College rivalries often run so deep that the tension between players continues long after they leave campus and enter the NBA. That was the case when Jalen Rose made controversial comments about Black players from the Duke Blue Devils men's basketball team, referring to them as "Uncle Toms."
His remarks were so aggravating that they really bothered the Duke sensation from the '90s, Grant Hill , who unhesitatingly labeled those comments as "sad and somewhat pathetic" in an open letter.
During his three seasons with the Michigan Wolverines, Rose was part of the infamous "Fab Five" team expected to win a national championship. However, during his freshman year, he saw Michigan reach the NCAA championship game only to get humiliated 71-51 by Hill and Christian Laettner's (who combined for 37 points) Blue Devils.
The disappointment from that loss stayed with Rose for many years. When ESPN released its "Fab Five" documentary, Jalen expressed strong hatred toward Duke as an overall college program, going as far as to label Grant and other black Duke players recruited during the early 1990s as "Uncle Toms."
"I hated Duke, and I hated everything Duke stood for, " Rose said . " Schools like Duke didn't recruit players like me. I felt like they only recruited black players that were Uncle Toms."
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In response, Grant addressed the remarks in an open letter published in the New York Times. Having defeated Michigan four times during his Duke career from '90 to '94 highlighted how Jalen took the emotional impact of some losses way too far and in the wrong direction. Hill explained how Rose appeared to twist the meaning of a deeply offensive term to fit into his own narrative.
In a stern manner, not only did G-Hill caution against going overboard, but he also emphasized that such language carried serious historical weight and should not be thrown out so casually.
"My teammates at Duke - all of them, black and white - were a band of brothers who came together to play at the highest level for the best coach in basketball. I know most of the black players who preceded and followed me at Duke. They all contribute to our tradition of excellence on the court, " Hill wrote . " It is insulting and ignorant… I caution my fabulous five friends to avoid stereotyping me and others they do not know."
Clearly, while Hill had moved on to focus on enriching his NBA career, he felt it was unnecessary for someone as experienced as Rose to revisit that iconic Michigan vs. Duke rivalry with such negativity. So Grant decided to respond in his manner — calm, cool, collected and to the point.
That being said, in his final chapter of this controversy, however, Rose acknowledged that he made those remarks when he was merely a teenager. At the same time, Jalen explained that the intensity of the on-court rivalry made it difficult for him to restrain his emotions, which is why he stood behind what he said.
Just a show of how deep those NCAA rivalries can get, especially during those times, and the characters playing college ball.
This story was originally published by Basketball Network on Mar 5, 2026, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
