Sean Stewart Portals to the The.

[1991 duke law]

Post-bad loss meltdown.

I am concerned, but I still have faith in Scheyer.

While i obviously know nothing about Jon's role in these departures, i have a difficult time blaming him (based on the nothing that i know). The ability to transfer at whim allows kids to have no patience and just jump to obtain playing time. I actually feel bad for Jon - his coaching journey is morphing into an impossibility.

For all of those who fought so hard for player empowerment (no restrictions on transfers and paying players), your wish has been granted and here is the outcome. I assume my classmate Jay Bilas is pleased - we have exactly what he has been pushing for.

Will the golden goose be killed - likely not. But college basketball is now a very different animal than that which I had previously enjoyed. And i do not enjoy this - and will likely migrate away from caring and watching nearly as much.

I will root for Duke to rise in the academic rankings. I increasingly do not care as much about Duke basketball.

[bluedev_92]

Said this months ago. But if you wanna keep a Stewart for his sophomore year you gotta play him.

Agree with this. He was not perfect for sure, but exciting & gave great effort. If your strategy is to keep someone like him, you have to be willing to go through some growing pains.

[cato]

The first few posts in this thread were enough to convince me to stop reading. Best of luck to the young man, who I had hoped to see in Duke blue for years to come.

I’m not so fond of the fan reaction. Please feel free to switch allegiance to some other team or sport. I’ll be around, still rooting for Duke and not getting buffeted by every breeze.

The future is bright and full of opportunity.

[linus]

C'mon arm chair point guards...this blame game (whether Scheyer or Stewart) isn't fair and doesn't look good. I wanted Sean to return as much as anyone, but we all know Duke doesn't guarantee playing time. You have to earn it. Well, now you aren't just competing against the other players on your team but the entire transfer portal. And likewise, for the coaching staff, players will go where they see the best fit, potential, NIL. We don't know what happens behind the scenes. All I know is it is a new world that none of us like. While there are opportunities, I can't imagine the stress this places on the players and coaches each offseason. I plan to root for the team we do have and wish the best to those that move on.

[bluedev_92]

Just to clarify - I’m all in for Duke & for Jon. My point was more about the apparent mindset of todays young players given what’s available to them..The pendulum has swung too far.

[budwom]

C'mon arm chair point guards...this blame game (whether Scheyer or Stewart) isn't fair and doesn't look good. I wanted Sean to return as much as anyone, but we all know Duke doesn't guarantee playing time. You have to earn it. Well, now you aren't just competing against the other players on your team but the entire transfer portal. And likewise, for the coaching staff, players will go where they see the best fit, potential, NIL. We don't know what happens behind the scenes. All I know is it is a new world that none of us like. While there are opportunities, I can't imagine the stress this places on the players and coaches each offseason. I plan to root for the team we do have and wish the best to those that move on.

Yes, it's time to adapt to the new way of doing things. It's too bad when a kid feels he has to leave, I get that, but Sean had a chance to stay and chose not to, just as Scheyer chose to get away from the Forever Young model. Wish everyone well and we'll see how it goes.

[killerleft]

This is the truth. And it’s not like we had world beaters playing in front of Stewart. In the second half of the season he should have played more.

I think this is spot off. He played more as he improved.

[superdave]

Ohio State, Georgetown, Michigan

[WHOneedsSOX]

While i obviously know nothing about Jon's role in these departures, i have a difficult time blaming him (based on the nothing that i know). The ability to transfer at whim allows kids to have no patience and just jump to obtain playing time. I actually feel bad for Jon - his coaching journey is morphing into an impossibility.

For all of those who fought so hard for player empowerment (no restrictions on transfers and paying players), your wish has been granted and here is the outcome. I assume my classmate Jay Bilas is pleased - we have exactly what he has been pushing for.

Will the golden goose be killed - likely not. But college basketball is now a very different animal than that which I had previously enjoyed. And i do not enjoy this - and will likely migrate away from caring and watching nearly as much.

I will root for Duke to rise in the academic rankings. I increasingly do not care as much about Duke basketball.

I think it was Nick Saban who said recruiting is now about recruiting incoming freshmen, recruiting transfers, and recruiting your own players now. And during recruiting that players now ask about how they're going to get paid through NIL.

Not saying this is related to Sean at all. Just what college sports has become.

[Elev8ion]

I wish all the transfers the best of luck.

I think for TJ and Sean it was obvious they want playing time and knew even next season it may not have been as much as they wanted. Players at Duke have always had to earn their PT, and I just think it's a case where with the transfer/portal rules allow these guys to move around to where they can get what they want instantaneously (at least in their minds).

This isn't a Jon issue, it's a college basketball/sports issue.

[bluedevilwildcats]

In previous years, even if almost everyone had returned, we would all be focused on weaknesses at the 4 and 5, as well as lack of quality depth at the 1/2. We would be hoping that TJ and Sean would make a big Sophomore Leap. Which we know from this past year, often doesn't happen. But I guess we'd be comforted that Goldilocks 1.0 was still in affect.

