Three Paths to Glory: A Season on the Hardwood with Duke, N.C. State, and North Carolina

The Atlantic Coast Conference is generally considered to play the best college basketball in the country, and three of its major teams are located in a 40-square-mile area of North Carolina. Jacobs, who covers the ACC for the New York Times , charts the triumphs and tragedies of those three teams through the 1992-93 season in this intimate, anecdotal study. North Carolina State, fighting back from the legacy left by disgraced former coach Jim Valvano, was truly snakebit: one of the players committed suicide, three were dropped for academic deficiencies and two suffered serious injuries. Duke, national champions in 1991 and 1992, expected to repeat and opened the year with 10 victories. But it was the University of North Carolina, coached by the legendary Dean Smith, that went to the Final Four, defeating Kansas handily and beating Michigan 77-71 in a contest far closer than the final score would indicate. The book will be a treat for all roundball fans and obviously a must for citizens of the Tar Heel State. Photos not seen by PW . (Dec.)