March Madness

Celebrity Sightings at Duke-UNC Final Four Showdown

Here are the celebrities that were spotted at the Duke-UNC Final Four game on Saturday

USA Today

The highly anticipated Duke-UNC Final Four showdown did not disappoint.

Fans around the country witnessed No. 8 North Carolina take down No. 2 Duke 81-77 in a historic matchup that put an end to legendary Mike Krzyzewski's 42-year coaching career. 

Krzyzewski, 75, is the winningest college basketball coach of all time, amassing an impressive 1202-368 record. Additionally, he holds the NCAA Tournament records for games coached with 131 and wins with 101. He has guided Duke to 27 appearances in the Sweet 16, 17 appearances in the Elite Eight and five national championships (1991, 1992, 2001, 2010, 2015).

The intrastate rivals have played one another 255 times, but this was their first time facing off in the NCAA Tournament. There’s no doubt that the iconic clash produced numerous celebrity sightings at Caesars Superdome on Saturday night.

Here are the celebrities that were spotted watching the Blue Devils battle the Tar Heels in the Final Four:

Scott Drew

Drew is the head coach of the Baylor men's basketball team. He led the Bears to win the program's first NCAA Championship in 2021, beating Gonzaga in the final. 

Since joining the Bears in 2003, he has amassed a 621-399 record and was named Big 12 Coach of the Year three years in a row (2019-2022).

Shane Battier

Battier played basketball for the Blue Devils between 1997 and 2001 under Krzyzewski. He is a two-time medalist representing the United States in men's basketball at the Goodwill Games in Brisbane (2001) earning gold and the FIBA World Championship in Japan (2006) earning bronze. In 2019, he was inducted into the College Basketball Hall of Fame.

Battier went on to play in the NBA, competing for the Grizzlies, Rockets and Heat. He was a two-time NBA Champion with the Heat (2012, 2013).

Charles Barkley

Barkley is known for playing in the NBA for 16 seasons on three teams: the 76ers, Suns and Rockets. He was named the NBA's most valuable player in 1993 and is a two-time Olympic gold medalist as a member of the U.S. National team (1992, 1996). He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006.

Since retirement, Barkley has had a successful career as an NBC analyst working for TNT on “Inside the NBA.”

Jamie Foxx

Foxx is an actor, comedian and singer, who first garnered attention for his impersonations on the comedy show “In Living Color.” He was given his own sitcom “The Jamie Foxx Show,” which aired for five years in 1996.

He is also a Grammy-Award-winning musician, producing four highly successful albums: Billboard 200: Unpredictable (2005), Intuition (2008), Best Night of My Life (2010), and Hollywood: A Story of a Dozen Roses (2015).

Daniel Jones

Jones is a quarterback for the New York Giants. Before he was drafted by the Giants in the 2019 NFL Draft, signing a four-year rookie contract worth $25.664 million, including a $16.7 million signing bonus, he played college football at Duke.

As the starting quarterback for the Blue Devils, he completed 270 of 430 passes for 2,836 yards, 16 touchdowns and nine interceptions.

Tyler Hansbrough

Hansbrough played college basketball for the Tar Heels from 2005-2009. After becoming the first ACC player in history to be named All-ACC four times and first-team All-American four times, he won an NCAA championship his senior season in 2009.

In the 2009 NBA Draft, Hansbrough was selected by the Indiana Pacers, where he competed for four seasons. He went on to play two seasons for the Raptors and one for the Hornets. Currently, he competes for the Sichuan Blue Whales of the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA).

Roy Williams

Williams coached Kansas for 15 years and North Carolina for 18 years, amassing a tremendous career record of 903-264.

He led the Tar Heels to three national championships (2005, 2009, 2017), five Final Four appearances and three ACC Tournament Championships. 

Williams, who graduated from UNC in 1972, was named ACC Coach of the Year and Big 12 Coach of the Year for two seasons each. Williams, 71, retired from coaching in 2021.

Kenny Smith

Smith played college basketball for the Tar Heels (1983-87). In 1987, he went on to play in the NBA. He competed for the Kings, Hawks, Rockets, Pistons, Magic and Nuggets over the span of 10 seasons. He won back-to-back NBA championships with Houston (1994, 1995).

After retirement from the NBA, Smith became a basketball commentator on “Inside the NBA” on TNT. He also serves as an analyst for CBS/Turner during March Madness.

Eric Church

Church, a famous country singer, announced he was canceling his sold-out concert in San Antolino, Texas on Saturday to attend the Duke-UNC game.

In a statement to his fans, he said: "This Saturday, my family and I are going to stand together to cheer on the Tar Heels as the team has made it to the Final Four. As a lifelong Carolina basketball fan, I’ve watched Carolina and Duke battle over the years but to have them matchup in the Final Four for the first time in history of the NCAA Tournament is any sports enthusiast’s dream.”

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