A lighter moment; Skip Bayless gets called out

[JNort]

I think it's unfair to say Rose called Coach K a racist, but it also misrepresents his comments to say he believes his views as an 18 year old were "immature" and "stupid." He backed away from his comments without backing away from his comments. I also think it's fair to say he implicitly called Grant Hill an Uncle Tom. Grant certainly took it that way. Here's a partial transcript of Rose explaining his comments (emphasis added):

But that just proved my point.


Jalen Rose: “As a 17-year-old recruit, that’s exactly how I felt.

[Dukeface88]

But that just proved my point.


Jalen Rose: “As a 17-year-old recruit, that’s exactly how I felt.

And how he still feels now. He makes that quite clear - "they do", "I don't think", rather than "I thought".

[mph]

But that just proved my point.


Jalen Rose: “As a 17-year-old recruit, that’s exactly how I felt.

No, because 38 year old Jalen agrees with 17 year old Jalen that Duke only recruits "a certain type of player" and that he's "never seen Coach K in Detroit." That's the part of the transcript after Bayless gives him a chance to clarify that he no longer feels that way. Instead of offering that clarification he came pretty close to doubling down.

You chided another poster for failing to prove that Rose called K a racist and Grant an Uncle Tom. Fair enough, but I've seen nothing approaching proof that Rose regrets anything he said in that documentary. That's a shame given the offensiveness of his original comments.

[JNort]

No, because 38 year old Jalen agrees with 17 year old Jalen that Duke only recruits "a certain type of player" and that he's "never seen Coach K in Detroit." That's the part of the transcript after Bayless gives him a chance to clarify that he no longer feels that way. Instead of offering that clarification he came pretty close to doubling down.

You chided another poster for failing to prove that Rose called K a racist and Grant an Uncle Tom. Fair enough, but I've seen nothing approaching proof that Rose regrets anything he said in that documentary. That's a shame given the offensiveness of his original comments.

I think the point I was trying to go for is going amiss.

17 year old Jalen: Coach K is a racist and only recruits Uncle Toms.

Present Jalen: Coach does not give kids from the hood a chance and he only recruits kids who are model students/citizens

To me that is a very big difference in how he feels.



Also I would like to say I do agree with Jalen that we only recruit certain kids. Why do I agree? Because it is true! Every school has their own standards as does every coach. At Duke under coach K we recruit guys who typically are very smart, well mannered, and stay out of trouble and believe that the team is a family. Uconn... ehh not so much, they seemingly have looser standards although some of them are great and would be accepted at Duke.

[moonpie23]

Can you prove he thinks that? Or is that just your ignorance? I do not like Jalen either but what they said in the documentary was what they thought when they were 18 years old! They were immature and jealous and wanted reasons to hate teams like Duke. When you were 18 you probably said a lot of stupid things and did stupid things you regret now. So does Jalen and he has said as much after the documentary so people could understand. Sorry to sound like I am going after you but what you said was unfair to Jalen even if I myself do not particularly care for him.

granted...but jalen never said that he was WRONG...he's danced around admitting that his perceptions were WRONG...it's fine to say that's the way you saw it back when you were 17, but he needs to say, "but i was WRONG"...

[oldnavy]

I understand what Jalen Rose is saying (I think). From his perspective he sees Duke recruiting a "certain" type of player. Who can argue with that? It seems to me that Duke does steer away from players that have questionable character, which is the point I think Jalen is making.

The mistake I believe he makes is that he believes that the character issues are related to race and social standing. I seriously doubt that Coach K cares one bit about race and social standing when he recruits kids he thinks will be successful at Duke. I am sure that those more in the know can give examples of black players who came from moderate to poor backgrounds that had successful careers at Duke.

I can think of one example off the top of my head, where a white kid from a well to do family was turned down/away by Duke for character issues, Kris Humphries.

So while Jalen makes a point, he overlooks the bigger picture. It would be interesting to look down the road at UNC and see if there are example of Dean Smith or Roy Williams going after some of the kids like Jalen Rose compares himself to.

I know that both schools have had their dissappointments with regards to players after they got to the school and after they moved on. Mistakes happen and you cannot always predict how personalities emerge in different situations. But as a rule, I would say that both Duke and UNC shy away from the questionable types....