TO DUKE:
As a diehard Carolina fan, I have a request. Stop actively recruiting “one and done” players. It’s not good for Duke or for our rivalry. You’re the winningest college coach.
Recruit players who’ll stay at Duke. Let Duke fans watch and enjoy players grow. Let Tar Heels lament that these kids will be back to torment us for many seasons. Let “one and done” players go to Kentucky. Let Ashely Judd have to open up her program to figure out who is playing in Rupp this season. Let UK cancel “Senior Night” and replace it with “One and Done Night”.
Invest your time in kids, who will invest in Duke; kids you can teach and who form bonds that won’t break in tough situations. Kids, who can’t wait to silence Dean Dome crowds like our kids, who strive to bring misery to Cameron Crazies.
Give Carolina fans some more Wojos, Laettners, Redicks, Hurleys, Ferrys and Allens to loathe year after year. Assembling five NBA development players every year and sending them against Carolina hurts the foundation of the greatest basketball rivalry.
I fear that if you don’t fix it now, we may end up looking for another rival. Perhaps, State might be interested.
But, it’s not too late to repair that foundation before retirement. I hope you do. And I hope that you coach for as long as “Ole Roy” coaches, so the rest of us can keep enjoying these games — as we have for decades.
Ron Lattanze
Class of ‘85
