I would have taken millions too, but the system is wrong. Money rules all and education means nothing really. K should take the lead on changing the one-and-done situation. Instead, he seems to buy into it. He certainly doesn't take a part in questioning it! That takes guts and conviction. Frankly, as many have said, I think we could have good if not great teams without McDonalds players. Just kids who are good and play as a team. Look at Stanford, Harvard, and Wisconsin, for example. The NBA needs to be put in their place. K and Duke needs to rethink its basketball program.
Greed wins again...education the loser.
Sorry, I just had to vent on this sorry situation.
Trinity, '63
Huge Duke Basketball Fan
Retired prof who is disgusted by one-and-done
I think this pretty badly mischaracterizes the thrust of my comment, but thanks for the snark.
I would hope and expect that Gerald Henderson would not have personally been happy or satisfied with his performance in his final game, and I could see him not wanting that to be his final collegiate statline. I could see a game like that be a motivator to return for a player who is weighing whether or not to leave early. I could see a game like that stoking a player's competitive fires. I could see a player wanting to prove something by coming back. I could also see a game like that being an indication to a player that he still has some development to do at the collegiate level.
For someone like Gerald who was a fringe lottery selection, I'm simply surprised that he didn't seem to care about any of that. It's tautological to say that someone left early because they valued their own personal and professional development. He could have valued his own personal and professional development and stayed in school for another season as a result.
Well, maybe. I know a lot of people that spent four years at Duke, and I'm not sure how many of them have done better things than, say, Luol Deng.
Good for Jabari...I would have done the same thing if I were him. I certainly wouldn't worry about some fans who don't consider worth cheering for unless you do what they want when they want it.
Time to start the clock on your millions...hope you enjoy every minute.
I hope that he is not considered a representative of Duke. He is a great kid and very talented, but all he really did was take advantage of the Duke coaches. One and done does that everywhere. I wish he had stayed a few more years, if not graduated, then I would consider him a fine representative of Duke. As it stands....nope.
It may sound bad, but when I see Mercer, I will forever think of Jabari and Rodney. This year was 2012, without the shot. Some good wins, lots of losses where we looked weak, and a team that went out with a whimper (only this time, there wasn't a single NBA player on the opposing side).
Good for him. Glad we had him for the year we did.
As a side note, voodoo rituals seem to have no affect on the decisions of college basketball players.
Would you really want to compare the average Duke grad vs. the average NBA one-and-done guy? Picking out single examples is pretty easy. I'm sure I can pick out a 4-year Duke grad who did amazing things. There's a lot of great guys in the NBA who do a lot for their community, there's also a lot who get arrested and make ridiculously bad life choices.
I understand your sentiment, and I'm sure a lot agree with you. I'd rather not have one-and-dones, but the system absolutely enables college programs to do is.
Also, I think you're giving Harvard, Stanford, and Wisconsin too much basketball credit. These are good, but not great, programs. Duke is a great program. Unfortunately, that means we need to engage in amazing talent to keep us this way. And that means dipping our toe into one-and-done.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
Good luck to him but also great news for Duke. Lets continue to move forward with players who are committed to being here.
You know we will be having the same draft vigils next year, but with Okafor and Jones, so don't get your hopes up. In fact, you can take every single sentiment that was said in Jabari's draft vigil in the last three weeks, write them down, and read the same words in a year from now. ("He has to go, the money calls", "He loves Duke, he will stay", "I wish we didn't have the one and done system", "his family is rich/poor, which is why he needs to stay/go", and of course "K knows what is best, they will both look at his options and make the decision, and whichever that decision is, it is the right one".)
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
As a long time college bball fan, these types of situations continue to leave bitter tastes in my mouth...to put it bluntly, this era of college bball sucks. I'll always root for Duke with all my heart, but it's getting harder and harder for me to be passionate about it. No other choice but to accept reality: this sucks and it won't change unless nba execs are convinced that changing will make more money. Good luck to Jabari, can't blame the kids. Unfortunately, my strongest lasting memory will be mercer.
Woj says Rodney's gone, too. No surprise, guess he needs his own thread:
Adrian Wojnarowski @WojYahooNBA 10m
Yahoo Sources: Duke's Rodney Hood will enter the NBA Draft, close to signing with an agent. http://yhoo.it/1jO7xvs
http://sports.yahoo.com/news/duke-s-...184848759.html