ADVERTISEMENT

Transfer Portal

You're right, we don't know how all six of the freshmen will be, or if any of them will get injured. On your point about talent, if you're talking about talent that fits, then I agree. But it will fail, and fail miserably, to just simply sign as much talent as possible. There's one basketball to be shared by multiple guys.

The 17-18 team may have been the most talented team K had during the oad era. Talk about egos. They may have made the Elite 8, but they couldn't spell team, much less play like one. Duval gets the bad rap, but he was far from the only one on that squad that had issues. I bet a few of them walked around with a mirror in their pocket, and I bet if you hooked K up to a polygraph, he'd admit it was one of his least enjoyable teams.

It was glad when that season was over.
absolutely, I’m not saying we should go get just anyone. My words were being twisted. I think shey has it out for me.lol My whole point was that I don’t believe in the philosophy that we shouldn’t try to pick up another guard because “we have all these freshman coming in and don’t need anyone else” I think we have good idea of what we have but we don’t know for sure. Also, I have been Jon’s biggest defender of his decisions for the past two years. I think he has an enormous amount of pressure on him this offseason and he is doing a fantastic job.
 
Last edited:
  • Like
Reactions: Mac9192
I know we seem a bit off-balanced with a lot of small forwards, and not many guards. If you want to look at a really weird roster construction, look no further than the 2017 team. You could argue that we had 7 centers on that team lol.

Centers (7):
Amile Jefferson (body of a 4, but mostly played the 5)
Harry Giles
Chase Jeter
Marques Bolden
Javin DeLaurier
Antonio Vrakovic
Sean Obi
Jefferson(Natural PF/Medical Redshirt)
Harry Giles(Not Reliable/Unhealthy PF)
Chase Jeter(Should've Redshirt Center)
Marques Bolden(Center)
Javin DeLaurier(PF)
Antonio Vrakovic(Should've Redshirt Center)
Sean Obi(Not Reliable/Unhealthy/Center)

A solid group of transitional BIGS that Coach K didn't have enough room for, if a few didn't redshirt.
 
absolutely, I’m not saying we should go get just anyone. My words were being twisted. I think shey has it out for me.lol My whole point was that I don’t believe in the philosophy that we shouldn’t try to pick up another guard because “we have all these freshman coming in and don’t need anyone else” I think we have good idea of what we have but we don’t know for sure. Also, I have been Jon’s biggest defender of his decisions for the past two years. I think he has an enormous amount of pressure on him this offseason and he is doing a fantastic job.
How did I twist your words ? I don’t have it out for you at all lol. I just think way too many on here see all these productive players hit the portal and think Duke should go after them . There is a lot more that goes into it than just scoring . I said Duke simply just needs a combo guard . One who can play the sg and the pg . This allows for versatility off the bench . Posters forget , it’s not the starters who hurt Duke it’s the bench . I can honestly say in the last three seasons I do not recall Duke with a strong bench . If you want to get high profile portal players you have got to lay off so many freshman but with that being said , nothing guarantees your transfers stay the following season so not only do you loose star freshman you loose the portal players as well . It’s the nature of the game today .
 
  • Like
Reactions: jeffrey236
Shey - You've got the pulse of things here and I see mostly eye to eye with you. Not just your most recent post, but everything you've said the last couple days.
 
  • Like
Reactions: jeffrey236
Does anyone think the freshman class of ‘25 commits could be a smaller class?

Unless I’m forgetting there are no commits at the moment.
 
  • Like
Reactions: sheyduke
How did I twist your words ? I don’t have it out for you at all lol. I just think way too many on here see all these productive players hit the portal and think Duke should go after them . There is a lot more that goes into it than just scoring . I said Duke simply just needs a combo guard . One who can play the sg and the pg . This allows for versatility off the bench . Posters forget , it’s not the starters who hurt Duke it’s the bench . I can honestly say in the last three seasons I do not recall Duke with a strong bench . If you want to get high profile portal players you have got to lay off so many freshman but with that being said , nothing guarantees your transfers stay the following season so not only do you loose star freshman you loose the portal players as well . It’s the nature of the game today .
I agree with all of this and another guard is what I have been asking for. I think my issue is that I write in paragraphs. I think we agree on a lot. Except duval. You have quite the following by the way.
 
