Dockery was a McDonald's All American. He was rated as one of the top 10 point guards in the country, and among the top 30 players overall. The sad reality is he's just one of several guys that came along during that stretch that just weren't as good as Duke needed them to be.
I do recall him being a McDonalds All American now, you are correct. I saw he was the 9th rated PG in his class and one would assume that’s a top 50 or so guy, must have been a heavy PG class! Rivals/247 don’t list actual rankings until 2003 so can’t tell his exact ranking.
Regardless, Dockery didn’t contribute as much as a McDonalds AA should have, no doubt about it. But I don’t feel like he set the program back.
He was never recruited to be the starting Duke PG as we already had Duhon, Ewing, and we’re gonna land Livingston. Seemed more like guard depth. Paulus was recruited to be “the guy, “ the next great Duke PG and it was a disaster. Not only was the on court production rough, but there were always rumors where he was telling recruits NOT to come to Duke. Paulus set the program back IMO and fitting that we won the title the year after he left.
