Just last year, Duke's Luol Deng and Connecticut's Charlie Villanueva were battling each other in practice at Blair Academy in New Jersey. Saturday they will match up again. But this time instead of as friends and teammates it will be on opposing benches at the Final Four with a spot in the National Championship on the line.
"It's amazing how last year we both talked about going to college, and how we're going to meet and play each other," Deng said. "But I don't think we [ever imagined] it would be the Final Four, and it's just an amazing feeling what I'm feeling right now."
"Luol and I helped each other out a lot," Villanueva said. "Sometimes he got the best out of me. Sometimes I got the best out of him."
Through all of their friendly battles, they never quarreled.
Now just a year removed from playing together for a state title and joking about the possibility of an All-Blair Academy Final Four with fellow alumni Royal Ivey of Texas (Blair 2000) and Jason Haas of Stanford (Blair 2002), the two will be forced to put their friendship aside for 40 minutes and fight for a chance to play in the National Championship game.
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