Danny Hurley said next year's team might be his most talented. Kansas looks pretty stacked
 
Last edited:
How did I twist your words ? I don’t have it out for you at all lol. I just think way too many on here see all these productive players hit the portal and think Duke should go after them . There is a lot more that goes into it than just scoring . I said Duke simply just needs a combo guard . One who can play the sg and the pg . This allows for versatility off the bench . Posters forget , it’s not the starters who hurt Duke it’s the bench . I can honestly say in the last three seasons I do not recall Duke with a strong bench . If you want to get high profile portal players you have got to lay off so many freshman but with that being said , nothing guarantees your transfers stay the following season so not only do you loose star freshman you loose the portal players as well . It’s the nature of the game today .
Agree with @timritterus about your posts lately, but not your take on the starters not hurting Duke, it’s the bench. I don’t think we’ve been strong enough with our starting five, that it magnifies our bench.
It is a major plus to have someone that can come in and be able to score, and defend.

But your starters have to be solid, and real solid to contend.
 
He won’t have Zion type numbers, but Zion didn’t do much else to contribute to winning besides score and rebound.

What?! He didn't contribute much outside of scoring and rebounding?

He was one of 4 finalists for the NABC National Defensive POY. Zion was just a couple blocks away from averaging 2 blocks / 2 steals in the same season. The only players that have done that this century: Shane Battier, Nerlens Noel, and Matisse Thybulle... Very elite company. Zion could protect the rim and he was constantly getting into passing lanes, running it back for a dunk.

And here's one more stat for you: The player efficiency rating on the collegiate level has been tracked since the 2010 season. No one has had a more efficient season in college basketball than Zion.

PER-College-Basketball.png
 



We probably can't promise him starter minutes, but the fact that Scheyer is going after elite guards like this shows that he just wants to win. Lanier is rated as the #8 overall transfer by On3. Scheyer ain't looking for serviceable backups. As far as I can tell, he wants all the elite talent he can get.
 
What?! He didn't contribute much outside of scoring and rebounding?

He was one of 4 finalists for the NABC National Defensive POY. Zion was just a couple blocks away from averaging 2 blocks / 2 steals in the same season. The only players that have done that this century: Shane Battier, Nerlens Noel, and Matisse Thybulle... Very elite company. Zion could protect the rim and he was constantly getting into passing lanes, running it back for a dunk.

And here's one more stat for you: The player efficiency rating on the collegiate level has been tracked since the 2010 season. No one has had a more efficient season in college basketball than Zion.

PER-College-Basketball.png
Well yeah but besides all that….lol
 
Sion James of Tulane visits this weekend. He's the latest in a line of legit 3rd guards mentioned. Now he's declared for NBA, but very much keeping his options open. Solidly built at about 6-5, 220 and can get downhill like Jeremy.

Would James settle for maybe 20 minutes a game, after averaging 37mpg at Tulane? Perhaps Jon can convince him he's bringing his game to a much higher quality of play. The Duke brand speaks volumes!! I will go out on a limb. The young man will committ this weekend.

OFC
 
As far as the class of 2025 I see Jon taking more of a step back and see approach . I think he has his targets but the land scape of college ball changes yearly now . In order to stay with the portal and recruiting I believe things are becoming harder for coaches .
As far as starters go . One could argue that some of Dukes starters have had to play out of position. Me and 44 used to go back and forth about Flip and he was dead on . Flip is and never will be a center . Now are takes on Mitchell were different. I believed his best position was SF due to his defensive abilities and his act for over powering smaller players around the basket but I don’t think Mitchell ever bought into it .
I do believe Proctor is coming back with something to prove and that he pushes himself next season to be one of the best players on the floor .
More combo guard names are popping up that Duke is looking at so I suspect we will get another guard soon .
 
Sion James of Tulane visits this weekend. He's the latest in a line of legit 3rd guards mentioned. Now he's declared for NBA, but very much keeping his options open. Solidly built at about 6-5, 220 and can get downhill like Jeremy.

