Carolina had a HoF coach & a famous university and, in 2013, I'm not sure that dook had many more NBA players/FO folks than we did.
Dook had few NBA stars in 2013, and a lot more flameouts. They had Boozer and Irving. But also McRoberts, Singler, Shelden Williams, etc.
In 2013, Danny Green was almost finals MVP. Hans was a solid rotation player for a good team. Lawson was close to an all-star. Vince was still around. Sheed I think I had retired, but only recently. Same with 'Tawn. The UNC portfolio in the pros > Duke portfolio. I guess Battier was still around, as a role player of sorts.
From 1982 to 2005, I think, there was a UNC player involved in the NBA finals as player or coach every single season but two, IIRC. I did that calculation at some point. And in many years, multiples. That was still in active memory, especially given Danny Green's visibility.
It's changed considerably since then.