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The Foul Heard Round The World: A Year Later

Feb 1, 2008

It was the foul heard round the basketball world. There's no question that Gerald Henderson's forearm to the face of Tyler Hansbrough took the Duke-Carolina rivalry to another level.

But in the days after the incident, which Henderson has always maintained was unintentional, the Duke sophomore turned to an old friend to help mend the Duke-Carolina fences - his high school teammate Wayne Ellington.

"He was the guy that got me Tyler's number, to call him before the ACC Tournament," Henderson said.

"It was just lingering, and I knew he didn't do anything on purpose, said Ellington. "He just wanted to get in touch with Tyler, so I got them on the phone. They talked about it, and he apologized."

"[It was] just to see how he was doing, and tell him whatever happened was unintentional on my part," a stoic Henderson recounted.

To this day, Tyler Hansbrough still doesn't like talking about the incident, but he has gone on record saying he doesn't think Henderson ever meant to break his nose.

But despite the claims from both sides that this was all accidental, one thing is for certain, Duke's high-flying guard will not get a warm welcome from the Carolina faithful.

"I don't think he will be talked to very nicely," admitted Nathan Levy, a Carolina fan. "I really don't think our parents will like what we say to him."

"Even if the incident never happened, it would be pretty hostile in there," predicted Henderson. But I'm sure it will be double that."

• Reporter: Ken Medlin
• Web Editor: Ryan Craig