Duke’s Best Shooting Guards

It’s hard to narrow this list down.

Duke has a long history of spectacular shooting guards, so we thought, in keeping with our other recent lists, we’d run down our favorites. As always, it’s a subjective list so we probably missed at least one of your favorites.

• Bob Verga - a spectacular deep shooter in the Bubas era, if he had played with the three point line, Verga would have been unstoppable.
• Jeff Mullins - one of two Blue Devils who were recruited out of Lexington, Mullins was the ultimate complement to Art Heyman. He went on to a long NBA career, capping it off with the 1974 championship.
• Tate Armstrong - not a huge recruit out of high school, Armstrong developed into a superb shooter at Duke. Dean Smith said he was probably a half-step too slow for the NBA, but he was plenty quick enough for Smith to want him on the 1976 Olympic team.
• Jim Spanarkel - Bill Foster’s first great find, Spanarkel was the 1977 ACC Rookie of the Year and led Duke to the 1978 national championship game. He wasn’t hugely athletic but he was fearless and highly competitive, the kind of guy you’d much rather play with than against.
• Johnny Dawkins - Mike Krzyzewski’s first breakout star. One of his teammates - we think it was Jay Bilas - initially thought that he must be Dawkins’ kid brother. Always slender - still is - Dawkins was supremely athletic and tireless. He had too many brilliant moments to highlight. A great, great player.
• JJ Redick - after his sophomore year, Coach K told him that he wasn’t worthy of being a national champion. That stung, and the gifted shooter began to work much harder. By the time he was a senior, he was impossible to stop. Redick finished as Duke’s all-time leading scorer and, after Christian Laettner, perhaps the most hated Duke player of all time, not least of all at Maryland.
• Jason Williams - A stunning talent, Williams was 6-2 and had a low center of gravity. He attacked the basket like a running back. His focus could waver at times but when he locked in, no one could stop him.
• Trajan Langdon - The Alaskan Assassin had an elegant jump shot. He seemed inscrutable at times but at times he seemed to play with great fire. No one had better mechanics than Langdon.
• Gerald Henderson - Another great athlete who could just get points whenever he wanted. He’s best remembered for busting Tyler Hansborough’s face up but he had some great moments, including a stunning dunk at Maryland and preserving a win over a Steph Curry-led Davidson.
• Nolan Smith - A charismatic presence, Smith developed into a fine leader who could slide over to point guard as well. He helped Duke win the 2010 national championship and if Kyrie Irving hadn’t been injured in 2010-11, had an excellent chance of going undefeated.
• Austin Rivers - Okay, Rivers is on here for one reason: his brilliant knockout punch at UNC. He was a good but not great guard at Duke, but who else has a moment with that much swagger? Besides Christian Laettner? And he was a freshman!
• Grayson Allen - Allen had an unpleasant reputation due to his tripping incidents, but he was highly talented and an outstanding three point shooter. He also had a great buzzer beater to put Virginia away.
• Luke Kennard - He emerged as a much better player in his sophomore year and became a deadly offensive weapon. Today he and Allen are two of the best three point shooters in the NBA.
• Jared McCain - he showed tremendous mental toughness as a freshman and it wasn’t just his scoring ability, which was impressive: he had three late steals against Clemson to prevent a Tigers upset. Only in Durham for one year, he quickly became a beloved Duke figure.