Keeping It Heel
Fansided

UNC Basketball: The 10 Duke players UNC fans hated most

By Blake Cockrum

NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 23: J.J. Redick #4 of the Duke Blue Devils walks down the court during their Preseason NIT game against the Drexel Dragons at Madison Square Garden on November 23, 2005 in New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images)
NEW YORK - NOVEMBER 23: J.J. Redick #4 of the Duke Blue Devils walks down the court during their Preseason NIT game against the Drexel Dragons at Madison Square Garden on November 23, 2005 in New York City. (Photo by Nick Laham/Getty Images) /
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CHAPEL HILL, NC – MARCH 8: Greg Paulus #3 of the Duke Blue Devils posts up against Ty Lawson #5 of the North Carolina Tar Heels during the game at the Dean E. Smith Center on March 8, 2009 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

Greg Paulus

Greg Paulus is another Blue Devil that makes the list thanks to his flopping and floor slapping. It’s difficult to determine whether his hands or his back spend more time on the court, but UNC basketball fans couldn’t stand him, nonetheless.

He came to Duke as a heralded two-sport athlete, having been named a McDonald’s All-American in basketball, and Gatorade National Player of the Year in football. Those accolades left some people perplexed, as he didn’t turn out to be all that successful at either.

He lacked athletic ability that some of the others in our top 10 did not, but he wasn’t a terrible player during his four-year stint in Durham. He started for the Blue Devils’ in each of his first three seasons before losing that job his senior season to sophomore guard Nolan Smith. For his career, he averaged 8.6 points, 3.4 assists and 2.1 rebounds per game, and shot nearly 40 percent from three-point range. During his sophomore season, he knocked down a career-high 45 percent of his shots from long-distance.

Whatever he lacked as an athlete, though, it’s tough not to give Paulus credit for all his hard work and hustle on the court. It was because of that hustle, and his willingness to take just about any charge against any player, that landed him on one of the most beloved UNC basketball ‘posters’ of all time.

Check out the video below of Danny Green throwing down a massive dunk on Paulus at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Videos and stills of this play have been used quite frequently in the decade since, and it even earned Paulus a not-so-flattering nickname, which you’re welcomed to Google if you really want to know it.

All joking aside, Paulus was a clean, respectable player at Duke that gave everything he had while he was on the court. If you were to ask North Carolina fans how they feel about Greg Paulus these days, I’d assume the name wouldn’t even strike much of a chord; certainly not compared to Grayson Allen, or the next guy on our list.

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