shot was so memorable.
Now he's trying to win at Oklahoma, I think the guy deserves a break lol.
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chad lamasa 11 months ago
This is a pretty good list. One thing though, I think Gminski graduated in the spring of 1980 and Coach K took over in the fall. So I don't believe he played under Coach K. I could be wrong on that though.
How do you leave Sheldon Williams off this list? The Landlord broke pretty much all of Gminski's defensive records.
I love Capel as much as the next guy but the people above have named many players who I would put above him.
No Carlos Boozer? No Dunleavy?
Also I'm mad that you beat me to this list. I was thinking about doing one this morning. And now I can't do it because I'd feel like a copycat.
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Ben Gibson 11 months ago
Sorry you're mad at me Chad, I didn't make the full list but yes Shelden Williams would have to be on it. You should feel free to give the full 13 man roster and appease us all.
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chad lamasa 11 months ago
I'm not really mad at you. I was just kidding. Maybe I will do a full roster list.
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DONTREL QUINN 11 months ago
TAR HEELS BABY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Daniel Damico 11 months ago
Since you end at 9 , I will fill to the full 12 man roster. J. Williams needs to be there. Numbers are good, and the guy was an atypical Coach-K PG. One who could create his own shot AND shot the three (just not free-throws) plus he was pretty athletic. Also won a ton of awards his last season of 02. Carlos Boozer, rock solid player. I think his importance is completely under-valued (18 and 9 his junior year). Last and for sure the most important peice is Cherokee Parks (He did average 19 and 9 his senior year!!)
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Daniel Damico 11 months ago
I meant 10....sorry.
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Michael Oleszek 11 months ago
The only reason Christian Laettner made the Dream Team was Michael Jordan needed someone to carry his bags for him.
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Anthony Scott 11 months ago
The UVA list was solid, this list less so. Dawkins at PG is a cop out since he was not one. Hurley should be the PG with Tommy Amaker as the back-up (a slight nod over J. Williams). J. Dawkins would get a slight nod over Reddick at SG (mostly due to defense and all-around game - Redick would be the ultimate 6th man). You allude to Mark Alarie in your intro as not part of the Coach K era which is ludicrous - since he played with Dawkins, etc. And I would have Alarie on the list backing up Laetnner at PF with Brand backing up Gminski at Center (though as another comment suggested, I am not sure Gminski played for Coack K). Having Capel on this list is plain wrong.
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Ben Gibson 10 months ago
You're right on about Alaire, my sincere apologies and Gminski for that matter but I wanted him on the list and "best team of Coach K's era" sounds better than the best team in the last 28 years, we were just a few months off.
Still you're 100% right and I think will fix my error.
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AJ Johnson 10 months ago
Maybe its because I'm a Tarheel, but I have to disagree with you on a couple of points.
First, Redick was a scorer, and always seemed to hit impossible shots, so I'm willing to be a little lenient with that pick. However, if you watched Redick play, you should have noticed that a lot of shots he hit were NOT good shots. He would throw up 25 foot, half-twist turnaround prayers, that seemed to go in more often than not. I'm willing to forgive this pick because he seemed to hit them most of the time. Having said that, Redick always wore down at the end of the season, and choked in the Tournament.
Laettner may have been a gifted athlete, but he was a dirty player and a poor sport. That alone should disqualify him from any sort of All-Time Greatest list. But that's just IMHO. If Laettner had been ejected from the NCAA game against Kentucky in '92, when he intentionally stomped on the head of the UK player lying on the ground, there wouldn't have been the miracle shot, no Final Four, and no National Championship for Duke.
"Well obviously Coach K played a big role in making all these talented players even better, let alone making Duke not just relevant in the ACC but the top program of the past 20 years or so."
Coach K is a great recruiter, and a fine strategist when it comes to basketball. But considering the fact that most of his players that go pro tend to be mediocre at best. (I will concede that he has had a few players as of late, that are considered to be a higher caliber of player. But they also tend to be the ones that left Duke early. Maybe before Coach K completely wrecked their game?) Also, Coach K rarely (ever?) takes a player that wasn't a McDonald's All-American before they came to Duke, and transforms them into an NBA player of any caliber. I doubt he made them any better, but I will admit he got them to buy into putting his program first. I just personally think he has never had the best interests of his players in mind. He's always had his "pets", who he pampers and promotes, but I think its a telling sign that he has a number of former players that won't have anything to do with him now that their Duke careers are over. Maybe it has something to do with how he berates players, curses them out, and plays obvious favorites? Coach K learned a lot from Bobby Knight, and I'm not talking about X's and O's!
Once again, I will be the first to admit, I am VERY biased when it comes to Duke and Coach K! There are some things that I just cannot let slip when I hear about what a great guy Coach K is, or how great Laettner was!
Personally, I still say that Carolina's 5th best team of All-Stars would spank most other team's 1st string All-Stars. (UCLA is the only team I can think of that this wouldn't apply to.) But once again, that is speculation and personal opinion.
Only three more months until we can see what this year's teams are all capable of!
GO HEELS!!
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BabyTate 10 months ago
unc is a redneck school. Nobody cares what any of their people think.
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