The former Dook star died yesterday at the age 71. He was chosen first in the NBA draft and played a couple seasons for the Knicks. (Like all Dook stars, he washed out in the pros.) But what’s perhaps most notable about his career is that he’s often credited with really kicking off the Dook-UNC rivalry.
Heyman was originally set to head to Carolina, but after his father quarreled with coach Frank McGuire, Heyman changed his mind and went to Dook instead. UNC fans never forgave him.
During the 1960-1961 season, Heyman was involved in one of the most infamous rivalry brawls of all time when he got into a punching match with Larry Brown after fouling the Carolina star hard. Ironically, both players were from New York and were friends from childhood. Some things, however, supersede friendships, and Dook-Carolina is one of them.
Here now, Heyman’s most famous highlight:
Art should be honored in a memorial ceremony at Duke. He deserves one. Let’s hope it doesn’t take as many years to get a Memorial as it did to get his number retired. Time to act, Tar heels!