He looks like “Little Duhon”, who sat with the Crazies. (What ever became of “Little Duhon”?)
He looks like “Little Duhon”, who sat with the Crazies. (What ever became of “Little Duhon”?)
Jim I would not doubt you for a second on this. That said, I can't really see the rationale for redshirting him. Sure, from the outside, there are often things we don't know and don't see...but with a lot of decisions, it's obvious the reasoning. That is not the case here.
If someone can state that, either as a theory or from some inside info, I'd love to know. Not criticizing, just curious.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club
No inside info, but couldn't it be as simple as (a) Joey and Coach K believe Joey will probably play four years at Duke; (b) the plan Joey and his family made with Coach K when Joey reclassified was to redshirt this year and everybody's still happy with that plan?
Joey Baker was the #37 recruit (per RSCI) of 2018. Despite his ability to shoot he may simply not be ready physically to play ACC level basketball, at the speed of ACC basketball, especially on defense. In other words, he might be a less-experienced, less-ready Alex O'Connell. If there's any kind of reasonable chance that he'd want to play four years at Duke, why burn the redshirt if we already have an Alex O'Connell and he doesn't even play that much?
Coach K has, in the past, expressed regret at not redshirting Ryan Kelly. Imagine having Kelly on the 2014 team that desperately needed a big. It appears Coach K is doing the same here. Baker would have been a HS senior, but instead is learning the system. And White and O’Connell appear to provide what Baker would. So the idea is that Baker will be more valuable as a 23 year old in 2023 than as a 19 year old backup in 2019.
Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!
Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
Duke was going to redshirt Eric Meek in 1992 but changed their minds when Crawford Palmer decided to transfer to Dartmouth.
Meek and Cherokee Parks were classmates. Duke decided to redshirt Meek in 1995, when both were seniors, which would have brought him back as redshirt senior in 1996.
But then Joey Beard got mono. K decided to play Meek and Beard decided to transfer.
K has acknowledged that he should have held out Meek back in 1992. Michael Thompson is another player who might have benefitted from a freshman redshirt, which would have taken him out of the same class as Shelden Williams and Shavlik Randolph. Of course, MT ended up having to drop the sport because of a heart condition.
I also wish K had redshirted Lee Melchionni back in 2003. Luol Deng was the only 2004 freshman and there was never a chance he would have been around as a senior in 2007. Melchionni could have been a fifth-year senior that year. And he played all of 71 minutes in 2003.
But I've never talked to him about this and for all I know, he was determined to wrap it up in four years.
If you watch video of Cooper, you might also laugh at him being listed at 6'0", unless they're measuring to the top of his hair. Not that I don't like the overall package and what I'm reading about him.
Let's see if the visit happens and whether we actually end up offering. According to a USAToday blog post by Cooper in December, Duke is one of three schools watching him the most along with Kentucky and Auburn. But, proof will be in the pudding. Let's see if an offer happens.
Why put it on the table in the first place. What are the chances he will stay all five years? What are the chances he'll have a shot at helping a natty better than this season? I'd say about zero to both. With a top 45 recruit, the assumption is NO red shirt...therefore the case for redshirt needs to be made.
Are you asking why you put this question on the table in the first place? I do not know.
The case for redshirt is straight forward: Baker, his family and the Duke coaching staff thought he would benefit more from a redshirt year in the program than playing another year in high school.
The case for burning a redshirt is the head scratcher. He isn’t going to earn meaningful minutes this year absent significant injury issues. Why waste a year of eligibility for a few minutes of garbage time?
What were the chances that Ryan Kelly (top-15 recruit) would stay in college five years (if it had been possible)? How about Amile Jefferson (top-25)? Chase Jeter (top-15)? Derrick Thornton (top-20)? Javin DeLaurier (top-40)? Andre Dawkins? A guy outside the top-20 is more likely to be around for four years than to be early-entry. And there are top-40 guys who simply aren’t physically ready - a scenario even more likely when said player is a reclass case.
I'm not advocating for it necessarily, and Im not sure anyone has fully advocated for it. I just would like the question explored. But to your last sentence, a silly one, no one who is advocating for perhaps burning the redshirt is doing so 'for garbage time.' This came up as Duke was shooting less than 20% from three over four full games, and only AOC was shooting decent on the roster. The theory was he could possibly help in that regard in a meaningful way. Maybe he could, and maybe he couldn't, but garbage time has ZIP ZERO NADA to do with this conversation.
I also would like to know where you get your inside info...