A 1920 UNC grad, Thomas Wolfe wrote You Can’t Go Home Again, never knowing that the phrase would enter the lexicon, because the book was published posthumously.
Coby White may be hearing that phrase soon, after he said this to the Charlotte Observer about his new Hornets teammate, former Duke star Grayson Allen:
“The one thing I’ve always noticed about G.A. is his ability to impact winning. Everywhere he’s gone, he’s won. Whether it’s Milwaukee, he’s been a winner everywhere he goes. He’s been part
of a winning culture. He’s been part of a winning organization. So I think first and foremost, he knows what winning looks like, and he knows what it takes to win at this level.”
We’re just kidding about not being able to go back to Chapel Hill – sort of – but some folks in the Chapel Hill orbit won’t be able to accept praise of Duke, or Duke players, under any circumstance, least of all now, when Michael Malone is trying to jump-start the program as the neighbors down 15-501 have pulled well ahead of the Tar Heels.
For the most part, once guys move through, it’s time to let it go. We can always have fun with it, but our opinions of guys like Rasheed Wallace, John Henson, and…well, there just haven’t been that many lately to let things go with, so we’ll just stop there (see what we did there?)
There are some guys where it’s harder to look past the rivalry, though. You’d have a hard time finding a Duke fan who speaks well of Tyler Hansbrough, Kenny Smith or, at least for now, Seth Trimble, and UNC fans still have issues with Allen, Christian Laettner, and Gerald Henderson, who left Hansbrough in need of serious dental work back in the day.
By the way, if you have never read Wolfe and don’t have time to read his rambling but fine novels, you might want to check out two things: a short story called “The Child by Tiger,” which is an account of a man who went on a shooting spree in Asheville in 1906, and was subsequently lynched, and an essay called “I Have a Thing to Tell You.” Wolfe was a Germanophile, and immensely popular in Germany, but the rise of the Nazis deeply troubled him.
He understood what was coming as well as anyone, and he tried to warn the world. It cost him dearly to do it, but he could not stay silent.
Both are well worth your time.
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