Which player do you think improved the most over their time at Duke?

[BlueDevilStop]

Curious to hear who you all think.

[OldPhiKap]

Quinn Cook.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Quinn Cook.

Lance Thomas comes to mind too...

[chrishoke]

John Smith.

[plimnko]

Goldwire is working his way at least onto the list

[Truth&Justise]

Marshall Plumlee.

As a freshman he looked like a baby deer on ice. He'd bull his way into fouls, turn the ball over whenever he got it, and couldn't stay on the floor. He appeared in half of Duke's games, playing 2.6 minutes per game, scoring 2 points. Not 2 points per game...2 points total for the year. This means he had more turnovers (5) and fouls (5) than points. All of this despite the fact that he was a former McD's AA (somehow) and had redshirted for a year.

But he got steadily better every year. By his junior year he was an important and reliable bench contributor, helping Duke win a national championship. And as a senior he was the rock of the team, playing 30.5 minutes per game and averaging 8.3 points and 8.6 rebounds.

And then he went on to play 29 games over two season in the NBA! What remarkable progress.

Oh, and he's Duke's all-time leader in 3-pt percentage

[Acymetric]

Quinn Cook.

Lance Thomas comes to mind too...

There is probably some recency bias here (I'm not as familiar with the overall career arcs of guys from before the mid-late 90s because I was too young or not yet born) but those two along with Nolan Smith and Brian Zoubek stand out to me.

[Kedsy]

Alaa Abdelnaby went from a garbage-time player as a freshman to 3rd team All ACC as a senior.
Lee Melchionni went from 71 total minutes as a freshman to 716/717 as a junior/senior.
Chris Carrawell went from a bench/role player to ACC POY.
Shane Battier went from a role player to NPOY.
Already mentioned by others, but Marshall Plumlee, Brian Zoubek, and Jordan Goldwire are all decent candidates, too.

[Edouble]

First thought that pops into my head... I'd go with Shane.

Shane seemed like a pretty one-dimensional defensive specialist when he came in. By the end he was the best defender ever at Duke, who set the record for most 3 pointers in a game, and was NPOY. One of Duke's finest two way players.

Around the same era, Chris Carrawell also improved tremendously, going from role player to ACC POY. Part of his growth curve was due to the fact that he was injured in high school and at one point couldn't even lift his arms overhead.

Agree also with Nolan, mentioned upthread.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Zooooooooooob!!!

[budwom]

gotta throw in Fred Lind.

[jimsumner]

Lind would make my short list.

But so would Tate Armstrong.

[Bob Green]

Just Jumpers Redick transformed into a complete player. He probably will not get at lot of love in this thread but his name deserves mnention. Diet, exercise and lots of hard work over his four years at Duke. He never got enough credit for how good a defender he became.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Just Jumpers Redick transformed into a complete player. He probably will not get at lot of love in this thread but his name deserves mnention. Diet, exercise and lots of hard work over his four years at Duke. He never got enough credit for how good a defender he became.

I don't think he became that good of a defender until he hit the NBA. He was an end of the bench warmer, and there was one reason why, and his coach in Orlando let him know it. Under Stan Van Gundy, JJ slowly became not only a great shooter, but a relentless defender. It was crazy watching him chase guys all over the court. Took him a couple years, but he got off of Stan's bench and made a huge impact on both ends of the court.

[jimsumner]

I've told this story before and I guarantee you I'll tell it again.

But after the 1975 season Bill Foster told then sophomore Tate Armstrong that he would like him to come back in better condition.

Armstrong went home to Texas--in the summer-and proceeded to run, 10, 15, 20 miles a day, 100 miles a week. In the summer. In Texas.

Duke didn't track minutes-per-game in 1976. But Armstrong averaged 37 minutes per game in 1977. Good enough for you, coach?

This is a guy who came off the bench behind fellow freshman Edgar Burch in 1974, an historically bad Duke team. He came back in 1976 as one of the best guards in the country.

And while I'm thinking about it, Mark Crow also came in with that class and spent most of the season playing for the JV team. Crow played 10 games for a terrible, terrible team in 1974. TEN GAMES. Bob Cook played more. Yes, that Bob Cook.

By the time he ended up Crow was giving Duke 12 points and six rebounds per game and actually played some in the NBA. No one would have seen that in 1974.

[Native]

Justin Robinson, anyone?

[jimsumner]

Let me add Brian Davis to the list.

[scottdude8]

Brian Zoubek is the only correct answer to this question.

[niveklaen]

Eric Meek could barely walk as a freshman.* Got drafted in the 2nd round by the Rockets after his senior year.

*granted it was the result of being hit by a car, but his dedication to return from life threatening injuries makes him the most improved in my book.

[-jk]

Justin Robinson, anyone?

All set to lead us to the Championship!

Sigh...

-jk