Sounds to me like a smart young person decided to take his Duke degree and make his way in the world. Isn't that how it's supposed to work?
Sage Grouse
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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
I think you're on to something. With a name like Joey Baker, some Ninth Street Bakery money would be nice, but it just doesn't compare to Mrs. Fields money.
Debbi Fields opened her first store in Palo Alto, California in 1977 and the Mrs. Fields® name quickly became associated with warm, freshly baked cookies right out of the oven.So, if he ends up at Stanford or Utah, we'll know why.Mrs. Fields® is based in Salt Lake City, Utah and operates a robust production and distribution facility located in Salt Lake City, Utah.
I’m not going to speculate because I have no idea what is behind the decision, but I wish a fellow Duke graduate all the best. I just wish that things had turned out differently.
It's all interesting bc Joey's role was going to be the same.
1- If Keels returned, he would start. Joey would come off the bench as a shooter on the wing.
2- If Keels didn't return and AJ Green committed. Same as if Keels was there.
Unless Duke took both Keels and Green then Joey wouldn't really have any minutes
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
Purely speculative, but I’m wondering if his recovery from surgery had a setback. He was probably vacillating after the initial decision. You constantly are fighting for PT and he has lived that benchwarmer role for so long that he just needed to be a little more self interested. He has done so much for Duke Hoop without gaining PT that it just became too much.
Duke PURSUING a transfer isn't the same as GETTING a transfer. I've been open about my OPINION that a high quality, starter level transfer, might not be interested in Duke.
Take the SG position this year. First, there is the uncertainty about Trevor Keels, the presumed starter should he return. Given Whitehead and Keels, that would be about 60ish minutes out of 80 available across the two positions. Mitchell would play some 3, and Blakes and Schutt would be tough comp. That said, Keels is probably, or at least strongly leaning towards, leaving.
Should Keels leave. Duke has Schutt, Whitehead (natural NBA position is SG, and he could probably play that at college) and Blakes available for minutes.
If Mitchell can excel at the three, DW can play the SG, so minutes are not available if that proves tenable. But it might not.
There is a lot of POSSIBLE comp for minutes at the 2. Even if a kid could start, he'd likely be pressed for minutes by several different guys.
Even if a transfer does start, such a player might go from the clear number 1 option on his old team, or a number 2 at a different P5 school, to the 3rd or 4th option at Duke. Or 5th.
That is in addition to entering a school with a high end academic profile as an upperclassmen, meaning that only hard classes are left to be taken (and the real chance that some of the more difficult classes at your old school might not be accepted as transfer credits).
All of the above are possible permutations of Duke's starting lineup. That uncertainty, again IN MY OPINION, made/makes it unlikely that Duke would get a high level starter. Given that, it is easy to see how Joey could see a possible starting position (at SF with DW at the SG), or a key role off the bench.
Unlikely isn't impossible, of course. A transfer might be willing to bet on himself even given the uncertainty at Duke. If that were to happen, Joey might find himself on the outside of the rotation.
Even without Keels returning, without a transfer in, there is a decent chance that Joey doesn't see big minutes next year. Mitchell at the Sf and DW at SG isn't outlandish. Schutt and Blakes might get solid backup minutes next year. Heck, I wouldn't be shocked to see small stretches of Lively, Mitchell, Roach, Schutt and Blakes. Again, not a regular or often seen lineup, but that would be a legit lineup to see.
If a coach was choosing between a 5th year senior, and 1 or 2 underclassmen guards......Well, unless the 5th year guy offers a significant upgrade over each of the other two options, I'd understand why a coach might go with the younger guys. They might improve enough to really help in the future. How much future value does the 5th year guy have?
Obviously, if the 5th year is clearly better, he'd play. But Joey is a bad defender. He was supposed to offset bad defense with great 3pt shooting. But that shooting never materialized.
I could see how Joey would look around after the dust had cleared and really decided that Duke's roster situation was going to be difficult to crack in a meaningful way, even without another addition.
I’m just sad Joey didn’t break through and become a big contributor. This is a kid that loves Duke and always had potential. I wanted that fairytale ending for him.