Christopher Nicholas Duhon was born August 31, 1982, in Mamou, Louisiana — a Cajun prairie town of about 3,000 people in the heart of Evangeline Parish. He was raised primarily by his mother, Vivian Harper, a former high school point guard who introduced her son to basketball before he could spell the word. He has a younger brother, Thomas.
The family moved from Mamou to New Orleans, then to Slidell — a suburban community on the north shore of Lake Pontchartrain — when Chris was ten. There was a weathered rim in the family driveway. Duhon shot on it every day. His mother’s guidance was constant. She had been a point guard herself. She knew the position. She understood that the game was about making other people better.
At Salmen High School in Slidell, Duhon became the best player in Louisiana. Senior year: Louisiana Mr. Basketball. McDonald’s All-American. Parade All-American. McDonald’s National HS Player of the Year. Won the McDonald’s Three-Point Shootout. USA Basketball Male Athlete of the Year. Ranked #13 nationally by ESPN, #6 by RSCI.
‘Growing up in Louisiana, LSU was always the school you kind of always wanted to go to. I thought that was the only place I would be able to go.’ But when every program in America called, he chose Duke. ‘I thought Duke gave me the best of both worlds.’