Photo by Todd Melet

Two ways the Duke-Carolina rivalry has changed.

When the Blue Devils and Tar Heels play, it is almost always a great game, tough and taut for most of 40 minutes. The common denominator making the greatest rivalry in college basketball is both programs have been national contenders for the last 60 years.

The one obvious difference right now is in recruiting. Duke has gone to a one-and-done model for various reasons, throwing away its image as a great academic-athletic basketball school. Mike Krzyzewski does it because he can, and he’s become the best at it.

The combination of his 12 years as Olympic coach and his recent success sending players into the NBA has made Duke the destination school for high school stars wanting to get to the NBA as fast, and as high in the draft, as possible. That’s the reason the one-and-dones go to Duke – to play for an NBA-connected coach and to follow the line into the first round of the draft.

Carolina, meanwhile, has continued the Dean Smith method of building a foundation, anchoring it with three- and four-year players. Roy Williams has taken one-and-dones and will get more, now that the academic scandal that hurt his chances is over. But he will never take three and four in one year, because his model is to sustain success by making players better every year.

Also, mutual respect in the rivalry has replaced bitterness of the past between coaches and players. For the first time, Hall of Famers nearly the same age with multiple national titles are leading the two programs. They still want to win badly, but have nothing to prove.

The coaches don’t snipe at each other anymore like a young K and a 16-year-older Dean. And while the players still go at it hard, they don’t take it as personally. Over the decades, they spat at, fought and cursed each other. Now, the coaches are senior citizens who have respect for what each other has built over time.

They join in moments of silence after the deaths of Smith and Eve Carson. They publicly celebrate their respective milestones. Off the court, it may be kinder and gentler and a bit boring. On the court, it is still the best.

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