This year, if we end up with the transfers we've been discussing, these concerns won't be nearly as critical. We'll realize we need Goldilocks 2.0 but I'm sure Sky is working on that now.

Radical change isn't something most of us are comfortable with but I fully trust Jon / Duke to put us in the best position to succeed next year given the new ground rules. And I think if everything comes together, 2024/25 could be one of the most rewarding seasons we've had in quite some time.

[Phredd3]

BTW, how many players have transferred out of Duke and made the NBA long term? I bet that you can count them on one hand with several fingers left over. It’s like asking how many Duke players who left early and were not drafted in the first round made it.

The thing I really hate about it, though, is that Sean Stewart has a pretty decent chance of being an exception to this rule. I really think he has top-tier potential. His athleticism is off the charts. He's already a good shot blocker and an elite rebounder. A little more defensive positioning experience plus adding a face-up game on the offensive end, and I think he's NBA-ready. I really would have liked seeing that transformation taking place here at Duke. He was the most tantalizing of the transfers, in my book.

Alas, that's water under the bridge.

[Ian]

Yeah but if I took a poll of Duke fans after the freshmen year of say, Pocius, Cyez, DeLaurier, I'm sure most would have been confident they would have developed into starters by their junior year.
Yes, none of them did.

[bluedevilwildcats]

The thing I really hate about it, though, is that Sean Stewart has a pretty decent chance of being an exception to this rule. I really think he has top-tier potential. His athleticism is off the charts. He's already a good shot blocker and an elite rebounder. A little more defensive positioning experience plus adding a face-up game on the offensive end, and I think he's NBA-ready. I really would have liked seeing that transformation taking place here at Duke. He was the most tantalizing of the transfers, in my book.

Alas, that's water under the bridge.

But would Sean have been happy with 10-15 minutes last year? I don't think so.

Could Jon realistically foresee and promise Sean 20-25 minutes next year? Again, I don't think so.

What Sean is really good at just isn't needed as much next year. And there's no way Sean was turning into a Stretch 5 over the summer.

[SkyBrickey]

In previous years, even if almost everyone had returned, we would all be focused on weaknesses at the 4 and 5, as well as lack of quality depth at the 1/2. We would be hoping that TJ and Sean would make a big Sophomore Leap. Which we know from this past year, often doesn't happen. But I guess we'd be comforted that Goldilocks 1.0 was still in affect.

This year, if we end up with the transfers we've been discussing, these concerns won't be nearly as critical. We'll realize we need Goldilocks 2.0 but I'm sure Sky is working on that now.

Radical change isn't something most of us are comfortable with but I fully trust Jon / Duke to put us in the best position to succeed next year given the new ground rules. And I think if everything comes together, 2024/25 could be one of the most rewarding seasons we've had in quite some time.

Goldilocks little sister is coming along in our next class. Her name is not 2.0. When I googled "does Goldilocks have a sister?", it only mentions a friend named Sabrina. So unless someone offers a better name, I'm going to refer to the Evans, Ngongba, Harris, K2 experiment as Sabrina.

Name competition starts....NOW!

[4Gen]

It's very hard to make six figures and it almost always involves sitting behind a computer monitor 50 weeks a year, usually while stressed and bored.

So, I blame none of the players for chasing NIL money. Most anybody would if they could.

But I can say that I have mostly lost interest in college sports. If Scheyer were to go out and recruit other schools' great players, honesly, what would it prove?

[azzefkram]

Perhaps these numbers were so high because our coach knew where and when to pick his spots to put Sean in the game. Because yes, there were also many warts.

With respect, that's horse hooey. Jon can't know when is a good time to put Sean in for a rebound or block. Basketball is too fluid for that level of management.

[crote]

Sean could play 20+ minutes with a foul rate that high. He didn't. The primary cap on his PT was Scheyer.

As an aside, I love how posters bring up foul rate yet conveniently ignore Sean's team best offensive rebounding, defensive rebounding, block rate, and 2nd best steal rate. Sean has his warts but he also has a ton of potential. We don't know if Sean will ever reach that potential, but we do know if he does it won't be at Duke.

Those things aren't in tension. He was impactful when he was on the court, but he had trouble staying on the court.

[JGDUKE2008]

NCAA needs to go back to guys having to sit out a year for transfering this as gotten out of hand. I do blame the staff tho. Stewert was way more productive than Mark and Ryan especially by mid way of the season, he's actually one of the reasons why we beat NC State the first time yet he was getting 8 MPG he should have been getting 18 MPG.

[azzefkram]

Goldilocks little sister is coming along in our next class. Her name is not 2.0. When I googled "does Goldilocks have a sister?", it only mentions a friend named Sabrina. So unless someone offers a better name, I'm going to refer to the Evans, Ngongba, Harris, K2 experiment as Sabrina.

Name competition starts...NOW!

HENK? KHEN? Nah, Sabrina works.