Jason Williams, such a talented player with such a bright future wasted. He would have been special in the NBA. That 2001 team with Williams, Chris Duhon, Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy, and Carlos Boozer was one of the best Duke teams ever.
JJ probably had the best individual career, but the fact that he had little success in the tourney leans me towards jay williams since he won a championship, and was also great individually. Also, Elton Brand should be considered. He won player of the year as a sophomore, and was one play away from a championship.
There is one answer and one answer only to this question:
Christian Laettner.
Without Laettner and his heroics, Duke doesn't win their first 2 national titles and probably misses out on at least 3 of the 4 Final 4s that he was a part of. He elevated Duke to the status of THE team to beat in college basketball and also was the man that really pushed people to take firm positions of either loving or despising the Dookies as they became the preeminent program in all of college basketball.
All of the other players listed were tremendous, but in my opinion, Laettner is far and away the best and most important player in the history of Duke basketball.
Hey where's Mike Gminski??? He takes no backseat!!! Seriously though, JJ Redick in the lineup takes us to the Final Four. Jason Williams in the lineup takes wins us the National Championship. Hill always took a backseat to Christi