I don't know if he's MUCH quicker because Cota had to have been pretty quick to get to the hole. Ford will be in the NBA merely because he is such a tremendous playmaker and his ability to set the tempo is pretty similar to Kidd. Cota was never great at fastbreaks that I recall. Ford will need to finish and shoot better though if he wants to become a starter.
Cota, I believe, is the all-time assist leader at UNC, and one of the all-time leaders in the ACC. That is a long line of great guards... I agree with you on Ford, he still has at least another year or so before he is ready for the NBA. And, as I recall, Cota wasn't very quick for a guard. Ford is pretty significantly quicker.
He may be...I wasn't completely sure about it, so I just put he was one of the leaders. A great feat for a guy that can't seem to make it to the NBA.