Birmingham, Alabama – A product from Jordan High School in Durham, Sydney Barker grew up between Duke and the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, essentially within walking distance of both Cameron Indoor Stadium and the Carmichael Arena.
She didn't choose who she was trying to root for growth. Her parents are both UNC alumni, totting young Sydney into countless games at Carmichael. Barker went to former UNC coach Sylvia Hatchel's summer basketball camp. She has seen countless sports with Duke and UNC plays, in person and on TV, in many sports. Her most vivid memory of her women's basketball rivalry is seeing Parikea score 36 points against the Blue Devils in her 2018 home overtime victory for the Tar Heels.
Barker also played in rivalry. A freshman walk-on from last season – she joined her beloved Tar Heel instead of filming one of several offers from the mid-major program – Barker rocked a key three-pointer in UNC's 63-59 victory in the regular season finale at Chapel Hill.
But it's something Barker never imagined to be part of this chapter of rivalry at this stage.
“I feel it's very special,” Barker told SB Nation. “Wow, we can be a part of it. That's amazing. I can't wait. I wish I could play today.”
Just as the men's basketball team did in the 2022 Final Four, the Tar Heels and Blue Devils will face off in the Sweet 16, writing a new chapter on women's basketball rivalry on Friday afternoon at the Legacy Arena in Birmingham. UNC has not been around since 2014 or since 2013.
For either UNC's Courtney Banghart or Duke's Kara Lawson, another opportunity for them to seize a milestone victory. For the past six months, coaches have restructured two of the ACC's signature program, just a few miles away on Tobacco Road. This year, for the first time since 2007, all three programs surrounded by North Carolina's research triangles are in the sweet 16.
“These were traditionally two heavyweights in conferences. That wasn't what Kara or I did. I'm in charge of it at this moment,” says Vangart. “A lot of the coaches who created the fact that these games are important because they are always good, or in our case 1, came before us. That's what makes these rivals special. I think Duke Carolina's rivalry is much bigger than me or this team.”
In women's basketball, UNC rivalry began with NC State in the mid-1970s. When Wolfpack let Kay Yo become a full-time women's basketball coach, she quickly saw a big win, rather than saddening her with extra responsibilities such as coaching another team or coaching. NC state became a regular in the AIAW tournament and began to become 16th generations in the 1980s when the NCAA launched its own women's basketball tournament. UNC failed to beat their rivals in Raleigh, so they also took the sports coach to a full-time position, hiring Jennifer Alley away from High Point. She made Tar Heel a respectable program and took her to four straight NCAA tournaments before resigning in 1986.
If Alley built the car, Hatchell dropped the engine. She coached UNC-Squad, which was led by Charlotte Smith and Marion Jones to the national championship in 1994. She is the only women's basketball coach in the triangle to win a national title.
However, Gail Goestenkors has come quite close several times. Duke finally took women's basketball seriously in the 1990s and hired Goestenkors to take the program to the next level. She did just that. Under her 15 seasons of watch, the Blue Devils won five ACC tournaments, went to four Final Fours, producing the best players of all time, like Alanabiard.
And all three programs experienced downswing in the 2010s.
At UNC, Hatchel never evolved as a coach and resigned amid the scandal. At Duke, things started well under Joan P. McCurry on her fourth straight trip to the Elite Eight, but her tenure has become a whim with too many mistakes in recruitment and talent reviews. After Yoh passed away in 2009, North Carolina replaced her with Kelly Harper. He has since been a promising head coach for West Carolina. She was fired after missing the NCAA Tournament for three consecutive seasons and was hired by former YOW assistant Moore to rebuild the program.
Finally, all three programs have returned to the sports elite tier. Each of them spent time ranked within the top 10 of the AP Top 25 polls this season. And now they have only two wins as they each go to the Final Four.
To get there, Duke and North Carolina have to go through each other to shape the game and become something low-score. Both the Blue Devils and Tar Heels rank in the top 10 nationally in defensive ratings. In each of the past seven meetings, the winning team has not scored more than 68 points.
“I think it would be cool to even showcase what Carolina Duke's rivalry is at a bigger stage,” said Alyssa Ustby, a fifth-year student at UNC. “Obviously, it's always a rough game, so it's pretty cool to show the rest of the country.”
Around the tar heels on Thursday, the hype for Friday's game was obvious.
That wasn't the case for the Blue Devils.
Until a reporter told her, Lawson claimed he didn't know it was the first meeting at the NCAA tournament between Duke and UNC.
“I'm not really, and I'm not working either way. It's not just another game,” Lawson said without hints of irony. “It's an important game. It's a game that takes a step beyond where you could reach a year ago, and puts you in a position to play in the Final 4 spot.”
It is the 111th time that Duke and UNC have faced each other, with the Tar Heels retaining a narrow advantage of 56-54. In an in-person meeting in this era of rivalry, Bangart has a 6-3 advantage over Lawson.
Even if Lawson gets so intense about renewing his rivalry in Sweet 16, her players are. At least a little.
“I think when I say this, I'm talking for all of us, but we're all very excited to play them again,” said Duke freshman Toby Fournier, ACC Rookie of the Year. “They're a great team, they're very competitive, offensive, defensive. I feel that it's a great matchup for us. I think we're both very prepared. I think it's going to be a great game.”
The goal of this game is to be very special for Unc Point Guard's Reniya Kelly. She grew up in Hoover, Alabama less than 20 miles from here, where she scored a school record of 2,272 points. Her retired 10th place jersey is hanging at Hoover High School after leading the team to four state championships.
Kelly is 4-1 at Legacy Arena. In front of friends and family, she wants to include another tally in her victory column.
“I love this place, I have so many experiences and the atmosphere is always good here,” Kelly said. “The main focus is winning. Obviously, this is a big rival and I think fans will love it.”
