AOC Transfers to Creighton

[Jaks19]

Watch Gtwon, Georgia, Florida, and Vandy here

[jv001]

Ted Williams said the most difficult thing in sports was to hit a great fastball (or was it a great curveball.) Many superb athletes since his time -though none greater in my mind, and I saw him play many times - but hitting deep 3s takes great skill.

Ted Williams was one of the best major league baseball players of all time. He said that he could actually see the baseball make contact with the bat. Now that is incredible hand-eye coordination. He would've been even greater had he not spent time in the military during WWII. But while it looks like golf would be easy to someone that's never tried to play it. I say it could be the hardest to master. Trying to get that little white(yellow) ball in the hole in par(70-71-72) is one tough job. There's a reason the best in the game hit somewhere around 200-300 balls on average per day. If you don't believe me, when this coronavirus is over and done, go try it. Just one man's opinion.

GoDuke!

[wsb3]

McCaffrey wanted to move to point, for NBA prospects. He was not playing point ahead of Bobby.

Didn't Bobby and Billy visit the same weekend as recruits & commit about the same time? Jim probably knows this. I always felt like Billy knew Bobby was the point guard going in and then he changed his mind later.

The family was here in Wilmington for a couple of years..Billy and Ed played in the city league I coached in for 20 years but they did not play for me. The Dad did find a way to pluck his sons from the team that drafted the boys so the oldest could play for one of the most corrupt, cheating, coaches I ever witnessed. He was the epitome of what gives youth league coaches a bad name.

[BD80]

... The Dad did find a way to pluck his sons from the team that drafted the boys so the oldest could play for one of the most corrupt, cheating, coaches I ever witnessed. He was the epitome of what gives youth league coaches a bad name.

Come on, this is the internet. Don't hold back. You can say what you really feel.

[brevity]

...The Dad did find a way to pluck his sons from the team that drafted the boys so the oldest could play for one of the most corrupt, cheating, coaches I ever witnessed. He was the epitome of what gives youth league coaches a bad name.

John Calipari used to coach youth league?

[wsb3]

John Calipari used to coach youth league?

Funny you should mention it but the family is indeed friends with Cal. The rest of the family that I know are great people, probably thanks to the mom, who is a sweetheart but the dad/youth coach who has long since passed away not so much. I don't know if you guys know this but Cal sat on the bench at UNCW for two years and I assume that is where the connection formed.

[wsb3]

Come on, this is the internet. Don't hold back. You can say what you really feel.

I did.

[53n206]

Wait just a minute now. You saw the great Ted Williams play??? In person? He last played in 1960. If you really got to see Ted Williams play baseball, you are incredibly fortunate.

First saw him play in 1947, a year after the Red Sox won the American League championship ( only to lose to the Cardinals in the World Series), I was 10 years. Saw him a number of times thereafter, even saw him at an exhibition game in Memphis ( he pinch hit).

[Indoor66]

First saw him play in 1947, a year after the Red Sox won the American League championship ( only to lose to the Cardinals in the World Series), I was 10 years. Saw him a number of times thereafter, even saw him at an exhibition game in Memphis ( he pinch hit).

I also saw Williams play along with seeing Robinson, Mantle, Maris, Groat, koufax and most of the other greats of the era. Baseball was a way of life then.

[sagegrouse]

I also saw Williams play along with seeing Robinson, Mantle, Maris, Groat, koufax and most of the other greats of the era. Baseball was a way of life then.

Back in the day, teams would break camp at spring training and "barnstorm" their way north, playing in minor league ballparks in a lot of towns. That way, I got to see my hero Stan Musial and also see Frank Robinson as a highly touted 20YO rookie.

[budwom]

Back in the day, teams would break camp at spring training and "barnstorm" their way north, playing in minor league ballparks in a lot of towns. That way, I got to see my hero Stan Musial and also see Frank Robinson as a highly touted 20YO rookie.

yep, and back in those days you could find the white players eating in one restaurant and the black players eating in a different one. I guess their taste in food varied!

Regarding Stan Musial, I was a Dodger fan and attended a doubleheader in which Stan hit four home runs, much to my dismay...also saw a very young Sandy Koufax pitch (1957) that day, he threw very hard but to no spot in particular.

[roywhite]

I also saw Williams play along with seeing Robinson, Mantle, Maris, Groat, koufax and most of the other greats of the era. Baseball was a way of life then.

Yeah, saw my first game in 1956 with the hometown Pirates going against the Dodgers with Don Newcombe pitching.

