What OAD player do you most wish came back for a sophomore campaign?

[Troublemaker]

I didn't look at this as which gives us the best chance at a natty but rather who I would like to have seen for another year.

Right, there seems to be at least 4 ways people are voting.

(1) Increase Duke's title count
(2) Pure enjoyment of watching the player play
(3) Regret (e.g. toe injury)
(4) Decrease UNC's title count. (I like this suggestion and hadn't thought about it that way.)

The 2s and 3s are mostly going to be Kyrie voters.

[cato]

One other aspect that swayed my vote: of all the one and dones, Deng seemed the most reluctant to leave. Who knows the full story for any of them, but Luol sure seemed to leave only out of a sense of familial duty. If his father had not demanded that he go, would he have stayed at least one more year?

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

One other aspect that swayed my vote: of all the one and dones, Deng seemed the most reluctant to leave. Who knows the full story for any of them, but Luol sure seemed to leave only out of a sense of familial duty. If his father had not demanded that he go, would he have stayed at least one more year?

I generally refrain from commenting on the moral merits and commentary on OAD players and their various pressures, but I agree that Deng felt very much like a "Duke kid," and I would have very much enjoyed to watch him blossom at Duke. One of the more surprising decisions in the OAD era, but doesn't appear to have been the wrong one.

[chriso]

Deng really hurt but I understood. We would have won the title the next year. Maggette and Winslow would have been nice. Tatum would be unstoppable this year. But I've accepted the fact that if we get top 10 guys, chances are it's for one year.

[JBDuke]

One option not on the list that I'd add is William Avery, and it's for a couple of reasons. First, he wasn't ready to go from a basketball perspective. Yeah, I'd have enjoyed seeing Kyrie in a Duke uni for another year, but he was ready, and so it feels completely selfish to say I'd have liked to have him back. It's the same with many of the others on the list. Tyus maybe could have used another year, maybe not. It remains to be seen about Frank. William was definitely not ready, as his NBA stats attest. He needed another year (at least) of college ball. (Whether he was prepared to continue being a college student is another question.)

Second, Duke could have really used William during the 99-00 season. We had three significant returnees that year - Battier, James, and Carrawell. We had a bunch of incoming freshman, three of which were ready to contribute that year - Boozer, Williams, and Dunleavy. Duke played largely with a six man rotation, especially down the stretch, and when Dunleavy got mono in March, it got worse. Having William return would have allowed Jason play off the ball, which was his better role in college (as we saw when Duhon arrived the next season), and would have given Duke a much-needed extra player on the perimeter, where we were especially thin.

[Tripping William]

Except Avery wasn't OAD. He played two seasons & left after his sophomore year.

[lotusland]

Hey lookie, my off-hand question turned into a poll overnight! Nifty.

Have to vote Irving, but it does look like my instinct was right that most here agree.

I also would have loved another season of Winslow. I feel he would have taken everything to the next level and really made a mark.

Tatum too would have been a special player this year.

But Irving - man. That kid would have made college defenders just go home and cry. At halftime.

Winslow and Ingram would have been redundant. Tyus Jones is what that team needed to be great instead of Thornton and Matt handling PG duties.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

Winslow and Ingram would have been redundant. Tyus Jones is what that team needed to be great instead of Thornton and Matt handling PG duties.

Winslow would have been a defensive improvement over Ingram. Though, I had a ham sandwich once that I could say the same about.

Sure, they would have overlapped a bit. I just was thinking in terms of player I would have liked to see more of.

[InSpades]

Maybe recruiting would have been different but... I'd love to see Jayson Tatum on next year's team. He would perfectly fill the only weak spot on next year's team.

Duvall, Allen, Tatum, Bagley, Carter. No one wants to play against that team.

Not sure if you'd need a bench, I guess someone has to play when you're up 40 at the half. Trent and Bolden will fill in quite nicely.

Tatum was very special... of course so were most of those guys listed above. Hard to go wrong.

[royalblue]

Right, there seems to be at least 4 ways people are voting.

(1) Increase Duke's title count
(2) Pure enjoyment of watching the player play
(3) Regret (e.g. toe injury)
(4) Decrease UNC's title count. (I like this suggestion and hadn't thought about it that way.)

The 2s and 3s are mostly going to be Kyrie voters.

Yes
In order for me
Decrease unc count
Increase Duke count
Everything else does not matter
I'm sure someone
Can really break this down
but
Deng comes back and gives the best chance at
The daily double of uncch takeaway and then Duke wins
2005
If the NCAA takes that banner I might change my mind. Stones or Winslow in 16 could give a back to back but if you could tell me that Duke beats uncch at the buzzer for it all in 16 that might have been so devastating to the cheats that they might not have won 17 so
My brain hurts thinking about it but it is a good pain nonetheless 😳

[JBDuke]

Except Avery wasn't OAD. He played two seasons & left after his sophomore year.

