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chrisheery
03-17-2007, 12:09 AM
on the other hand, might have helped a bit this season.

Does anyone have insight into why he left? I mean, one season of not playing shouldn't be reason to leave a school that has the potential to make you a star.

A friend of mine played ball with him the other day in NYC (not sure why he as there). My friend says he was just amazing. He was handling the ball, shooting threes, doing whatever he wanted. Granted, this wasn't division I competition, but it was an above average pickup game in a very basketball friendly gym in NYC. I guess it just goes to show you how good and talented these guys really are compared to normal people. He always looked stiff and unprepared to play ball to me, but maybe he just needed more court time. I would say this is probably true for many of our current players as well (Zoubek, Pocius, Lance in particular).

throatybeard
03-17-2007, 12:10 AM
Not as much as Michael Thompson would have helped. Zowie!

chrisheery
03-17-2007, 12:14 AM
situation. Eric has never demonstrated the complete disinterest in basketball that MT did.

ChrisP
03-17-2007, 12:15 AM
Nothing against EB, he seems like a nice kid. I sincerely hope he does well at ASU (he is with Herb, now right?) but I don't think he was ever going to be much of a factor at Duke. As you said, I thought he always looked stiff and a bit uncoordinated when he played.

Let's look at it this way - other than Billy McCaffrey and Andre Sweet, has anyone who transferred from Duke in the past 25 years ever gone on to be a star elsewhere? Before someone posts and tells me that Crawford Palmer dunked on guys while playing the trumpet in the Ivies...allow me to rephrase my question: Has a Duke transfer (other than the two already noted) in the K era gone on to star at a major college program? I honestly can't think of one

And no, Kris Hump doesn't count!

dukediv2013
03-17-2007, 12:58 AM
Mike Chappell at MSU

YmoBeThere
03-17-2007, 01:25 AM
was more of an important role player at MSU rather than a star. But it would have been nice if he hadn't gone.

chrisheery
03-17-2007, 01:27 AM
i loved that guy. wish he had finished at duke. i think, in the end, he would hve had more of an impact at duke than he did at MSU. He was more of a role player there. Could have been a star/major factor for us.

Also, Andre Sweet was never a star. He was not good, even at Seton Hall.

jaimedun34
03-17-2007, 12:45 PM
Shavlik Randolph and Sean Dockery dominated summer pickup games, too.

jimsumner
03-17-2007, 01:06 PM
Crawford Palmer was second-team All-Ivy and managed to turn that into a nice pro career in Europe. One can do worse in life.

Duke's transfers under K.

Greg Wendt-back home to Detroit. Became a big scorer there.

Bill Jackman-back home to Nebraska. Up and down career but played more
than he would have at Duke.

Billy McCaffrey-great two seasons at Vandy

Crawford Palmer-already discussed

Christian Ast-star at American.

Joey Beard-star at Boston U. Decent career in Europe.

Mike Chapell-contributor at MSU. I confess to surprise at his inability to become a star. Came in with Carrawell and James and was the most talented of the three. He could do things they could only dream of. I guess this demonstrates the importance of intangibles.

Chris Burgess-one pretty good season at Utah (a major school, btw) then back problems prematurely ended his senior season. Has played well overseas but has come up empty on multiple NBA tryouts.

Andre Sweet. Contributor at Seton Hall, occasional starter in the Big East. Played on one NCAA team.

Michael Thompson-had one good run at Northwestern (a major school), averaged over 10 ppg, then had health problems and a run-in or two with coaching staff.

Eric Boateng and Jamal Boykin. Too early to tell.

Some general comments.

I've never understood the glee with which some Duke supporters trot out the "well, none of these guys ever played in the NBA, nah, nah, nah mantra."
So? Neither did Tommy Amaker, Billy King, Kevin Strickland, Phil Henderson, Robert Brickey, Jeff Capel, Chris Carrawell, Sean Dockery and numerous other Duke players who graced the school and the program.

Players transfer for different reasons. Family problems back home influenced Boykin to leave. Guys like Wendt, Jackman, Chappell, and Sweet moved a lot closer to home. Sweet was challenged by Duke's academics. It's no secret that some of these guys (and assorted family members) clashed with Krzyzewski. That happens.

PT is a primary reason to leave a program. So Wendt, Palmer, Ast, and Beard became stars at programs lower on the food chain that Duke? Maybe that shows they made the right decision to leave.

I certainly wouldn't denigrate them for that nor would I automatically assume that they wouldn't have been able to contribute to Duke had they stayed, albeit probably in smaller roles. Maybe a senior Jackman would have helped a fatigued Duke against Louisville in '86. Chappell would have been a junior against UConn in '99 and a senior on a young team in '00. At the very least Thompson would have been another big body to throw against Okafor in '04. And so forth.

Lots of 18, 19, 20 year-olds change their minds. They change majors, they change colleges, they change girl friends, they grow, they become different people. Only D-1 basketball players at schools like Duke do so under a spotlight. If they decide Duke is not the right place for them, I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt and wish them well.

365Duke
03-17-2007, 01:27 PM
Very, very well put Jim. thanks for the info.

chrisheery
03-17-2007, 03:30 PM
only speak further to my point. they both had a ton of talent and needed more time when they were most vulnerable (early on) to get more confidence. shav had injuries that prevented it, but doc really never got a chance to do what he could do. by the time that chance was afforded him, he was a senior and everyone got angry with him when he made a mistake. if he had been given as many opportunities to fail as jj had, who knows what he might have become. same goes for shav. if he was allowed to play anywhere he wanted like josh has, he might have been a star (if he hadn't been hurt all the time).

my only point was that these guys are tremendously talented and it is a shame when we don't get to see what they really could do in optimal situations.