Carolina/Duke Basketball: The 2022-2023 Thread Celebrating the Tarheel Final Four Victory over Coach K in his Final Game

#326
#326
RDU VOL#14 said:
Alright ive done this on here 100 times, so I guess I’ll do it 101. I grew up in Durham starting in 1984/85. My parents got Duke tix bc they were easier to get at that point than UNC and State. K had not even been to a Final 4 yet. I’ve been to a lot of Duke basketball games in Cameron Indoor Stadium
since the mid 80’s- early 2000’s. I went to a lot of Duke football games too. If you grew up in the Triangle in the 80’s & 90’s college basketball became a part of your DNA. Much the same way that growing up in Knoxville, Tuscaloosa or South Bend would make college football part of you. I basically saw up close the best college basketball had to offer, at arguably the best venue at the pinnacle of the college basketball era. Also, being in Durham, I also could see up close and personal the WORST college football program had to offer, and arguably the worst venue. During this time I was always a Tennessee fan because my family is from the Tri-Cities, but to a lesser extent bc I wasn’t surrounded by it 24/7 365. I never had any idea about how good college football could be.

So I was blown away the first time I set foot on UT’s campus in 1999 as a high school senior when my dad and I went to the Notre Dame game. I was even more blown away when I went to the LSU game in September 2001, first game post 9/11. I decided at that moment I was going to transfer to UT. From that moment my sports obsession became the Tennessee Volunteers and Duke took a backseat. At the time I was at a small college in Eastern NC being told I would need to redshirt and work hard to play more basketball. I was done w/ it. I wanted to have a big university college experience. So I got my stuff together, had a situation available w/ instate tuition bc my family is from East Tn and I transferred. I’ve never looked back. Fast forward to now. I’m a UT graduate. I met my wife in Knoxville as a student and we now have 2 kids who wear UT onesies and outfits on Gamedays . Not Duke stuff.

As far as being bandwagon, if you notice, I’ve been posting on this website since 2007. On what planet was anybody jumping on the UT bandwagon after 2007 and continuing to post 20,000+ times between then and now? Not a lot of people. We haven’t been particularly good in most things in that time span . In fact, there have been times when it’s been downright embarrassing. Derek Dooley, Butch, Pruitt, Tyndall, the whole Pearl fiasco etc. It hasn’t been a great 15 years, but I love Tennessee and that won’t change. I also love Duke. That won’t change either. I consider myself very lucky to have been very close to both Tennessee and Duke. Not many can do that without actually being bandwagon fans. I don’t fault those people either. I’ve known people in both athletic departments, all great people, coaches, players, administrators. Both are special places, both are very different from the other.
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Not being a smart ass but it’s my first time reading this.

Outstanding RDU!!
 
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#329
#329
Dudleys87 said:
It’s takes a while to get to those special graduate courses you know lol
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I’m just pissed he’s coming back. He needs get back his role on The Outer Banks on Netflix and just start acting. Lively isn’t going to be there next year to guard him.
 
#331
#331
vols 30 said:
It's more about why are you and the other regulars in this thread are fans of other teams besides UT. Especially Duke and NC.
Do you guys even follow UT basketball? And if you do, who do you pull for in a UT matchup with Duke or NC?

Saying you like UT football but follow Duke or NC basketball doesn't cone across as a.true fan of either school imo. Smells like bandwagon jumping. Most us are 100% UT and the hell with everyone else. Again, it's just my opinion
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Oh dear, the true fan test again.
 
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#332
#332
RDU VOL#14 said:
I knew that would bring you out of the shadows. Hey, congrats on Dr. Bacot coming back. And just think that he was only a redshirt freshman when Hansbrough graduated.
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Sorry if I came in as hostile the other day. Your story makes it make a lot more sense. I have a guy I work with who roots for Alabama football and Kentucky basketball which I find asinine as he admittedly has no ties to either program. So I guess I just assume everyone who does this just roots for the program that’s superior since Tennessee is unquestionably superior in football as duke is unquestionably superior in basketball. Good luck next season
 
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#333
#333
Full story:

I’m 42. As a kid when I was just getting really into playing basketball, I was on a team for 3 straight years that featured 2 really good guys that played in the paint and then myself and the coach’s son who could serve as PG or SG at any given time. We were both just serviceable. However, the coach got to pick his team’s All Star representative. Surprise surprise, he picked his son every time. One of the other guys played D1 ball. His son (nor myself fwiw) even sniffed NAIA.

