The 15 Duke basketball stars who could have starred in football

Duke basketball stars who could’ve starred in football: LB Nate James

Though 2001 national champ Nate James and the next fella on this ranking are not quite deserving to be in the top five, they were the first two to come to mind, pre-Zion, when thinking of Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devils who looked the part of a football player.

Broad shoulders. A willingness to do all the dirty work if need be. Adept at putting himself in position for 3-pointers, rebounds, steals, blocks, and so on. While it’s true that James could have used another 10 or so pounds to his chiseled build to shine as a power-five outside linebacker, his consistently visible work ethic as a player and now as an assistant is proof enough he’d do exactly that had he chosen the pigskin path.