First published 2016
In March 1980, Duke University announces its new basketball coach: Mike Krzyzewski, an unknown Army coach with a mediocre record and an unpronounceable name. Nine days later, North Carolina State hires the energetic Jim Valvano. Both men now face the ultimate challenge: toppling Dean Smith, the legendary coach who has built UNC Chapel Hill into a basketball powerhouse just down the road. What follows is a decade of intense competition that will reshape college basketball forever. Feinstein takes readers inside the recruiting wars, the personal battles between these three coaching giants, and the enormous pressure that comes with leading programs in college basketball's most competitive region. Through unprecedented access to all three coaches, he reveals how their rivalry transformed not just their teams but the entire landscape of college athletics. This is the story of three men whose ambitions collided in the crucible of North Carolina basketball, creating a competitive fire that defined an era.
Genres: history, 20th-century, sports, non-fiction, biography-memoir, academia, basketball, american-history
Vibes: emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-lovers, rivalry
Setting: Duke University, North Carolina, North Carolina State
Period: 1980s
404 pages · Hardcover · Doubleday