Three certainties preceded the Final Four game between Carolina and Duke.
One: it would be the epic battle of neighborhood blue bloods on the biggest stage and before the largest audience to ever watch a college basketball game.
Two: because of its national (and worldwide) scope, it would become a celebration of the rivalry long held as the best in its sport or any sport.
Three: it would usher in the new era of Duke-Carolina, with the Hall of Fame coach going out after 42 years and the younger rookie coach already there.
But so much more came out of the game that validated the above premises.
For both universities, it underscored UNC’s shocking upset win at Cameron, a two-fer that can never be forgotten by both alumni and fan bases.
For the 1,202 wins in his 48-year career, Mike Krzyzewski’s last two losses to an underdog first-year coach will be a nightmare footnote on his storied record. And yet he could not keep himself from throwing one of his star players under the team bus: foul-plagued sophomore center Mark Williams, for missing two late free throws when both teams clanked crucial foul shots in high-pressure moments.
For Coach K, who used the Dean Smith method of three- and four-year players for the first half of his tenure at Duke, the sudden switch to recruiting one-and-dones must be considered an abject failure in terms of his long-stated ultimate goal, winning national championships. His first four were with upperclassmen teams, and his 2015 NCAA title was as much the work of veterans Quinn Cook and Amile Jefferson as star freshmen.
Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski gives directions to his players during their game against UNC men’s basketball in the Final Four on Saturday. Carolina’s win means Krzyzewski’s record to 50-50 against the Tar Heels. (Photo via Todd Melet.)
For Carolina’s Hubert Davis, these two national TV whoppers elevated his status from a struggling newbie to a hardwood Houdini, who preached bible verses for team tunnel vision and tough love to encourage energy and emotion.
Caleb “never too late” Love scored 49 of his 58 points against UCLA and Duke in the second half; R.J. Davis had a second straight nearly-flawless floor game against the Dukies; Armando Bacot with yet another monster 21 rebounds; Brady Manek whose defense on Paolo Banchero will be overlooked; and Leaky Black, whose 40 minutes included 8 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists and 1 block.
Add them all up: complementary guards who can drive it, shoot it and pass it to others with better looks. A center who is now one double-double away from tying the NCAA record of 31 for one season. A stretch-the-floor four man who goes 1-for-5 in the first half and 3-for-5 in the second, all three deep sideline bombs. And a defensive specialist who rotates on opponents’ best players, regardless of size, and knocks down an occasional three-pointer.
This indelible Iron Five played 561 of 600 minutes in the last three games, scoring 217 of the team’s 223 points (Puff Johnson had the other 6.) It was an amazing addition by subtraction after losing the first two subs off the bench at mid-season. And the best part? All of them were crying tears of joy at the end after beating their archrival again away from their home court, as hundreds of thousands of their fans will remain misty-eyed from the Superdome to the supermarket over the next 48 hours.
For a program that Davis has characterized as losing its relevance the last few years, Carolina should be the new cool school for 4- and 5-star recruits to consider. While social media shares and spreads all that, the Tar Heels’ spotlight shines as bright as ever. And it is clear Hubert likes the Smith-Williams Way – having a team with a foundational base that includes players who may only stay a year or two.
UNC’s R.J. Davis and Armando Bacot play defense against Duke’s Jeremy Roach and Mark Williams in their Final Four matchup Saturday night. (Photo via Todd Melet.)
It also brings into focus, blurred by the Duke hype machine, the fact that UNC has now been to three Final Fours and championship games (the first two under Roy Williams) since 2016, while Coach K’s most recent visit to the Holy Grail of college hoops was in 2015, seven long years ago.
And in the swiftest reversal imaginable, Davis is a national Coach of the Year in his first season and suddenly the standard against which Duke’s successor Jon Scheyer will be measured. How did that happen, virtually overnight and into the next era of the greatest rivalry in college basketball (and any other kind of ball?)
Beating the prohibitive pick to raise a sixth NCAA banner, Carolina got this far with those five glue guys — none of whom at this writing are included in the first round of various NBA mock drafts like four Blue Devils expected to add to the list of 19 one-and-done freshmen leaving Durham after one and half semesters.
More one-and-doners are already in the fold, but they cannot be about winning national championships; rather a little being on TV so often and more about being assured seven-figure NIL payoffs. It is not illegal under current rules, but Banchero is reportedly earning $2 million for a few Instagram posts, which is pure poppycock against Duke’s fine Ivy-League image.
Carolina may be losing as many as four starters next year, regardless of the outcome against Kansas Monday night: one sophomore, one junior, one senior and one super senior. Hubert’s plan is to solidify that base with promising reserves already on the roster, a solid class of freshman recruits and transfers who have watched Manek go from rated No. 57 before the season to winning the Riley Wallace Trophy as the BEST transfer in the nation.
To do what Davis has done by blending starters with decidedly different skills who are not shaken by mistakes of the game, such as unforced turnovers and missed free throws, is one astounding accomplishment. The Tar Heels eradicated dangerous Duke leads in both halves with gutsy, quick strike runs that kept the game with 18 lead changes and 12 ties close until the clock ran out and Carolina ahead by four points.
And while Duke’s nationwide fan base may be rationalizing that the players were too young or Coach K was too old, their highly-regarded rival public university (with millions of followers within the borders of a state they care about more than any other) are having one helluva weekend.
Can’t you hear them reveling across North Carolina from the beauty, as Dean Smith used to say, of five guys playing with one heartbeat?
Featured photo via Todd Melet.
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