NCAA Basketball: Top 10 programs that can be called ‘Point Guard U’

4. NCAA Basketball ” Point Guard U” programs – Duke Blue Devils

For a long time, Duke had a reputation for developing great college players who didn’t do much at the pro level.

Two decorated Blue Devils point guards could’ve done a lot to dispel that notion, but both had their NBA careers drastically altered by serious auto accidents.

Years later, another Duke point guard who didn’t even have much of a college career to speak of helped effectively kill the stereotype about this program producing busts.

In 1992, Bobby Hurley helped Duke win a second straight national championship, earning Final Four MOP as a junior. The next season, Hurley averaged 17.0 points, 8.2 assists and 1.5 steals per game and was an All-American selection.

Hurley was picked No. 7 in the 1993 NBA Draft by the Sacramento Kings. During his rookie year, he was driving home after a game when his SUV was hit by another vehicle. Hurley nearly died in the crash. He played four more seasons in the league, but he wasn’t an impact player after the accident.

In 2001, Jay Williams led Duke to a national championship as a sophomore. As a junior, Williams won a couple of National Player of the Year Awards, averaging 21.3 points, 5.3 assists and 2.2 steals per game.

Williams was picked No. 2 in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls. Shortly after his rookie season ended, he was involved in a motorcycle accident. Williams’ injuries — including a severed nerve in his leg, a fractured pelvis and torn ACL — were so serious that he never played in the NBA again.

A decade after Williams’ championship season, Kyrie Irving’s freshman season at Duke consisted of just 11 games thanks to a foot injury. He averaged 17.5 points and 4.3 assists per game in that short stint, but it was enough to get Irving chosen No. 1 overall in the 2011 NBA Draft by the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Irving has become a star in the league, fulfilling a promise that Hurley and Williams didn’t get the opportunity to fulfill. He’s a six-time All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection, Rookie of the Year and he helped the Cavs win a championship in 2016, hitting the game-winning shot in Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

Meanwhile, the man who could be considered Duke’s greatest point guard wasn’t exactly a bust in the NBA, but he wasn’t a star either.

Johnny Dawkins won Naismith Player of the Year in 1986 for the Blue Devils and was a two-time All-American. He averaged 19.2 points and 4.2 assists per game in four years. Dawkins was picked No. 10 in the 1986 NBA Draft and played nine years in the league as a solid role player.

Other notables: Dick Groat, Nolan Smith, Chris Duhon, Tommy Amaker, Tyus Jones, Tre Jones, Quinn Cook, Steve Wojciechowski