13-05-2025
"Death threats, and a cross burnt in my front yard" - Dominique Wilkins recalls living in North Carolina after he chose to go to Georgia
Dominique Wilkins was a high school phenom. A walking headline. A soaring, rim-snapping promise of basketball brilliance out of Washington High School in North Carolina. Nique was supposed to play for North Carolina State. That was the plan. Homegrown hero. The local boy stays home. Red and white banners, ACC glory, and decades of nostalgia in the making.
But just as the ink was expected to dry, another school came knocking. The University of Georgia entered the picture late — and Wilkins listened. Then he signed. And then, North Carolina turned.
Wilkins' decision
He and five other high school All-Americans decided to go there together. The decision to choose Georgia came at a cost. It was a move of autonomy and vision, but for the people in his hometown, it was a betrayal.
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"Once I made that decision, all hell broke loose in the state of North Carolina," he said. "I got F's on my transcript, paint poured on my car, windows burst down, death threats, and a cross burnt in my front yard."
This became targeted hate. At 18, Wilkins became the enemy of his own community. The same people who had cheered his state titles and filled gyms just to watch him dunk were now willing to destroy him for leaving the ACC.
By the end of the 1970s, he had already carved out legend status in the local hoops scene — back-to-back MVP honors, back-to-back Class 3-A State Championships, and a game that danced somewhere between raw power and divine grace. He was everything the state hoped for. Until he wasn't.
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His cousin, a police officer, got the call when things reached a boiling point. He told Wilkins he'd escort him to the police station to get things sorted. But after seeing the rage boiling in the streets and hearing the whispers of violence, he changed his mind and told Nique to pack.
That night, the 6'8" forward and his family left for Atlanta. No fanfare. No goodbye. Just silence and fear folded into cardboard boxes. He never returned to North Carolina — not for 30 years.
Related: Isiah Thomas recalls his college recruitment: "My mom closed the briefcase and said, 'My son's not for sale"
Facing hate
Wilkins didn't have any pleasant memories of North Carolina after making the decision not to go to school there. The most harrowing was the appearance of a burning cross in his front yard
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"I go out the front door, and I get to the front yard; there's a big cross in front of my yard," Wilkins said. "And I remember being very nervous and scared to being very angry."
It was the kind of moment that rearranges a young man's understanding of home, safety, and identity. Hate called. It set up camp on his lawn. In the days after, the spiral got worse. Accusations started flying. One claimed he stole a tape from a department store, which was the final straw.
That night, Atlanta became a sanctuary. Georgia became salvation. And Wilkins never looked back. In Athens, Georgia, the Atlanta icon went to work. Across three college seasons, he averaged 21.6 points per game, muscling through defenses and dunking with the kind of rage only survivors carry.
He was named to the All-Southeastern Conference First Team in 1981 and was widely projected to be a top pick in the 1982 NBA Draft. He left college after his junior year, ready to write the next chapter.
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North Carolina, though, remained a scar. For three decades, he stayed away. No visits. No hometown reconnections. Just distance. Until 2014 — when the state tried to make amends. A statue of Wilkins was unveiled at his high school. That was the first time he came back.
Wilkins didn't return as a broken son. He returned as a Hall of Famer, a nine-time NBA All-Star, and one of the greatest to ever do it. His choice to leave didn't derail him; it defined him.
Related: "If 'Nique decides to stay, I'm not gonna take 21" - Dominique Wilkins says Tim Duncan would've never worn his jersey number out of respect
