Welcome to Duke Neal Begovich!

[DU94]

We obviously didn't need his scoring punch the next year as that was the repeat year when we beat Scott's other team by 20 in the finals.

We clearly didn't need him to beat UM as evidenced by the post-Thanksgiving game in '92, but the rest of that season wasn't so great.

[JasonEvans]

Are non- scholarship players included in team GPA?

No. My bet is that if Duke has a scholarship available, Begovich will get it but that is not guaranteed.

[Dukehk]

Welcome to Duke Neal Begovich!

[MCFinARL]

No. My bet is that if Duke has a scholarship available, Begovich will get it but that is not guaranteed.

Yes, this makes sense to me. The first priority is to use the scholarships for on-court needs, but if we don't use all of them, getting the APR benefit of a bright practice player seems like a sound idea.

[Bluedog]

Yes, this makes sense to me. The first priority is to use the scholarships for on-court needs, but if we don't use all of them, getting the APR benefit of a bright practice player seems like a sound idea.

I agree with what you're saying, but it's still sad that it's come to this...

On another note, there is no "team GPA" as referenced above (I know that wasn't your post). It's simply the APR score which only cares about if people are academically eligible or not. You could have a team that gets all C's with a average 2.0 GPA and could get a 1000 on the APR score theoretically as long as everyone completes their coursework.

To be back on topic, welcome Neal!! I'm sure he's a great addition to the team, and we're excited to bring an academically-minded, seasoned player who undoubtedly has a bright (non-basketball) future ahead and Duke University can help him achieve those goals. Never can have too many guys on the team like that, even if we're not expecting in game contributions, it only helps the rest of the team to set the tone, have another big body to practice against, etc.

[DrChainsaw]

Yes, this makes sense to me. The first priority is to use the scholarships for on-court needs, but if we don't use all of them, getting the APR benefit of a bright practice player seems like a sound idea.

This is a naive question, but in these days of NIL , how important is it to offer a top-tier player a scholarship?

[JasonEvans]

The first priority is to use the scholarships for on-court needs, but if we don't use all of them, getting the APR benefit of a bright practice player seems like a sound idea.

Well, I think the scholarship is more about rewarding these kids for hard work in practice. They are not going to get rewarded with playing time. Their NIL opportunities are pretty limited (how many Max Johns jerseys do you see?). If you have room in your scholarship bank to give it to one of these walk ons, then why not?

This is a naive question, but in these days of NIL , how important is it to offer a top-tier player a scholarship?

Well, at a school like Duke, that scholarship is worth north of $80,000 so if you are expecting NIL to pay the tuition instead, you probably need to up your "NIL offer" by $100k ore more ($80k + taxes) to match the value of the scholarship. It is pretty easy to see that the math just isn't worth it.

What's more, saving a scholarship just isn't that big of a deal. Duke is allowed 13 players on scholarship. There is no way to share minutes among 13 players who expect to contribute at Duke.

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

This is a naive question, but in these days of NIL , how important is it to offer a top-tier player a scholarship?

I was wondering this. Is it important whether Duke athletics pays for your tuition, versus if Bojangles pays for your tuition?

[JasonEvans]

I was wondering this. Is it important whether Duke athletics pays for your tuition, versus if Bojangles pays for your tuition?

If Bojangles pays it, you have to pay taxes on that benefit.

[scottdude8]

This is a naive question, but in these days of NIL , how important is it to offer a top-tier player a scholarship?

FWIW, and acknowledging the host of differences between the two scenarios, amongst Michigan football fans its a somewhat open secret that the scholarship limit is now very "soft" since players can be recruited as preferred walk-ons but have their tuition taken care of through NIL. How true that is is up for debate (even more so given what we're learning about how inflated NIL numbers are), and in-state Michigan tuition is certainly much less than Duke (although out of state is still insane), but it's an interesting data point for the discussion nonetheless.

[Bluedog]

This is a naive question, but in these days of NIL , how important is it to offer a top-tier player a scholarship?

FWIW, and acknowledging the host of differences between the two scenarios, amongst Michigan football fans its a somewhat open secret that the scholarship limit is now very "soft" since players can be recruited as preferred walk-ons but have their tuition taken care of through NIL. How true that is is up for debate (even more so given what we're learning about how inflated NIL numbers are), and in-state Michigan tuition is certainly much less than Duke (although out of state is still insane), but it's an interesting data point for the discussion nonetheless.

