Former Tar Heel proves rivalries never die after throwing shade at Cameron Crazies

Elliot Cadeau spent the first two seasons of his college basketball career at North Carolina before transferring away to Michigan. Now, he’s the point guard of the No. 1 team in the country, and on Tuesday night, he led the Wolverines to a convincing 91-80 win over Purdue in West Lafayette. 

Cadeau chose to leave Chapel Hill, but in a postgame interview with Rob Dauster of The Field of 68, he proved that the Duke/UNC rivalry never leaves you. The former Tar Heel was willing to admit that the fans at Cameron were more intense than the ones he silenced at Mackey Arena, but still threw a bit of subtle shade that Duke fans will hate to hear. 

“I’d say Cameron is probably more intense due to the personal reasons and the rivalry,” Cadeau told Dauster, “but I think this is louder. This is probably equal to Allen Fieldhouse.” 

Michigan PG Elliot Cadeau says Mackey Arena is louder than Cameron Indoor

Cadeau's tenure in Chapel Hill came to a bit tumultuous end, with rumors about a $2 million request from Cadeau and a public defense from his mother on social media. So, while it may be a stretch to say Cadeau still has love for UNC, it seems he at least has a bit of vitriol stored up for the Heels' biggest rival.

Not only did Cadeau say Mackey was louder than Cameron Indoor, he also put Allen Fieldhouse, Kansas’s home arena, above Duke’s historic venue. The Cameron Crazies are known for their passion, and it seems that Cadeau certainly felt that in his trips to Durham, but Cameron is seemingly unable to generate the sheer volume of Purdue and Kansas fans. 

Beyond the remnants of hatred for Duke that seem to still linger with Cadeau, there could be something to the smaller capacity at Cameron that factors into his answer. Cameron Indoor’s capacity is listed at 9,31,4 while Mackey can pack in nearly 15,000 fans, and Allen Fieldhouse clears the 15,000 mark as one of the bigger venues in the sport. 

The road environment didn’t appear to have an adverse effect on Cadeau, who has blossomed in his junior season under second-year Michigan head coach Dusty May. Cadeau is averaging a career-high 10.1 points after his team-high 17 against the Boilermakers on Tuesday night, and is notably shooting over 40 percent from beyond the three-point line. 

Cadeau’s lack of shooting from the point guard position was a prominent source of frustration for the fanbase during his time in Chapel Hill, but he’s found his stroke with Michigan and has played more mistake-free basketball, dropping his turnovers per game average from 3.1 to 2.5. 

To compound the loss of Cadeau, Hubert Davis missed on his transfer portal replacement, Kyan Evans, who arrived from Colorado State. He has since benched Evans for four-star freshman Derek Dixon, who is averaging 5.6 points.