At the exact same time, in my eyes and I still believe it to this day, Wade Houston was destroying Tennessee basketball by making sure he showcased his son instead of actually building a team. This created a ton of animosity for me with Tennessee basketball and really any father/son duos.

This was also coinciding with me idolizing Bobby Hurley. This turned into me being a huge fan of K.

If y’all want to get your panties in a wad because I have rooting interests elsewhere, I’m m not going to lose sleep over it. Fwiw, I love Old Dominion University. It’s my Alma mater and I literally worked with the athletic department so, again, I’m not going to lose sleep if y’all get all up in yourselves about it.
 
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#334
#334
Also, for those interested, I have family scattered all over NC and I grew up on the TN/NC line. My ties to this state run deep. Before jokes about New Jersey pop up, I was 9 when I started this journey
 
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#336
#336
vols 30 said:
I just never understood being fans of multiple schools.

If I first became a fan of Duke or North Carolina basketball, then I'd be fan of Duke or North Carolina football.
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You do you. You don’t have to understand why anyone else roots for who they root for. For me, it was what I had exposure to growing up. Living in WNC, that was UNC basketball (on TV) and Tennessee football (on TV, but also many of the best football players in WNC in those days wound up playing for Johnny and then Phil). I pull for the Braves because of Pete and Skip and Superstation TBS and when the NFL came to the Carolinas, that became my team.
 
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#338
#338
Berry4Heisman14 said:
Sorry if I came in as hostile the other day. Your story makes it make a lot more sense. I have a guy I work with who roots for Alabama football and Kentucky basketball which I find asinine as he admittedly has no ties to either program. So I guess I just assume everyone who does this just roots for the program that’s superior since Tennessee is unquestionably superior in football as duke is unquestionably superior in basketball. Good luck next season
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You’re good man. I get it. I can see how it comes across. I also know that Duke is extremely polarizing. A lot of people hate Duke and I get that too. If I hadn’t grown up w/ it I probably wouldn’t either. Honestly, I find certain guys over the years pretty dislikable. Paulus, Chris Collins, JJ, Wojo, Jay Williams (personal for me) and of course Laettner are the main ones for a lot. I think one thing Ive been surprised about is how some Tennessee fans really dislike Duke for no real good reason other than maybe they think they‘re supposed to. There’s no real rivalry there. I could see at UT vs. UNC potential rivalry bc of the border state thing and that BS Music City Bowil debacle. That said, there is no way that ESPN hasn’t taken notice of the back and forth on social media between Duke and Tennessee. And it just so happens that beginning next year will be the ACC/ SEC Challenge. I wouldn’t be surprised at all to see Duke and Tennessee meet next December.
 
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#339
#339
RDU VOL#14 said:
Alright ive done this on here 100 times, so I guess I’ll do it 101. I grew up in Durham starting in 1984/85. My parents got Duke tix bc they were easier to get at that point than UNC and State. K had not even been to a Final 4 yet. I’ve been to a lot of Duke basketball games in Cameron Indoor Stadium
since the mid 80’s- early 2000’s. I went to a lot of Duke football games too. If you grew up in the Triangle in the 80’s & 90’s college basketball became a part of your DNA. Much the same way that growing up in Knoxville, Tuscaloosa or South Bend would make college football part of you. I basically saw up close the best college basketball had to offer, at arguably the best venue at the pinnacle of the college basketball era. Also, being in Durham, I also could see up close and personal the WORST college football program had to offer, and arguably the worst venue. During this time I was always a Tennessee fan because my family is from the Tri-Cities, but to a lesser extent bc I wasn’t surrounded by it 24/7 365. I never had any idea about how good college football could be.

So I was blown away the first time I set foot on UT’s campus in 1999 as a high school senior when my dad and I went to the Notre Dame game. I was even more blown away when I went to the LSU game in September 2001, first game post 9/11. I decided at that moment I was going to transfer to UT. From that moment my sports obsession became the Tennessee Volunteers and Duke took a backseat. At the time I was at a small college in Eastern NC being told I would need to redshirt and work hard to play more basketball. I was done w/ it. I wanted to have a big university college experience. So I got my stuff together, had a situation available w/ instate tuition bc my family is from East Tn and I transferred. I’ve never looked back. Fast forward to now. I’m a UT graduate. I met my wife in Knoxville as a student and we now have 2 kids who wear UT onesies and outfits on Gamedays . Not Duke stuff.

