Frank Dascenzo picks Duke's top five players, although he limits himself to the Krzyzewksi era. He goes with Bobby Hurley, Johnny Dawkins, Christian Laettner, Grant Hill and Shane Battier. It's hard to argue with any of those, but it leaves a number of guys out in the cold. You could make cases for any of the following:
- Art Heyman. He was a flake, but he was hugely competitive. It would have been fun to see Krzyzewski harness his fire.
- Jeff Mullins. A superb guard and athlete, he was somewhat in Heyman's shadow at Duke but went on to a significantly better pro career.
- Jack Marin. As good an all around player as Duke has ever seen.
- Bob Verga. He had J.J. Redick's range but no three point shot.
- Mike Gminski. An unbelievably smart big man, on and off the court.
- Dick Groat. Led the nation in assists and scoring. And basketball was his second sport.
And then there are other guys from the K era. It's hard to leave Danny Ferry or Jason Williams off of any such list, but you have to draw the line somewhere. But it's also fun to imagine what a weapon J.J. Redick would have been with someone like Grant Hill or Christian Laettner around to share the load a bit.