Sure, but that other player has now joined a roster, settled into school, and is now in a position where transferring in is much more difficult than committing in the first place.
What will likely end up happening, and this will also be anti-player, is that top programs will be much less likely to take "risks" on kids with backgrounds suggesting they might transfer. If you're recruiting depth, the difference between someone ranked 75th and 150th is probably not that high. It's much easier to take the kid with two parents, money, and a realistic future plan. Meanwhile, a fringe professional dreaming of making it big is basically never worth an offer. By the time they've developed enough to play major minutes, they'll have long since transferred.
I see the recruitment for John as Coach K being highly ticked off at the performance of this years team or like some have mentioned, he may be calling it quits after next season. Heck, he didn't even name one Captain last year.
However I hate to see Coleman leave. Not because I think he's going to be a star but because he seemed like the ideal Duke guy. I don't blame him one bit for transferring and I will root for him wherever he goes. I hope T. John turns out to be a better player than Tapé. If he doesn't it will be a bad trade off. Man, that's two of my favorite players gone from last season(Coleman and DJ).
GoDuke!
^ I'm missing Brakefield already as well...
I wonder if Coleman got some inside info on Baldwin deciding to come to Duke? Doubt it but you never know!
Some of us Duke fans have been truly blessed to have seen some great players stay for 4 years and those players produced some great teams. I don't think we'll ever see anything similar to that era. It looks like teams will be built on transfers and a few top ten high school players.
GoDuke!
Yes, that certainly appears to be the direction college basketball is heading. It's probably a very big part of why Roy Williams retired; his model of college bball is just not the way it is going to work anymore.
I think we'll see a bit more stability moving forward once everyone is back to "normal" school years and in-person activities. But I doubt it ever goes back to the way it was even 5 years ago again without some major revamping. And, honestly, it seems a bit unfair to the kids to restrict them to a decision made at 18 in ways that most of their peers aren't.
I was convinced Coleman could be a 4 year guy, become a captain, and then pivot to a lucrative and long lasting career in finance or something.
"Something in my vicinity is Carolina blue and this offends me." - HPR
In all honesty, I think the sample size from Henry last year was far too limited (95 total minutes across 19 games) to draw any real conclusions. His statistical profile was really skewed by only two games with extended minutes (home vs UNC, an admittedly solid performance, and vs BC in the ACCT, most coming well after that game was competitive). Across the full season, to these eyes, most of the impact Henry did have seemed to be of the hustle and effort variety, rather than skills or athleticism.
Our fandom is different and the way it manifests itself is different then and its ok.
I'm Duke first and I care about the program's success and longevity first and foremost. I will cheer for anyone who puts on or has put on a Duke uniform as long as they represented our program well in their time in Durham but I ultimately don't mind if the staff recruits over a player who they think is a better fit or simply more talented.
Minutes and playing time aren't promised, they have to be earned.
My favorite Blue Devils are the ones who had to experience adversity first and then ended up champions as well. There's something special about our 2010 championship team that will stay with me forever.
We need to adapt or we"ll be left behind. This is the new landscape of college basketball though and we need to get used to it.
I think it could really help Duke out given our brand and position in the sport but we just have to embrace the fact that we won't see a bright-eyed bushy tailed freshman player turn into a tough-nosed superstar senior player and have his jersey up in the rafters upon graduation anymore.