Duke-UNC has divided a Charlotte-area high school that has players on both sides
Duke’s Wendell Moore and North Carolina’s Leaky Black were teammates and led a Charlotte-area high school to a state championship. Saturday, they’ll be opponents on the biggest stage — when the Blue Devils and Tar Heels renew one of sport’s best rivalries in the Final Four.
And the meeting has their former high school coach and at least one of their teammates conflicted.
Jordy Barbee coached Moore and Black at Cox Mill High School in the 2017-18 season. Black had just returned to the area after playing one season at national power Montverde (Fla.) Academy and playing two years at Concord High School before that. Moore had become the N.C. Basketball Coaches Association state player of the year in 2016-17, when he led Cox Mill to a 3A state title as a sophomore.
Together, they led a team that won 18 straight games to finish their one season together, winning each game by an average of more than 30 points in that run, and Cox Mill won another state championship. Moore was a junior; Black a senior.
“To be honest,” Barbee said, “when both of them chose the schools they chose, you knew they were going to play each other and be on the biggest stage. In my opinion, it’s the greatest rivalry in sports, and when the brackets came out this year, you knew there was a legit chance that if (UNC and Duke) got hot, they could meet in New Orleans. So, man, I’m ecstatic. I think it’s great and they represent Cabarrus County, Cox Mill High School on and off the court, and their accolades speak for themselves.”
But who are you pulling for, coach?
“I’m a Carolina fan,” Barbee said. “I want Carolina to win for sure. Wendell knew that when he was going to Duke. I told him I hope you win 30 games, but I hope there’s two you don’t win — those two against Carolina every year — and they both know it.”
But one of Black and Moore’s former teammates is pulling for Duke — and for good reason.
Caleb Carrawell’s father, Chris, played for Coach K at Duke and now is an assistant with the Blue Devils. Caleb, now a 21-year-old rising sophomore at Austin Peay, is playing for a former Duke player, coach Nate James.
Saturday, Caleb will be sitting right behind his father and the Duke bench in New Orleans; he and Wendell Moore are best friends.
“I think it’s a huge experience for Rechon (Leaky’s real name) and Wendell,” Caleb Carrawell said. “Not only are they friends and played on the same high school team, but this is a huge rivalry and everybody knows about it. It’s just crazy all of us won a state championship together, and they’re going on to the next level and doing it as well. Unfortunately, there can only be one winner this time. It’ll be one of the biggest college basketball games ever. It’s really the ultimate bragging rights for both of them.”
Carrawell said he and Moore spoke earlier this week, and he said usually when they talk it’s not often about basketball. But Saturday, he said, is all about hoops.
“I’m definitely going for Wendell, man,” Carrawell said. “For sure. I want Duke and Wendell and my dad to pull it out. I’ve never been a UNC fan anyway.
“No room for that.”
While Carrawell will watch the historic game in person, Barbee will be at a friend’s lake house. He said watching there has been a good luck charm for North Carolina in the tournament, so why stop now.
“Honestly,” Barbee said. “I hope they both play well and both really shine and that it’s a good game and they continue to improve their (NBA) draft stock.”
Then, he stops.
“But I want UNC to win.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2022 at 11:49 AM with the headline "Duke-UNC has divided a Charlotte-area high school that has players on both sides."
