Former Wake Forest/San Antonio Spurs basketball star Tim Duncan had a major impact on Tennessee Vols football in the late 90s.
Yes, you read that correctly.
Let me explain.
After the 1995-96 season, Duncan considered leaving Wake Forest to enter the 1996 NBA Draft. He likely would’ve been the No. 1 selection if he would’ve gone pro.
Duncan, however, elected to stick around in Winston Salem for one more season. The Virgin Islands native won ACC player of the year and national player of the year honors in 1997, thanks to his decision to stay at Wake Foret for his senior season.
During that 1996-97 season, Wake Forest played a road game against the Virginia Cavaliers (February 22, 1997).
Tennessee quarterback Peyton Manning was in attendance for the matchup between the Demon Deacons and the Cavaliers (Manning was visiting his girlfriend, now his wife, Ashley).
At the time, Manning was trying to decide whether or not to come back to UT for his senior season.
Manning sought out Duncan after the game since the Wake Forest standout had just made a similar decision.
The former Vols quarterback recently discussed that conversation with The Athletic.
“I basically just kind of asked, ‘Hey, Tim, what was the main decision for you to decide to stay?’ And from what I recall, it wasn’t just one thing,” said Manning. “He actually said, ‘I thought I could get even better as a senior, get even more prepared for the NBA’. But he also liked college. He liked the college experience. He liked his coaches, liked his teammates, liked Wake Forest, and he just didn’t want to leave that right away. Boy, that just made a big impact on me, because basically what it told me was that it was OK to stay. Right?”
“This is the time where everybody was leaving. … I remember talking to other people, quarterbacks, like Drew Bledsoe had left,” explained Manning. “So I kind of got his reason. Michael Jordan, believe it or not, I ended up speaking with — he had left as a junior. So I’m talking to a lot of these people that had left, and I’m like, it’s kind of one-sided here.”
“I think deep down I probably wanted to stay, but I just wanted to know somebody else that had done it and didn’t regret it. And Tim Duncan was that person for me.”
On March 5, just two weeks after his conversation with Duncan, Manning announced his intentions to return to Knoxville for his senior season.
Joseph Amonett, Duncan’s former teammate at Wake Forest, told The Athletic that he doesn’t think Manning would’ve returned to Tennessee without that conversation with Duncan.
“This is my opinion: Peyton Manning doesn’t come back for his next season if he doesn’t come and talk to Tim Duncan,” said Amonett.
Manning may not have won a national championship at Tennessee as a senior, nor did he win the Heisman Trophy (though he should’ve), but thanks to Tim Duncan, he never has to wonder “what if”.
Featured image via Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports
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