Originally Posted by
jaytoc
I had forgotten about Dave Elmer, but even on being reminded can't recall him ever scoring 40 points. I'll take Jim Sumner's word for it, of course.
And Jim, although Fitzsimmons didn't exactly PLAY for Bucky, he was certainly coached by him, and was a part of Bucky's program for his four months at Duke. He did not leave after his freshman year, as you indicated - he left after the first semester, never playing following the Christmas break in 1969. While he experienced initial success at Harvard, his game deteriorated, rumored to be because of other interests that diverted his attentions, and never fulfilled his considerable basketball promise.
I suspect that Bucky rehabilitated himself in most of our eyes by his work as a color commentator, which humanized him and showed his better sides. As Grey Devil suggests, those were pretty difficult times, and both Bucky and some of his players were the victims of, among other things, the generational/cultural divide.