Not to degrade Begovich, but he's not a "top-tier player." But I agree that the need for a scholarship is lessened in the NIL world. However, to a recruit, it's not totally clear that if they don't get a scholarship through the school, they'll get an NIL deal worth the same amount to make up for it. Most would think they'd get that "other" NIL deal regardless of being on scholarship or not, unless it's something specifically offered by boosters/collectives saying "NIL scholarship fund for those that don't get it through the university" or whatever. I'm sure some universities are playing that game -- I don't think it's being done at Duke yet.

That strategy is also probably for borderline scholarship players. For the top guys, it'd be insulting for them to not get the scholarship, regardless of the money. The school is likely to "yank" (or not offer in the first place with the expectation that the collective will cover it) the scholarship from the lower ranked players. A place like Duke isn't go to say to Banchero: "You've got so many NIL possibilities here! So, we don't need to give you a scholarship because we want to give it to Begovich." That would not fly. So, ironically, the top guys with the most NIL potential are the ones that could "afford" not having a scholarship but are the ones that the school is least likely to NOT offer a scholarship to. (If that makes sense). In football, with a roster/scholarship limit of 85 or whatever, and a lot of moving parts, I could see it come to fruition more given those more uncertain dynamics and collectives covering any delta as a fallback for a recruit who is somewhere in the middle of the recruiting ranking spectrum for a given team.

[johnb]

Isn't the rumor there that his parents insisted his only shot to make it in the NBA was to play PG, and that wasn't happening with Hurley there until 93. I know he was a good player at Vanderbilt, but I don't recall him being a great PG there nor do I recall him having much of an NBA career. I don't think his lot would have changed much had he remained starting SG at Duke, might have even been better.

The Duke team couldn’t have done better in 1991-92, though he would have been helpful in 92-93.

I never heard that he was unusually influenced by his parents, but, as usual, we never learn underlying motivations of these decisions. It’s easy to chalk it up to PT, but who knows what lurks in the hearts of college students?

Btw, he was a genuine star at Vandy: a two-time All-American, averaged 20.6 points both seasons, shot .464 from three and 88% from the line. Set the Vandy record with 14 assists in a game. His team won the SEC regular season and was ranked as high as #5. As a senior, he shared SEC Player of the Year honors with Jamal Mashburn.

Duke is unusual in having players at his level almost every year since even before he matriculated back in the ‘80’s; most div 1 schools have almost never had one as good as McCaffrey. He may be a bit like Jeremy Roach in this respect: terrific college player, a pro career in Europe, and then life. Not so bad…

[Neals384]

Hoops he plays with great zeal,
Opponents' ball he will steal,
He's coming to Duke,
He won't be a fluke,
He has such a great name: Neal!

[CameronBornAndBred]

Hoops he plays with great zeal,
Opponents' ball he will steal,
He's coming to Duke,
He won't be a fluke,
He has such a great name: Neal!

I detect a hint of bias.

[brevity]

There's an item on the DBR front page that links to a Chronicle article about Neal Begovich, and it includes a couple of video clips.

Film room: Analyzing Duke men's basketball forward Neal Begovich

While at Duke, Begovich has the potential to provide a veteran perspective and vital leadership when it comes to developing the young gun forwards that make up Scheyer’s squad. What’s more, he will find a homecoming of sorts in Durham, where his older brother and fellow Stanford alum, Daniel Begovich, is a graduate assistant for the team. He may not see many minutes on the court over the course of the season, but the younger Begovich’s presence and collegiate experience will round out a talented roster.

[KKDL19]

To me there is nothing wrong with having a player like him on the roster. What he can contribute in practices and in the scout team will go along way.

[johnb]

Begovich is a 6’9” guy who can shoot 3’s. He’ll be an effective practice player. He can also help strategize against Harrison Ingram, a likely starter for Carolina, who he presumably battled every day for a couple of years at Stanford.

I wouldn’t rule him out for a pro career. I don’t know his plan, but if he wants to go pro (as a coach, agent, or administrator), I’d think Duke basketball grad school would be a solid credential. And would likely come with some nice letters of rec.