There isn’t a collegiate athletic program that’s as universally hated more than the Duke University Men’s Basketball team. That’s not even up for debate. While many of the haters will point to a whole host of reasons for this, the truth is that nobody would be as emotionally invested in hating Duke so much if the program wasn’t as consistently successful as it is, with head coach Mike Krzyzewski leading the program to five National Championships since 1991.
But if there’s one blemish on the program, it’s that the talent to play at Cameron Indoor Stadium hasn’t always translated into NBA stardom. While guys like Grant Hill and Shane Battier enjoyed great success in the NBA, a lot more of the guys to suit up under Krzyzewski might’ve peaked before leaving Durham, North Carolina.
To that end, here are 20 players who were some of the best to play for Duke University, but failed to live up to expectations in the NBA.