I think my peak interest in baseball was from age 6 to 10 (1956-1960); knew the standings in both leagues, could tell you the top ten batters by average, listened to games on my transistor radio. Probably went to 7 or 8 Pirates games during that time and saw greats like Musial, Willie Mays and of course Pirates Dick Groat and Roberto Clemente.

College hoops at that time? Games on the radio, not much TV. Baseball was #1 for sure.

[budwom]

^ the only college hoop games I remember from TV back then were two championship games between tOSU and Cincy...1961 and 1962

[scottdude8]

Has there been any reporting on potential destinations for AoC? I have to think he'll get interest from many Top-25 caliber programs...

[907bluedevils]

Its a good decision from AOC, as much as I would hate for him to leave.

He came in as a 3 star recruit and actually overachieved by my measure. He will get to go to a smaller school/conference and play starter minutes as a senior.

It might also mean we are getting Seth Towns next year? Playing time will be limited and competition fierce.

To be fair to Alex he was a 4* Top 100 recruit

[sagegrouse]

yep, and back in those days you could find the white players eating in one restaurant and the black players eating in a different one. I guess their taste in food varied!

Regarding Stan Musial, I was a Dodger fan and attended a doubleheader in which Stan hit four home runs, much to my dismay...also saw a very young Sandy Koufax pitch (1957) that day, he threw very hard but to no spot in particular.

The Sally League (So. Atl. League) was not even integrated until 1953, when the Jacksonville Braves added two African-American players, as I remember, and I confirmed that one was HANK AARON.

[79-77]

McCaffrey was great at Vandy, but he was a double digit scorer for a national champion at Duke. It’s not that we didn’t play him; he just wanted to be a point guard, and that wasn’t going to happen with Hurley.

McCaffrey wasn't going anywhere until the national media started giving unasked for advice -- I'm looking at you, Dickie V. He would have been better staying at Duke -- better team, better coaching, not as many personal honors, but better prep for the NBA.

The biggest impetus to McCaffrey leaving was his brother Ed's going in the third round of the 1991 NFL draft. Being drafted became very important to he and his family. But it was more than that. My understanding is that K offered him a chance to redshirt and thus be the post-Hurley point guard in 1994. But Grant Hill would still have been around and McCaffrey wanted to be THE MAN, which wasn't going to happen with Grant on the roster. Imagine that team with McCaffrey as a fifth-year senior.

McCaffrey wanted to move to point, for NBA prospects. He was not playing point ahead of Bobby.

Didn't Bobby and Billy visit the same weekend as recruits & commit about the same time? Jim probably knows this. I always felt like Billy knew Bobby was the point guard going in and then he changed his mind later.

I could certainly be wrong, but my recollection of McCaffrey's transfer, or at least the conventional wisdom at the time, is that it wasn't so much motivated by Billy's desire to play PG but rather by the fact that Thomas Hill -- a tough, physical, relentless player who was McCaffrey's and Hurley's classmate, a terrific athlete and a better defender than Billy -- had beaten out McCaffrey for a starting slot and that McCaffrey wasn't interested in a situation in which he wasn't starting.

I was convinced at least one of Goldwire, Baker, AOC, Moore, or Hurt wouldn't be in a Duke jersey next year. AOC makes the most sense as the "odd man out".

I was thinking the same thing except that I wouldn't have included Goldwire on that list.

[budwom]

^ I could be wrong, but pretty much remember him wanting to play PG.

[CDu]

^ I could be wrong, but pretty much remember him wanting to play PG.

I could be wrong as well, but I agree with you. And the fact that he went to Vandy and played PG for the next two years would seem to suggest that wanting to play PG may have had at least something to do with it.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I could certainly be wrong, but my recollection of McCaffrey's transfer, or at least the conventional wisdom at the time, is that it wasn't so much motivated by Billy's desire to play PG but rather by the fact that Thomas Hill -- a tough, physical, relentless player who was McCaffrey's and Hurley's classmate, a terrific athlete and a better defender than Billy -- had beaten out McCaffrey for a starting slot and that McCaffrey wasn't interested in a situation in which he wasn't starting.

Agreed. Starting at PG was the more publicly assumed reason for the departure and definitely had some impact, but Thomas Hill beating him out for the two guard spot was what pushed him over the edge. I'm sure he would have continued to get plenty of minutes off the bench but he wanted to be a starter, preferably as a PG, but SG would have been fine also. And, if I recall, Thomas Hill man-handling him in practices every day (not maliciously, just part of the game) was also part of it - your description of Thomas Hill as a player is spot on.