What If Michael Jordan Had Played For Duke?

Duke wrapped its fifth men’s basketball title on Monday night, a shining reflection on the legacy of longtime coach Mike Krzyzewski. A legacy one Michael Jordan might’ve played a large role in once upon a recruitment.

In October 1980, when Jordan was a high school senior roughly four months shy of his 18th birthday, Krzyzewski sent a letter (seen here) wishing Jordan well in his college career, which would ultimately include suiting up for home games at the University of North Carolina‘s ear-splittingly loud Carmichael Auditorium instead of Duke’s storied Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Jordan turned down Coach K and Duke in favor of UNC and head coach Dean Smith, the man Jordan would later credit as a father figure whose fundamental style of basketball helped plant the seeds of Jordan’s NBA superstardom.

But what if that story had flipped the other way, with Jordan wearing Duke blue and impacting all future Duke recruiting classes the way he did at UNC? Would Krzyzewski now be celebrating his sixth or seventh NCAA title, or merely his second or third?

Jordan was not heavily recruited entering his 1980-81 senior year at Emsley A. Laney High School in Wilmington, North Carolina, a fact that adds to the mystique of his dream-like 1982 NCAA title-clinching shot. The odds of Jordan picking Duke were somewhat larger than they might appear.

Jordan or no Jordan, Duke and UNC have fared well in hoops over the last three plus decades. Both schools are tied with Indiana University for most NCAA basketball titles at five apiece, and have produced dozens of NBA caliber players.

Still, much like Jordan signing with Nike instead of adidas, the Duke and North Carolina comparison remains an endlessly amusing what-if in the longview of Michael Jordan’s exceptional career.