the city game...

hey called it the Underground Railroad. In 1952, the Manhattan-born Frank McGuire left St. John's and headed south to coach the University of North Carolina, taking a raft of the city's high school stars with him. On March 23, 1957, he led the undefeated Tar Heels and their all-New York starting five to a national title - a 54-53 triple-overtime victory over Wilt Chamberlain and the Kansas Jayhawks.

It was official: The City Game and its practitioners were suddenly one of the Big Apple's most valuable exports. "I believe we know more about basketball in New York," McGuire, a Hall of Fame coach, once said.

While McGuire was credited with laying the foundation that had arguably made the Atlantic Coast Conference college basketball's best league, he understood where the concrete came from.

"Even the players are better," he said. "A kid has to dodge and fake just to get on the subway. It makes him a good feinter just to walk on the streets."