UNC Basketball: Former Blue Devil says Tar Heels have inferiority complex

According to a famous former Duke Blue Devil, fans of the UNC basketball program have an inferiority complex.

Just when North Carolina fans were starting to come around to JJ Redick, the former Duke guard and 2006 National Player of the Year ended it all in one fell swoop.

A four-year starter for the Blue Devils and a 15-year NBA veteran, Redick had been gaining popularity among basketball fans — including those that pledge allegiance to the Tar Heels — following his retirement from the game and subsequent move to ESPN, where he works primarily as a basketball analyst.

Then on Tuesday morning’s episode of First Take, Redick talked about the importance of the Duke/UNC rivalry, where it ranks in history, and among other things, how North Carolina fans have what he describes as an “inferiority complex.”

"“And Marcus (Spears), you bring up the word ‘hate,’ the hatred between Auburn and Alabama fans. And my comment to that is I’ve always felt that Carolina fans hate Duke fans way more than Duke fans hate Carolina fans. And the reason is that people that go to Carolina — and there’s a lot of people in North Carolina that are UNC fans that didn’t go to Carolina — but people in North Carolina and UNC fans all over the country, they have an inferiority complex. They have an inferiority complex, and that’s just part of the rivalry.”"

Apparently, an inferiority complex is what happens when your team has more national titles, more NCAA Tournament wins, more Final Fours, more Elite Eights, more Sweet 16s, more NCAA Tournament appearances, more all-time victories, more head-to-head victories, and more ACC regular-season titles.

Yes, that must be it. It’s becoming so much clearer now.

Of course, there’s also the fact that Duke has finished six of the last eight recruiting cycles, 2015-2020, ranked in the top-3 nationally, and in first place on three occasions. In that time — which is precisely the number of years since their most recent national title in 2015 — they’ve captured just nine total wins in the NCAA Tournament, making it to the Elite Eight twice, the Sweet 16 once, and the Round of 32 in 2017 when they had a roster stacked with five-star recruits led by current NBA All-Star Jayson Tatum.

As Redick sees it, doing less with more is a real power move and one that’s difficult to stomach for the opposition.

But who can blame Redick? The two most important games that he’s been a part of at Cameron Indoor Stadium — his Senior Night in 2006 and Coach K’s 2022 lovefest — were both ruined by the Tar Heels.

He looks at UNC fans and sees an inferiority complex. I look at him and see bitter resentment, and it’s simply not a good look on him.

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