As far as being bandwagon, if you notice, I’ve been posting on this website since 2007. On what planet was anybody jumping on the UT bandwagon after 2007 and continuing to post 20,000+ times between then and now? Not a lot of people. We haven’t been particularly good in most things in that time span . In fact, there have been times when it’s been downright embarrassing. Derek Dooley, Butch, Pruitt, Tyndall, the whole Pearl fiasco etc. It hasn’t been a great 15 years, but I love Tennessee and that won’t change. I also love Duke. That won’t change either. I consider myself very lucky to have been very close to both Tennessee and Duke. Not many can do that without actually being bandwagon fans. I don’t fault those people either. I’ve known people in both athletic departments, all great people, coaches, players, administrators. Both are special places, both are very different from the other.
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I sincerely mean this. That's a really cool and interesting story regarding both Duke and Tennessee. I was born and grew up in Western NC,and have always loved UNC sports. Not just basketball,but football as well. Going to college at UNC was out of the picture because of different reasons,and I'm too much of a homebody and didn't like being far away from home. Like most people in the state of North Carolina,it's either Duke or North Carolina. I owe a lot to Duke for medical reasons,but loved the fast paced up tempo game Carolina played. I grew up with Die hard Carolina fans. I've lived here the last 30 years in East Tennessee. I follow Tennessee sports casually.Part of the reason I joined this forum. A whole lot for me to say so I apologize for that. We all have our reasons for our fandom,that's for sure.

As far as Carolina,that's awesome for Bacot coming back.
 
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#341
#341
volfanbill said:
In other news, I find the Notre Dame hire leaving a lot to be desired
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Yeah,just read about that. One decent year at Penn St. after going 14-17 the previous year. Seems to me that they're just settling after Brey left. I'd let the tournament play out before jumping the gun. Whatever happens after Thursday night,the FAU coach will be in high demand.
 
#342
#342
Pennheel said:
Yeah,just read about that. One decent year at Penn St. after going 14-17 the previous year. Seems to me that they're just settling after Brey left. I'd let the tournament play out before jumping the gun. Whatever happens after Thursday night,the FAU coach will be in high demand.
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I read he’s already high on Penn State’s list. It wasn’t even one decent season. It was a nice run down the stretch… you know a little bit about that huh?
 
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#345
#345
Pennheel said:
I sincerely mean this. That's a really cool and interesting story regarding both Duke and Tennessee. I was born and grew up in Western NC,and have always loved UNC sports. Not just basketball,but football as well. Going to college at UNC was out of the picture because of different reasons,and I'm too much of a homebody and didn't like being far away from home. Like most people in the state of North Carolina,it's either Duke or North Carolina. I owe a lot to Duke for medical reasons,but loved the fast paced up tempo game Carolina played. I grew up with Die hard Carolina fans. I've lived here the last 30 years in East Tennessee. I follow Tennessee sports casually.Part of the reason I joined this forum. A whole lot for me to say so I apologize for that. We all have our reasons for our fandom,that's for sure.

As far as Carolina,that's awesome for Bacot coming back.
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Thanks for sharing that. I was curious about your UT affiliation given your username. My family is from East Tennessee, I don’t get to go nearly as often now that we’ve had family pass away, but I miss visiting a lot. After seeing your comment about Duke University medical center it looks like you and i definitely have something in common. If it weren’t for them, I doubt I’d be here at this point .
 
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#346
#346
one of the things I’m most proud of is that I got accepted to Duke for undergrad. I didn’t get any scholarship money though, so I never even really looked into it. No way I could’ve afforded It. One of my biggest regrets is not going to Tennessee, despite having a full ride. I was no lie scared to death I’d fail out at Tennessee due to watching every sporting event that took place on campus and not going to class. Instead, I went to undergrad at close to home Milligan College. Loved my time there, but looking back, I definitely should’ve went to Tennessee.
 
