But a guy like Dunleavy deserves one for the way he’s played in this year’s ACC tournament at Charlotte Coliseum.

“He has made a difference,” coach Mike Krzyzewski pointed out on Saturday, a glowing endorsement if ever there was one. “He gave us a huge lift today, because some of the looks we were getting we weren’t knocking down. We needed him.”

And while Dunleavy didn’t single-handedly rescue the Devils in their punch-the-clock 82-73 semifinal win over Wake Forest, his sixth-man contribution glittered like an emerald in the mud. The lanky, 6-7 guard shot 4-for-5 from the field — including 3-for-3 from three-point range — providing 15 points off Coach K’s bench. That brought his two-game tournament totals to 31 points on 10-for-12 shooting and 7-for-7 from beyond the arc.

Oh yes, and he’s still technically recovering from a two-week bout with mononucleosis that cost him four games.

“I didn’t want to see mono as an excuse,” Dunleavy deadpanned after Duke reached the ACC final for the third straight year. “I can’t say ‘Hey, I’m sick. I can’t help you guys out.’ If I’m gonna play, I expect to go a hundred percent. That’s what I’ve done the last two games.”

His teammates couldn’t help but notice. “He hasn’t lost a step,” said Chris Carrawell, a national and ACC player-of-the-year candidate. “For him to come out and play that way is unbelievable. Dunleavy picked us up.”

Not only that, he’s done it with flare. In Thursday’s first-round rout of Clemson, Dunleavy connected on four home run balls as Duke buried a tournament-record 17 three-pointers.

Then yesterday he sparked a first-half rally when he spelled teammate Nate James six minutes into the game. With the swash of a fearless soldier, he scored 12 points in 11 minutes as the Blue Devils narrowed a 28-20 deficit to 37-36 at the break.

“You can practice shooting 3s all you want,” he reasoned. “But after a while it’s just a matter of confidence and being comfortable enough when you get in there to take the shot and knock it down. Teams kind of live and die on it, and right now we’re really living on it.”

Dunleavy’s only second-half basket was — you guessed it — a three-pointer from the top of the key that put Duke ahead 49-43 with 12:38 to play. He also had four rebounds and two steals in a praiseworthy 22-minute performance.

“I thought our team took it to their starters and maybe shocked them a little bit,” said Wake coach Dave Odom. “Then Mike brought in Dunleavy, which was a great substitution for them. He hit those 3s and all of a sudden we’re scrambling around. It came from such an unlikely source. He’s not one of the guys you’re used to seeing do it in the clutch.”

On a team blessed with several dependable three-point shooters, Dunleavy should be more visible — he’s made 40 percent of his long-distance attempts this season. And mono or not, he has given Duke some pretty valuable minutes.

“It may be a little like golf,” he explained. “Some guys can sit out the winter, then come back in the spring and play like they haven’t missed a day.”