Would James settle for maybe 20 minutes a game, after averaging 37mpg at Tulane? Perhaps Jon can convince him he's bringing his game to a much higher quality of play. The Duke brand speaks volumes!! I will go out on a limb. The young man will committ this weekend.

OFC
Chances are high, Hart.
 
all the looking for a guard stuff, we had Roach...unless he was just ready to move on/Better NIL deal...or injury bug, bigger guard
 
  • Like
Reactions: christophero
all the looking for a guard stuff, we had Roach...unless he was just ready to move on/Better NIL deal...or injury bug, bigger guard
Roach was moving on. Word is he wants to be a coach so learning a new system doesn’t hurt . I don’t think most expected him to return after he graduated . And Baylor gave him a big NIL deal for a year .
 
What?! He didn't contribute much outside of scoring and rebounding?

He was one of 4 finalists for the NABC National Defensive POY. Zion was just a couple blocks away from averaging 2 blocks / 2 steals in the same season. The only players that have done that this century: Shane Battier, Nerlens Noel, and Matisse Thybulle... Very elite company. Zion could protect the rim and he was constantly getting into passing lanes, running it back for a dunk.

And here's one more stat for you: The player efficiency rating on the collegiate level has been tracked since the 2010 season. No one has had a more efficient season in college basketball than Zion.

PER-College-Basketball.png
Think about that for a second. Zack Edey has been the consensus best player in the country the past two seasons. The best player in Purdue history, averaging 25 and 12 this season on 62% from the field, and he still wasn’t as good as Zion. Zion had one the greatest seasons from in college basketball history, and he did it as a freshman. So freaking stupid. I would have done awful things to keep him for 4 years lol.
 
Hear we are hosting Sion James this weekend from Tulane. 6-5 point guard. This guy is built like Winslow, is a good student and upperclassman. He checks all the boxes. Averaged 14ppg and 5 rebounds.
Oh man Hart beat me to it.
If we get this guy we have all the pieces for a title run.
 
Last edited:
Watched highlights of Sion. Hard to tell, but my impression was he is Trevor Keels with a better shot. He looks very good. Big physical guard with a nice looking shot. He's exactly what we need. Shot 51% from the floor and dunks with ease. He did enter his name in the draft but is not on most mock drafts.
 
Last edited:
I just find it hard to believe Jon will be able to juggle all this talent, and keep everyone happy. If you think it can happen, you haven't been a fan for long.

But then again, college sports are upside down. Maybe there's a first time for everything.
 
We could platoon like Georgetown. 5 in, 5 out. Jon is going all in and I like it. The young guys will either wait their turn or they won't. One more player will give us 11 guys. Bring in a few practice players and we are set.
 
Last edited:
I just find it hard to believe Jon will be able to juggle all this talent, and keep everyone happy. If you think it can happen, you haven't been a fan for long.

But then again, college sports are upside down. Maybe there's a first time for everything.
My guess is half the freshmen wouldn’t be big minute guys then. That would put us at a realistic 8 man rotation - 3 impact transfers, 3 freshmen and the 2 returnees (Proctor & Foster).
 
  • Like
Reactions: mbdfan
I just think it’s going to be hard to keep Knup and Harris on the bench . Yes, they will probably be last off the bench but they will get minutes .
 
  • Like
Reactions: hart2chesson
Having too many guys who can play productive minutes will be a problem we haven't had for a while. Usually the guys on the bench can't perform when called upon.

Remember when Grayson scored 27 pts. against Wake when he was given a chance? Haven't seen that lately.
 
We could say the same for Duke.
We? Speak for yourself. Self was so traumatized by injuries last year, that he went overboard on signing people. One of the incoming frosh already backed out. AJ Storr is a bad addition. Played at 4 different high schools and is now on his third college. What a great team player. Duke has no transients like that. And people still in the portal are reporting interest from KU. Doesn’t seem “the same” to me. But that’s just my opinion.
 
That would be a typical norm for UCONN. They have missed the tournament a ton since their first title and people completely ignore that fact.
That wasn’t under Hurley . If anyone thinks he don’t have recruits and players looking at his program you are delusional. He might not three-peat but he will be in the tourney he or UCONN is not going anywhere .
 
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT