The key is "let's run it back". The first couple paragraphs were nicely written but also I think a little misdirection to make fans think he was declaring for the draft. Nicely played, got me at least!
I swear I saw a list somewhere, because there was discussion about Monk and some others being on it. Elko had said he wanted anyone who might leave to be recognized so that they got the chance at least once, so his omission made it seem like maybe he was coming back. Always nice to have confirmation from the source though!
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
Monk coming back for his “Covid” year is great. But the ACC schedule will be much, much more difficult. Only one game (UVA) against 2022 non-bowl eligible ACC teams and games against Clemson, FSU, Pitt, Louisville as well as our 3 in-state partners.
With ND included in our OOC, we may be improved and still not win 6 games.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
If this concept has been brought up earlier on this thread, pardon me for repeating it...
...but I can't remember a single season where Duke never got beaten badly. The worst was Kansas, riding high at the time...and that wasn't bad at all. Really amazing...
Wake beat Florida State at FSU and lost in 2 OT's to Clemson. We have Pitt at home, a team we should have beaten by two TD's this year. With Franklin and Carter back, the defensive line all of a sudden has it's best two players back along with three or four other players in the two deep returning. With our success, along with the portal players we brought in this year making such a big impact, it will be interesting to see who we get this portal cycle.
A schedule that looked really tough in August when we had no idea how Elko and staff would turn a team who won 5 games the previous two years around so successfully, all of sudden doesn't look as formidable. Let's see how many more kids use the Covid years that were in the two deep, along with a freshman class that was rated #8 in the conference.
That's a good perspective. I was starting to feel a bit down about the schedule next year. Seems like a lot of good players will be back, and I would hope Elko is in an even better position now to get good transfers at Duke.
I want to say that the sky is the limit. We always revert back to the idea that there is a glass ceiling for Duke football due to the academic standards. Why does this seem to apply to Duke football, but not Duke basketball? I know there are so many more players on a football team, so that is a challenge. Is the idea that Coach K built the program to a point that the administration wasn't going to tell him he couldn't recruit someone? Anyone who suggests that Coach K wouldn't have been permitted to recruit any top-10 player, barring any glaring issues involving character or criminality, needs a reality check.
Duke placed nine players on the ALL-ACC lists, with reps in each of 1st team, 2nd team, 3rd team, and honorable mentions.
https://theacc.com/news/2022/11/29/a...all-teams.aspx
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
We're lucky that wewe root for a school that we believe still emphasizes the importance of academics. I believe that duke athletes have to go to class and pass the same requirements for graduation that everyone else does. I've never seen Duke claim, though, that they are held to the same academic expectations during the admissions process. It would be hard for them to even do so because I don't think Duke has a "minimum" GPA or SAT score it will accept. They're big on the idea that the seek to evaluate the individual as a whole person. I'm guessing we won't ever see a lot of transparency on how that all works for football and basketball players, though.
This is an underrated post. We got out-played/classes/scored/manned over and over last season. We were absolutely in each game all season until the final whistle.
Before the season I said I was less concerned with our W/L record than our competitiveness in each game. Well, I got both. We are literally a few plays in a few games from a truly phenomenal season.
I can rue the close losses and be exuberant about the wins. Really fun season.