I'm going to need some before and after pics to confirm the muscle gains. And make sure to get ones with the newspaper for the day so we can confirm dates.
This walk-on comes from a competitive HS in NJ where he had a solid HS career. He had some pretty nice games against some other D1 players that were are attending the likes of Gonzaga. Yes, he's a walk on...
My nephew attends Blairs Academy and said some of the basketball players who are still in contact with Keenan said that Keenan has gotten much stronger and added 15lbs. They also said that Keenan told them that he has grown tremendously as a player from what he learned from JRob and that Keenan has adopted the mindset of "always be ready". No one expects him to every really contribute in games but it is always good to have a big guy that is part of the scout team and a kid that is so committed to be a part of the Brotherhood.
I'm going to need some before and after pics to confirm the muscle gains. And make sure to get ones with the newspaper for the day so we can confirm dates.
It'd be shocking. Jack is a recruited scholarship player. JRob is a preferred walk-on who is the son of an NBA Hall-of-Famer and who had always flashed shotblocking and 3-pt shooting ability in his mop-up minutes. (Additionally, they only started contributing as upperclassmen but that's such a minor point in the context of everything else that separates them from Keenan).
The fact that they redshirted him means they think he may be able to contribute in some meaningful way. When was the last time we redshirted a (non preferred/non grandson of K) walk-on?
I'm not sure redshirting actually means that. It's a free option. Some kids may not want to buy into the option and say, "Coach, just play me in mop-up duty" and some kids may say, "You know, Coach, if you wouldn't mind and we have plenty of players, can I sit out this year and use my free option?"
Sometimes we don't have enough players and we need to get guys off the court. But this year we had, like, a million players so there was no need to worry about finding bodies. So Keenan, assuming he voiced an opinion, got his free option. He may still not exercise it and graduate in 4 years as a Redshirt Junior.
- Chillin
I thought Keenan was a preferred walk-on. What were the circumstances that allow a 5th year for Justin? What would keep Keenan from earning a scholarship at some time in his stay at Duke like Justin and Buckmire?
Just so we are clear, Worthington did have offers from several smaller D1 programs and was rated as a 2-star prospect after being named 1st team All-State in New Jersey. So, he may be a little bit better than the typical walk-on. That said, it would seem to be highly unlikely that he will be anything more than a mop-up player next season. I suppose it is possible he will develop over several years in the program (unlikely, but not unprecedented) but the notion that he will be even a small role player next season is just hard to imagine.
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
Guess wait until the roster for next season is posted.
He is not a player that I would think gets a role outside of mop up minutes, but hey, who knows. The 2019-2020 JRob story has taught me no not count anything out.
If K has extra scholarships, I am assuming that he will give them out like he has always done to walk-on or 2.
The point of posting this was that maybe, just maybe, the kid can enjoy his time at Duke as a part of the team and contribute in practice to assist the team in winning games. Which a great thing to have on a team.
People think Worthington is going to be a rotation player as a redshirt freshman because Robinson became a rotation players as a fifth-year senior?
Gee, if only one could find a logical flaw in that reasoning.
Who said rotational player?
Lots of "rational" thoughts in assumptions.
But I guess a lot of columnist make a living out of reading tea leaves and reporting "news" …
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013