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#347
#347
volfanbill said:
one of the things I’m most proud of is that I got accepted to Duke for undergrad. I didn’t get any scholarship money though, so I never even really looked into it. No way I could’ve afforded It. One of my biggest regrets is not going to Tennessee, despite having a full ride. I was no lie scared to death I’d fail out at Tennessee due to watching every sporting event that took place on campus and not going to class. Instead, I went to undergrad at close to home Milligan College. Loved my time there, but looking back, I definitely should’ve went to Tennessee.
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That’s awesome! I couldn’t have sniffed Duke undergrad. Never liked studying in high school. Had to get grades and transfer. Made it through Knoxville on the Bacot plan due to so many umm.. distractions.
 
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#349
#349
RDU VOL#14 said:
That’s awesome! I couldn’t have sniffed Duke undergrad. Never liked studying in high school. Had to get grades and transfer. Made it through Knoxville on the Bacot plan due to so many umm.. distractions.
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I’m the dumbest smart person on the planet. I can figure out test questions, especially when given multiple choice. Plus I’m naturally a good writer. Made my ACT and my ASVAB scores look way better than they should be. But I can’t remember some of the most basic things like Army Reg numbers, all the different Recruiting regs to find things, etc.
 
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#350
#350
RDU VOL#14 said:
Alright ive done this on here 100 times, so I guess I’ll do it 101. I grew up in Durham starting in 1984/85. My parents got Duke tix bc they were easier to get at that point than UNC and State. K had not even been to a Final 4 yet. I’ve been to a lot of Duke basketball games in Cameron Indoor Stadium
since the mid 80’s- early 2000’s. I went to a lot of Duke football games too. If you grew up in the Triangle in the 80’s & 90’s college basketball became a part of your DNA. Much the same way that growing up in Knoxville, Tuscaloosa or South Bend would make college football part of you. I basically saw up close the best college basketball had to offer, at arguably the best venue at the pinnacle of the college basketball era. Also, being in Durham, I also could see up close and personal the WORST college football program had to offer, and arguably the worst venue. During this time I was always a Tennessee fan because my family is from the Tri-Cities, but to a lesser extent bc I wasn’t surrounded by it 24/7 365. I never had any idea about how good college football could be.

So I was blown away the first time I set foot on UT’s campus in 1999 as a high school senior when my dad and I went to the Notre Dame game. I was even more blown away when I went to the LSU game in September 2001, first game post 9/11. I decided at that moment I was going to transfer to UT. From that moment my sports obsession became the Tennessee Volunteers and Duke took a backseat. At the time I was at a small college in Eastern NC being told I would need to redshirt and work hard to play more basketball. I was done w/ it. I wanted to have a big university college experience. So I got my stuff together, had a situation available w/ instate tuition bc my family is from East Tn and I transferred. I’ve never looked back. Fast forward to now. I’m a UT graduate. I met my wife in Knoxville as a student and we now have 2 kids who wear UT onesies and outfits on Gamedays . Not Duke stuff.

As far as being bandwagon, if you notice, I’ve been posting on this website since 2007. On what planet was anybody jumping on the UT bandwagon after 2007 and continuing to post 20,000+ times between then and now? Not a lot of people. We haven’t been particularly good in most things in that time span . In fact, there have been times when it’s been downright embarrassing. Derek Dooley, Butch, Pruitt, Tyndall, the whole Pearl fiasco etc. It hasn’t been a great 15 years, but I love Tennessee and that won’t change. I also love Duke. That won’t change either. I consider myself very lucky to have been very close to both Tennessee and Duke. Not many can do that without actually being bandwagon fans. I don’t fault those people either. I’ve known people in both athletic departments, all great people, coaches, players, administrators. Both are special places, both are very different from the other.
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I never heard the whole story either. Pretty cool.

My own journey is much more simple. I could not have cared less about 15-501 or UNC/Duke until I went to UNC for grad school many, many moons ago. Got the UNC bug then. Still kinda ambivalent toward Dook until I interacted with some of the similar-program Dook students there during my time as a UNC student. Good golly......let's just say that dealing with entitled, arrogant, New Jersey trust fund kids kind of ....shall we say.....affected my impression of UNJ-Durham. There were buttheads at UNC too, but Dook seemed to be filled with them.

Been a 'heel lover and Dook hater ever since. Good Dook people in this forum, though. If more Dook students were like RDU and even Bill, I may still be ambivalent to this day.
 
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