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Carolina and Duke now have something else in common.
They are two great schools eight miles apart with successful athletic departments and great basketball programs. Even their opposites enhance their rivalry. Large versus small. Public versus private. The Dean Smith-Roy Williams-Hubert Davis tree to one mega Mike Krzyzewski and his protégé Jon Scheyer.
They both had the chance stop N.C. State from getting to the Final Four for the first time in 41 years. You know how many Final Fours the two blue bloods have reached since 1983? Twenty-five, 12 for UNC, 13 for Duke.
Both were trying to get back there this season, and they had their chances.
They each could have knocked the Wolfpack out of the NCAA Tournament; the Tar Heels by winning the ACC championship game and denying State the automatic NCAA bid, but lost decisively. The fourth-seeded Blue Devils were even worse in the South Region Elite 8 game against the 11th seeded Pack, the 15th time Duke has lost in the tournament to a team seeded at least four spots lower. That’s the most in NCAA history.
Kevin Keatts was on his way out the door, but by winning the ACC tournament got a $200,000 raise and two more years on his expiring contract. He should make small donations to Carolina and Duke, which blew a first-half lead and fell to resurgent State for a second time in three weeks.
The Wolfpack has an entire lineup of graduate students and/or transfers, and most of them will be gone after next weekend’s action in Glendale, Arizona. Carolina and Duke can both say, “They’re losing everybody so let them have their one Final Four. And it won’t happen again.”
Not so fast, in this NIL-transport portal world of college athletics, where State had players who have been to one or two other schools before arriving in Raleigh. So what is keeping Keatts, with at least two new trophies for his glass cases, to reload?
You can say they will never have another big man like D.J. Burns, who plays like the Big Friendly Giant with Cinderella toes. There may never be a player quite like Burns, but there are dozens of big men in the portal. And they will all see State in the Final Four and answer Keatts’ calls.
N.C. State has taken its lumps on the hardcourt from both Triangle rivals in the last 30 years. Roy Williams was 34-5 against the Pack. Coach K wasn’t quite that good. State and Burns will be the big story in the desert and won’t have to share the limelight with either neighbor.
The Tar Heels are busy trying to figure out who will be on their 2024-25 roster, and the Blue Devils have to determine who is staying or going to make room for another 5-star freshman class.
Congratulations, N.C. State!
Featured image via Associated Press/Tony Gutierrez
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
