Drafted 11th overall by the Orlando Magic in 2006, JJ Redick is widely considered to be one of the greatest three-point shooters in basketball history. Redick, who hails from Tennessee, first made national headlines during his stellar four-year stint at perennial powerhouse Duke University, where he played shooting guard. After an uneven start to his NBA career, which left many wondering if his extraordinary shooting ability could make up for some ball-handling and defensive shortcomings on the professional level, he finally found his stride in his eighth season after joining the LA Clippers. During his lengthy 15-season NBA career he played for six teams, averaged 12.8 points per game, and established himself as one of the league's best long distance shooters, with a career percentage of 41.5% from behind the three-point line. In addition to his basketball career, he is also a successful ESPN analyst and podcaster, hosting a basketball and entertainment podcast titled "The Old Man and the Three."
By all accounts, Redick is one of the most successful basketball players to ever don a Duke Blue Devils uniform. He enrolled at Duke in 2002 after being a highly recruited high school basketball star – he was listed as the No. 13 best player in the nation during his senior year. In his tenure at Duke, he shot 40.6% from three and an amazing 91% from the free throw line. His former college coach, Mike Krzyzewski, has called him the best pure shooter in Duke basketball history. With 2,769 points in his college career, the feisty guard scored more points than anyone in Duke’s history. In terms of awards, he was a two-time consensus All-American and won the John R. Wooden Award for the nation’s most outstanding player. He also finished his college career as the ACC’s all-time scoring leader and the NCAA’s all-time leader in made threes. In 2006, he received his Bachelor of Arts in History from Duke.
Less than a year after his departure for the NBA, Redick returned to his alma mater to become the 13th Duke basketball player to have his jersey retired. At Duke, the criteria for having a jersey retired includes achieving great things at the national level and earning a degree before leaving. He was always going to be a shoo-in. The ceremony was held during a special halftime show at Cameron Indoor Stadium; Redick was joined by members of Duke royalty like Grant Hill and Mike Gminski, in addition to the 9,000 rabid Duke fans in attendance for the game. Then, a banner bearing his number was unveiled hanging in the rafters at Cameron, meaning that no other player at Duke will be allowed to wear that number again. "I am just extremely humbled," Redick said. "Every time now that I walk into Cameron, it's going to mean something more. This is something that I crazily dreamed about years ago."