Duke Basketball: Best player ever to wear every Blue Devil jersey number
By Dakota Cox
In all of the history with Duke Basketball, who is the best player to wear every jersey number? I take a look at the best of the best.
When you have as many years of success as Duke Basketball has, you tend to have many historic players. Whether it’s before or during the Coach K era, Duke has seen it all. They’ve had all-Americans, NBA All-Stars, and legends in both college and the pros.
When looking at all the players to ever play at Duke, I had a question pop in my head. Who is the greatest Duke player to wear every jersey number? So, after spending a lot of time on Sports Reference and Duke’s official stats database, I constructed my own list for each number.
Some numbers were heavily contested. Some were hard to find a player worth writing about. Either way, I did my best to make the best list I could.
How I made my list
When choosing players, I looked at many factors. The biggest factor is strictly the players’ success at Duke. I looked at stats, awards, and other factors strictly in college. After that, I looked at NBA success. Some players are strong in college, but they can blossom into superstars in the pros. I tried to lean more towards proven veterans with the Blue Devils. This means players like Kyrie Irving, unfortunately, slide down my list.
Also, I tried to avoid a bias towards players in my era. I did my best to compare players before my time equally with players of the past few years. That being said, I’ve never seen a majority of these players play basketball before.
My last way to gauge a player’s greatness is by how their legacy stood the test of time. If people are remembered thirty years after playing, that gives them a leg up.
I’m sure some of my picks might be controversial, so please let me know what you’d change in the comments.