NCAA Basketball: Top 10 programs that can be called ‘Big Man U’
By Amaar Burton
6. NCAA Basketball “Big Man U” programs – Duke Blue Devils
Arguments can be made that Duke has suited up college basketball’s best defensive big man of the last 20 years, the most athletic big man of the last 50 years, and the most clutch big man in college hoops history.
The defensive stalwart in question is Shelden Williams, the 6’9″ center who won NABC Defensive Player of the Year twice in 2005 and 2006, was a two-time ACC Defensive Player of the Year, and holds the Duke school records for career blocks and single-season blocks.
Williams averaged 18.8 points, 10.7 rebounds, and 3.8 blocks per game as a senior before he was chosen No. 5 in the 2006 draft.
The athletic freak is Zion Williamson. A viral dunking sensation in high school, Zion came to Duke in 2018 with as much hype and high expectations as any college freshman in recent memory — and he lived up to it.
Zion averaged 22.6 points, 8.9 rebounds, 2.1 steals, and 1.8 blocks per game while shooting 68.0 percent from the field and leading the Blue Devils to the Elite Eight. His explosive athleticism as a 6’7″, 285-pound power forward was so thrilling that it overshadowed the fact that Zion is a very skilled basketball player. He was the consensus national player of the year, ACC Player of the Year, and ACC tournament MVP who was picked No. 1 in the 2019 NBA Draft.
The man with the clutch gene is Christian Laettner. He made the most famous shot in college basketball history — the buzzer-beating jumper that lifted Duke over Kentucky in the 1992 Elite Eight — to cap an offensively flawless performance in which he shot 10-for-10 from the field and 10-for-10 at the free throw line to score 31 points.
Laettner also made an overtime game-winner against UConn in the 1990 NCAA Tournament, and the game-winning free throws against UNLV in the 1991 Final Four.
In between those clutch moments, Laettner was consensus national player of the year and ACC Player of the Year in 1992, Final Four MOP in 1991, and a two-time All-America pick. He led Duke to two national titles and went to at least the Final Four in each of his four college seasons. When USA Basketball built the iconic “Dream Team” for the 1992 Olympics and wanted to take one college player, Laettner got the call.
Elton Brand doesn’t hold such lofty places in history as Williams, Williamson, or Laettner — all he did was win national player of the year, ACC Player of the Year, ACC Tournament MVP and get picked No. 1 in the NBA draft in 1999.
Other notables: Mike Gminski, Danny Ferry, Jahlil Okafor, Marvin Bagley III, Carlos Boozer, Mason Plumlee, Vernon Carey Jr.