Who would be on our team?
DUKE
PG Johnny Dawkins
SG JJ Reddick
SF Grant Hill
PF Christian Laettner
C Mike Gminski
Bench players listed below
http://msn.foxsports.com/cbk/story/8437764/Picking-the-all-time-Duke-team-(Coach-K-edition)
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 Marl Alarie 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 and 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. 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 3-pointers in a career and Jeff Lamp's ACC record for most consecutive free throws. He also 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.
Hill was part of two national championship teams and put up some amazing career numbers. Hill was the first ACC player to have 1,900 points, 700 rebounds, 400 assists, 200 steals and 100 blocked shots. He was also a two-time National Defensive Player of the Year.
Hill, despite the individual accomplishments, is the ultimate team player. He always looked for the extra pass and played with a selfless attitude. It is that persona that helped lead Duke to all those victories during his tenure. If this team could actually happen, he is the kind of guy every team needs to be successful.
Hill has had a long and injury-plagued NBA career but he still will go down as one of the best to ever play the game.
C -- Mike Gminski
The "G-Man" was a ferocious center who could attack the basket and put up some big numbers. Gminski scored over 2,300 points in his career. That is good for fourth in Duke history and seventh in the ACC. He is also second in blocks and rebounds behind Shelden Williams in the Duke history books.
Also, Gminski's ability to hit from the charity stripe was quite impressive. The big man averaged 84 percent for his career. No wonder he made a first or second team All-American for three consecutive years and the ACC Rookie of the Year.
Gminski put up all of these numbers before Duke became the perennial powerhouse that we now know. He helped set the standard for big men in the ACC and since then his legacy has only grown.
PF -- Christian Laettner
So maybe he can't stick with an NBA team, but Laettner was not only one of Duke's top players but one of the best in the history of college basketball.
Forget his miracle shot against Kentucky in the Elite Eight that helped take them to a second straight national championship for a moment.
Laettner is the only man in NCAA history to start a game in the Final Four all four years he was in college. He holds the record for most points scored, most free throws made and attempted, and most games played in NCAA tournament history.
In other words, the man could play in the clutch.
Laettner was also the ONLY college player on the 1992 Olympic Dream Team. That's right he was on the same team as Jordan, Pippen, Magic, Barkley and every other Hall of Famer the NBA could boast at the time.
Laettner finished his career fourth and third respectively in Duke history in scoring and rebounding becoming only one of a handful of players to have both over 2000 points and 1000 rebounds in a career.
Best of the rest
Danny Ferry: He still holds the Duke record for most points scored in a game.
Bobby Hurley: Over 1,000 assists in his career, that is almost twice that of Dawkins. He also has two championship rings.
Shane Battier: He was a great team leader and defensive force, plus he could score too.
Elton Brand: Brand was an amazing player who is near the tops in blocks in school history. He may not have the career numbers of others, but he certainly has the game to compete with any and all comers.
Jeff Capel: He has to be on this list for the half-court shot against UNC alone.