2003 Top 50 List: No
Dan Collins List: Yes
There are nine pairs of teammates who came in together, finished together, and both of whom are reasonable candidates for the Top 100:
- Johnny Dawkins and Mark Alarie, Duke, 1983-1986
- JJ Redick and Shelden Williams, Duke, 2003-2006
- Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith, Duke, 2008-2011
- Tom McMillen and Len Elmore, Maryland, 1972-1974
- Juan Dixon and Lonny Baxter, Maryland, 1999-2002
- Pete Brennan and Tommy Kearns, UNC, 1956-1958
- York Larese and Doug Moe, UNC, 1959-1961
- Lou Pucillo and John Richter, NC State, 1957-1959
- John Roche and Tom Owens, South Carolina, 1969-1971
I’ll go ahead and tell you that not all 18 of these players made the Top 100, but they are all at least reasonable candidates. I suppose you could throw in Stackhouse/Wallace, Monroe/Corchiani, and Jamison/Carter if you like; I didn’t, because Wallace, Corchiani, and Carter are not credible candidates for the Top 100 in my opinion.
Now, it seems like if you have two teammates among the Top 100 players in ACC history, and who played together for 3-4 years, that your team should accomplish something during that time, doesn’t it? Let’s see what these teams accomplished.
| Team | Teammates | Overall W-L | ACC W-L | ACC Titles | Final Fours | Nat’l Champs |
| Duke 1983-1986 | Dawkins, Alarie | 95-38 | 30-26 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Duke 2003-2006 | Redick, Williams | 116-23 | 49-15 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Duke 2008-2011 | Singler, Smith | 125-23 | 50-14 | 3 | 1 | 1 |
| Maryland 1972-1974 | McMillen, Elmore | 73-17 | 24-12 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Maryland 1999-2002 | Dixon, Baxter | 110-31 | 49-15 | 0 | 2 | 1 |
| UNC 1956-1958 | Brennan, Kearns | 69-12 | 35-7 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| UNC 1959-1961 | Larese, Moe | 57-15 | 36-6 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| NC State 1957-1959 | Pucillo, Richter | 55-21 | 29-13 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| South Carolina 1969-1971 | Roche, Owens | 69-16 | 35-7 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
Alarie and Dawkins started all 133 of those games. I’ll talk about this more when we get to Dawkins, but unlike most of the other teammates on this list, they had to build from the ground up. Duke was 11-17 their freshman year, then 24-10, then 23-8, then 37-3 in that memorable 1986 year. Alarie was the Lonny Baxter to Dawkins’ Juan Dixon. I just made that up, but the more I think about it, it’s a good comparison. But I think Alarie was a little bit better than Lonny Baxter. He is one of only 14 players in the 2000 points/800 rebounds club – all of whom are in the Top 100.
Alarie made first team All-ACC as a sophomore – over Dawkins. But his numbers slipped a bit as a junior, and it’s not clear why; it was exactly the same team. In any case, as a senior his numbers got back up to where they had been as a sophomore, and he was back on first team. He snuck onto UPI third team All-American as well.