Well, duh. I was thinking early entry. Obviously not enough coffee.

[subzero02]

Can someone please fix the spelling of Justise's name in the poll?

Justise not Justice

[subzero02]

I generally refrain from commenting on the moral merits and commentary on OAD players and their various pressures, but I agree that Deng felt very much like a "Duke kid," and I would have very much enjoyed to watch him blossom at Duke. One of the more surprising decisions in the OAD era, but doesn't appear to have been the wrong one.

He was ranked #2 in his class behind some kid named Lebron. He also caught the eye of the future covfefe in chief when he attended duke/ewe in sea in Cameron. Despite his claims, I always expected him to leave early.

[duke4ever19]

Winslow and Ingram would have been redundant. Tyus Jones is what that team needed to be great instead of Thornton and Matt handling PG duties.

I'm not so sure. Coach K would have been thrilled to have another defensive-minded presence on that court.

Oregon put up 80+ points on Duke to oust us from the tournament. Perhaps Tyus would have helped Duke keep up with Oregon offensively, but I'm not sure if he helps slow them down on the offensive end. I suspect that Winslow's size and defensive presence would have helped keep Oregon from running away from us. Winslow would have given us both offense and defense.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Kyrie. I still feel cheated we only got him for 8/11 games.

[ncexnyc]

Where's the, "All of the Above" choice? There's not a bad player in that group of kids listed above.

But if you're going to make me vote for one player it comes down to either Irving or Jones. As PGs they would have been the team leader and steered their respective team. Kyrie would have taken the burden off of Rivers and I doubt the returning upperclassmen would have been hesitant to follow Kyrie's lead as much as they seemed with Rivers.

Tyrus would have been a stabilizing influence as well and would have let the other players be in their rightful position.

In the end I would have to vote for Kyrie, simply because he was so dominant and a second year of him would have been awesome.

[UrinalCake]

None of these decisions would happen in a vacuum - if Winslow had stayed then Ingram would not have come, plus he would have probably gone to UNC, so in all likeliness that would have given them a title in 2016. Similarly, if Ingram stayed then Tatum would not have come. If Tyus stayed then Derryck would not have reclassified, and maybe he comes a year later or maybe we decide to go harder after Dennis Smith instead (we were recruiting both him and Derryck for 2015 but had to choose Derryck because he was able to reclassify).

Buy assuming there are no secondary consequences, my vote has to go to Tyus. Lack of a PG was our biggest issue in 2015-2016 and I think he would have made a huge difference. Kyrie is the sentimental pick but I do think he and Rivers might have had a hard time sharing the backcourt, plus our biggest need that year was at the wing. We had Rivers, Seth Curry, and Tyler Thornton all starting, with Thornton often guarding the opposing 3. Up front we were set, with all three Plumlees plus Kelly. So while Kyrie obviously makes every team better, I think Tyus coming back would have made a bigger difference. And as a separate note, anyone else on the list coming back would have opened the door for negative recruiting, i.e. opposing coaches saying why didn't Duke develop the player as a OAD? But Tyus coming back wouldn't have been criticized as much, because his physical profile didn't fit someone ready for the NBA.

[duke4ever19]

None of these decisions would happen in a vacuum.

Buy assuming there are no secondary consequences.

Correct. I think you'd have to assume your latter statement to even have this discussion. To not do so opens up a billion possibilities that just undermine the whole thought-experiment.

You are correct, though, in a more realistic world, if Winslow stays, the likelihood of Ingram coming goes down -- at least you'd assume so, (but again, who could possibly know except these two players, and even then, how do they know that in this alternate universe, K convinces both players that they can coexist on the same team?), as do the rest of these OAD players if their particular position is still filled by another OAD who didn't leave, but stayed for this hypothetical sophomore year.


Basically, this is a typical summer "the season can't get here soon enough" thread.

[gep]

Correct. I think you'd have to assume your latter statement to even have this discussion. To not do so opens up a billion possibilities that just undermine the whole thought-experiment.

You are correct, though, in a more realistic world, if Winslow stays, the likelihood of Ingram coming goes down -- at least you'd assume so, (but again, who could possibly know except these two players, and even then, how do they know that in this alternate universe, K convinces both players that they can coexist on the same team?), as do the rest of these OAD players if their particular position is still filled by another OAD who didn't leave, but stayed for this hypothetical sophomore year.


Basically, this is a typical summer "the season can't get here soon enough" thread.

On the most recent DBR Podcast, they talked about this... that it seems that the basketball recruiting world is changing OAD/s from playing against each other... to playing *with* each other. And maybe Jahlil and Tyus really started this trend...

[UrinalCake]

...maybe Jahlil and Tyus really started this trend...

Mike Conley and Greg Oden beg to differ, as do the Fab Five.