Bill Bradley

[NYC Duke Fan]

A friend and I were talking about Bill Bradley, one of my 2 favorite college players of all time , ( Grant Hill is the other ), and reminiscing about one of the greatest performance by a college player which took place at The Holiday Festival in NYC . In that game Bill Bradley singlehandily was beating Cazzie Russell's Michigan team until he fouled out late in the 4th Quarter and Michigan went on to win .

Does anyone remember the situation with Bradley and Duke ? He was the commencement speaker at my daughter's graduation and I remember him starting off his speech by asking for forgiveness. Did he commit to Duke and then reneg and went to Princeton ? I know that he came from a banking family in Missouri.

Thank You

[mgtr]

Bill Bradley, whom I had an opportunity to meet when I lived in NJ, was a joy to watch. He was a high energy player (like John Havlicek), who just wore opponents down and got free eventually. JJ Redick, which shorter, has adopted the same strategy, which works when he makes his shots.
Bradley and Havlicek have left indelible marks upon the game. JJ's record is yet to be made.

[weezie]

I thought Bradley was accepted at Duke but his father refused to allow him to attend, preferring Princeton for the lad. Some nonsense about the value of an "Ivy League" something or other education.

[jimsumner]

Yes, Bradley signed with Duke. The day that freshmen were to report for classes, Vic Bubas was in his office waiting for a call to pick up Bradley at the airport.

Instead, he received a phone call from Bradley's father informing him that Bradley would be going to Princeton instead.

The ostensible reason was that Bradley had spent the summer in Europe, become enthralled with the possibility of studying international affairs, and that everyone in Europe spoke so highly of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of International Studies, or whatever it was called.

Bradley would have overlapped Art Heyman for one year, Jeff Mullins for two, Jack Marin for two, Bob Verga for one. We're already talking about Final Four teams here folks. Add Bradley and the implications are obvious.

It gets worse. Bradley took Duke's last schollie. Otherwise, it would have gone to Fred Hetzel, who became an All-America at Davidson.

[blueprofessor]

Bradley committed to Duke in the summer of 1961, but Coach Bubas learned only a week before the fall semester began that Bradley would attend Princeton.Bradley acted dishonorably. Duke ,as DBR noted in 2007,could have had future Davidson AA Fred Hetzel :


"And here’s the collateral damage: Duke could have signed Davidson great Fred Hetzel if Bradley hadn’t committed. Either way, Duke lost a great college player and possibly a national championship - or maybe two."
The only time Bradley played in Cameron was as a sophomore in December 1962 in a loss ; he had 24 points and 7 rebounds. Bradley was surpassed by Mullins (28 points) and Heyman (27 points).
Any apology was long overdue.

Best--Blue Prof:)

[allenmurray]

A shame for Duke. But all in all it looks as though the decision worked out quite well for Bill Bradley. Also, in 1961 there was a gap between the academic reputations of the two schools - Duke was still considered a "regional" school, and Princeton a "national school" (unlike today, where both are nationally known).

[grossbus]

"Bradley would have overlapped Art Heyman for one year, Jeff Mullins for two, Jack Marin for two, Bob Verga for one. We're already talking about Final Four teams here folks. Add Bradley and the implications are obvious.

It gets worse. Bradley took Duke's last schollie. Otherwise, it would have gone to Fred Hetzel, who became an All-America at Davidson."

Why i would never vote for him for anything, even dog catcher. he would have been in my freshman class.

[The Gordog]

Bradley committed to Duke in the summer of 1961, but Coach Bubas learned only a week before the fall semester began that Bradley would attend Princeton.Bradley acted dishonorably. Duke ,as DBR noted in 2007,could have had future Davidson AA Fred Hetzel :


"And here’s the collateral damage: Duke could have signed Davidson great Fred Hetzel if Bradley hadn’t committed. Either way, Duke lost a great college player and possibly a national championship - or maybe two."
The only time Bradley played in Cameron was as a sophomore in December 1962 in a loss ; he had 24 points and 7 rebounds. Bradley was surpassed by Mullins (28 points) and Heyman (27 points).
Any apology was long overdue.

Best--Blue Prof:)

Re "overdue": Agree 100%.

Great ball player, I'll certainly give him that.

Edit: 1,095 = Howard Hurt

[miramar]

If you can imagine Bill Bradley scoring 56 points in a Final Four game for Duke rather than Princeton, you can see what a difference he would have made.

His father's last-minute change was as big for college basketball as the Pittsburgh Pirates getting a minor leaguer named Roberto Clemente from the Dodgers for free.

[NYC Duke Fan]

If you can imagine Bill Bradley scoring 56 points in a Final Four game for Duke rather than Princeton, you can see what a difference he would have made.

His father's last-minute change was as big for college basketball as the Pittsburgh Pirates getting a minor leaguer named Roberto Clemente from the Dodgers for free.

As someone who grew up in Brooklyn and an avid Brooklyn Dodger fan, I knew the fact about Clemente and it still hurts, but I guess Carl Furillo was not going anywhere.

[Indoor66]

Yes, Bradley signed with Duke. The day that freshmen were to report for classes, Vic Bubas was in his office waiting for a call to pick up Bradley at the airport.

Instead, he received a phone call from Bradley's father informing him that Bradley would be going to Princeton instead.

The ostensible reason was that Bradley had spent the summer in Europe, become enthralled with the possibility of studying international affairs, and that everyone in Europe spoke so highly of Princeton's Woodrow Wilson School of International Studies, or whatever it was called.

Bradley would have overlapped Art Heyman for one year, Jeff Mullins for two, Jack Marin for two, Bob Verga for one. We're already talking about Final Four teams here folks. Add Bradley and the implications are obvious.

It gets worse. Bradley took Duke's last schollie. Otherwise, it would have gone to Fred Hetzel, who became an All-America at Davidson.

In fact, Vic steered Hetzel to Davidson to be sure he would not land in the ACC. The coach of Davidson was a 1954 Duke grad named Lefty Driesell!