Can a best-buds bond survive college hoops most heated rivalry?
Standing toe-to-toe on the concourse level of the Dean Dome, and having just been issued a directive to summon crunch-time game faces, Duke’s Gerald Henderson and UNC’s Wayne Ellington can’t keep from giggling. “You got platforms in those shoes?” laughs Henderson. “I heard about you.” He’s just rekindling a long-standing argument. Although both freshmen are listed at 6’4″, the apex of Henderson’s noggin has, for a while now, given him a quarter-inch on his counterpart. “That’s okay,” Ellington fires back, “I play taller.” Such friendly fire between players in these two particular shades of blue is rare. The fact that they agreed to be photographed together during the season? Some kind of sin. Seeing a Dukie and a Tar Heel together in these parts is a little like seeing your wife before the wedding—with the best man. But Wayne and Gerald carry on as if they’ve never heard about the Art Heyman-Larry Brown brawl. Or Coach K accusing the refs in the 1980s of giving Dean Smith special treat
