The most hated Duke basketball faces: Bobby Hurley
Something about the juvenile faces and body language that Bobby Hurley put on display when regularly arguing calls with officials just seemed to irk opposing fanbases. Adding to the hate, of course, was the mere fact he was the starting point guard across all four of his seasons, coinciding with the unmatched Duke basketball glory days.
Hurley, who still owns an NCAA record three decades later with 1,076 career assists, looked like Eddie Munster but played like the next John Stockton.
Combine those two comparisons with 1) his back-to-back national titles, 2) his status back in the day as the most animated teammate to arguably the most hated player in the history of college basketball (you know who), and 3) his bonafide candidacy to take over the reins in Durham one day now that he has posted three consecutive 20-win seasons as Arizona State’s head coach.
Of course, the presence of the aforementioned “hated one” — no need to name him just yet, for we all know he’s coming up on this list — took away from some of the hate that Hurley might have otherwise attracted to himself.
At the same time, though, Hurley owes said player plenty of credit — even though the two fiery competitors themselves hated one another on occasion — for reaching the popularity level that he did during Duke’s 1990-91 and 1991-92 title seasons.
Indeed, the public seems to demand that there be no less than one ultra-loathed Dukie for each of the program’s banner years. So on that note, let’s talk about this next dude…