2003 Top 50 List: Yes
Dan Collins List: Yes
I think there is a good argument that Coach K’s 1982 recruiting class of Johnny Dawkins, Mark Alarie, David Henderson, and Jay Bilas is the best class in ACC history. Here is what they accomplished:
Year 1: 11-17 (3-11)
Year 2: 24-10 (7-7), ACC Tournament finals, lost in first round of NCAA
Year 3: 23-8 (8-6), ACC Tournament semifinals, lost in second round of NCAA
Year 4: 37-3 (12-2), ACC Tournament champs, lost in national championship
While there are classes that might have more in the way of accomplishments, I think three things set this class apart:
- Where they started vs. where they finished. They took the program from the bottom to the top in 3 years.
- All four guys played for all four years.
- It really was those four guys who got it done. OK, Amaker contributed, throw in a little Dan Meagher and Danny Ferry, but the backbone of that 1986 team was those same four guys.
This would be unthinkable now. Can you imagine four guys playing together for four years and elevating a program like this? It would never happen. Can you imagine how much Duke fans must have loved these four? It shows you what college basketball has lost with all the roster turnover that happens nowadays.
What are some of the other best recruiting classes in terms of their accomplishments? Here are some that come to mind.
- Duke 1997 (Brand, Battier, Avery)
- Duke 1999 (Williams, Dunleavy, Boozer)
- Duke 2002 (Redick, Williams)
- Duke 2007 (Singler, Smith, Scheyer)
- Maryland 1971 (McMillen, Elmore)
- UNC 1958 (Larese, Moe)
- UNC 1993 (Stackhouse, Wallace)
- UNC 1995 (Jamison, Carter)
- NC State 1953 (Shavlik, Molodet)
- NC State 1956 (Pucillo, Richter)
- NC State 1987 (Corchiani, Monroe)
- South Carolina 1968 (Roche, Owens)
- Wake Forest 1990 (Childress, Rogers)
I don’t think any of those can match the 1982 Duke class in terms of taking a program from the bottom to the top.
Now, back to Johnny Dawkins. Johnny Dawkins, to me, is the epitome of all-around excellence in a basketball player. From the day he stepped on the court, he did everything with excellence. Excellent shooter. Excellent passer. Excellent defender. Good rebounder at the guard position. Good perimeter shooter, good penetrator, good finisher. Made free throws. Great leader. Fine human being. All-ACC. All-American. National Player of the Year, according to some. ACC Tournament MOP.
All he lacks on his resume is a national championship and ACC Player of the Year. For the first, he came up 3 points short. For the second, he couldn’t overcome the greatness of Len Bias. But there is nothing negative to say about Johnny Dawkins, as a ballplayer or as a person.
Have you ever looked at how great he was in the 1986 postseason? In nine games – three in the ACC Tournament, six in the NCAA Tournament, all wins except the last – here’s what he did:
| Game | Opponent | Result | Shooting | Points |
| ACC Quarters | Wake Forest | W, 68-60 | 8-14 | 16 |
| ACC Semis | Virginia | W, 75-70 | 9-17 | 24 |
| ACC Final | Georgia Tech | W, 68-67 | 7-14 | 20 |
| NCAA First Round | Miss. Valley State | W, 85-78 | 11-17 | 27 |
| NCAA Second Round | Old Dominion | W, 89-61 | 10-12 | 25 |
| NCAA Sweet 16 | DePaul | W, 74-67 | 11-20 | 25 |
| NCAA Elite 8 | Navy | W, 71-50 | 13-25 | 28 |
| NCAA Final Four | Kansas | W, 71-67 | 11-17 | 24 |
| NCAA Champ Game | Louisville | L, 72-69 | 10-19 | 24 |
| Averages | 59.4% | 23.7 |
To have eight consecutive games with 20+ points and 50%+ shooting, in tournament play, as a guard… it would be hard to find another example. This performance is right up there with the greatest NCAA Tournament performances in history. It’s not remembered as such, simply because they didn’t win.