Joey Baker transfers to Michigan!

[JasonEvans]

https://twitter.com/newsobserver/sta...91399748521985

He did this after the May 1 deadline so if he chooses to transfer he would need a waiver to be eligible next season.

[JasonEvans]

Same day as AJ Green is on campus... this feel like it may be Joey recognizing that playing time on the wing is not going to be easy to come by next year.

[CameronBornAndBred]

That is 100% bizarre. Why wait all this time?
Hopefully all is good with him and the coaching staff, but a move like this doesn't scream "Nothing to see here".

[chrishoke]

Surprising, but sure can't say that I blame him. Go do great things Joey.

[CameronDuke]

This has A.J. Green from Northern Iowa transferring to Duke written all over it.

I’ll miss Joey. I wish him luck down the road.

[CDu]

Same day as AJ Green is on campus... this feel like it may be Joey recognizing that playing time on the wing is not going to be easy to come by next year.

https://twitter.com/newsobserver/sta...91399748521985

He did this after the May 1 deadline so if he chooses to transfer he would need a waiver to be eligible next season.

It was somewhat surprising to me that he didn't enter the portal already. Definitely surprising that he has chosen to do it this late. But it likely does suggest that the writing was more officially on the wall about the starting SG spot next year.

Hopefully it works out for him. He has been a model representative of the university. It just wasn't quite a fit for him on the bball court. Hopefully he lands somewhere where he can play a bunch and enjoy his final year of eligibility as a regular.

[jaywilliams22]

Joey is a grad right? If he's a grad transfer, he should be able to get cleared fairly easily.

Trevor's NBA combine + Baker transferring sure sounds like it equals a Green commit soon.

[CameronBornAndBred]

This has A.J. Green from Northern Iowa transferring to Duke written all over it.

I’ll miss Joey. I wish him luck down the road.

What is the difference for Joey whether A.J. comes or Trevor stays? That's why him waiting until now is so confusing. At least if he had announced prior, he could move on without sitting. Obviously he still has the option of coming back to Duke, but with him putting this out there now that would seem very unlikely.

Sigh...best wishes at your new school, Joey. Your time at Duke surely has been an interesting one!

[scottdude8]

https://twitter.com/newsobserver/sta...91399748521985

He did this after the May 1 deadline so if he chooses to transfer he would need a waiver to be eligible next season.

Whaaaaaaat?

This is so, so odd. Any explanation I can think of is so speculative and down the rabbit hole that I can't justify posting it here.

All I'll say is this: Joey Baker deserved a Senior Day at Duke. The school went out of its way to officially announce Joey was returning for his super-senior year. Something weird has to have happened over the past few days/weeks for this to make any sense.

[proelitedota]

Whaaaaaaat?
All I'll say is this: Joey Baker deserved a Senior Day at Duke. The school went out of its way to officially announce Joey was returning for his super-senior year. Something weird has to have happened over the past few days/weeks for this to make any sense.

Clearly staff is confident that we get both Keels (back) and AJ Green.

https://twitter.com/newsobserver/sta...91399748521985

He did this after the May 1 deadline so if he chooses to transfer he would need a waiver to be eligible next season.

He can be a grad transfer.

[CDu]

Whaaaaaaat?

This is so, so odd. Any explanation I can think of is so speculative and down the rabbit hole that I can't justify posting it here.

All I'll say is this: Joey Baker deserved a Senior Day at Duke. The school went out of its way to officially announce Joey was returning for his super-senior year. Something weird has to have happened over the past few days/weeks for this to make any sense.

I mean, the most logical answer seems super straightforward: Baker was hopeful that he'd have a bigger role next year. And with the news about Green coming in (especially if the signs are that Green will commit), it probably became crystal clear that Baker's desired role wasn't going to materialize: Green brings everything Baker could bring, but better and with more other skills.

I'm honestly not sure why he didn't enter the portal earlier, as it seemed clear to all of us that his role was going to be a backup again next year (one way or another). But maybe he didn't see it that way, thinking that with Keels going he had a chance to start.

[Matches]

Something weird has to have happened over the past few days/weeks for this to make any sense.

Not really. People change their minds all the time for all sorts of reasons. Young people in particular suffer from this tendency.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Clearly staff is confident that we get both Keels (back) and AJ Green.

IF that's the way it shakes out, and that's a big if, that would be very poor form for the staff. You don't kick a guy to the curb that has been with you for 4 years to make room for the fresh new face.

[proelitedota]

IF that's the way it shakes out, and that's a big if, that would be very poor form for the staff. You don't kick a guy to the curb that has been with you for 4 years to make room for the fresh new face.

I would imagine that the staff would have no issues with Baker being around. Baker probably wants more minutes.

[MarkD83]

Whaaaaaaat?

This is so, so odd. Any explanation I can think of is so speculative and down the rabbit hole that I can't justify posting it here.

All I'll say is this: Joey Baker deserved a Senior Day at Duke. The school went out of its way to officially announce Joey was returning for his super-senior year. Something weird has to have happened over the past few days/weeks for this to make any sense.

Nothing weird other than Duke's graduation was last week. Once he walked down the aisle perhaps he realized he had accomplished everything he wanted to at Duke: 1) A Duke degree 2) Final Four.

Now go explore life outside of North Carolina. If I were him I would transfer to UC San Diego and soak up some sun for a year.

[CDu]

He can be a grad transfer.

The May 1 deadline applies to both undergraduate and graduate transfers. So Baker would still need a waiver, but would likely get one.

[Matches]

IF that's the way it shakes out, and that's a big if, that would be very poor form for the staff. You don't kick a guy to the curb that has been with you for 4 years to make room for the fresh new face.

If the staff is confident we’ll have both those guys someone should take away their car keys. Not happening.

[scottdude8]

Clearly staff is confident that we get both Keels (back) and AJ Green.

The bolded is the only way this makes sense, in my mind. If one of Keels and Green are going to be on the 22 squad, Joey would still have the inside track for bench minutes at the 3, and likely some at the 2 as well. That seemed to be the expectation for the past month-plus. The only major change would be if Green has agreed to come and be a sixth man behind Keels.

The only other scenario that makes rough sense to me is if Joey thought he was going to get the chance to start at the 3 (with Whitehead at the 2) after Trevor went to the draft. But that doesn't make any sense to me considering we've been active with all the top portal guys who could play the 2 since the end of the season. So this scenario would have required a major miscommunication between Joey and the staff, which would be really, really unfortunate.

If we somehow get both Keels and Green, the team next year will undoubtedly be better off for it. And we all know players can "withdraw" from the transfer portal (plenty have done so already this offseason), so nothing is set in stone. That said, I'll say it again: Joey Baker not getting his senior day, especially in an era where four-year seniors are so rare, is a miscarriage of justice, and (less importantly) will fuel the "Coach K's swan song came at the cost of his players" crowd for another few months.

The only way this doesn't sting, and sting HARD, is if this means both Keels and Green are coming, and even then it's not a good look. I hope some reporting gets done very soon on this.

[CDu]

IF that's the way it shakes out, and that's a big if, that would be very poor form for the staff. You don't kick a guy to the curb that has been with you for 4 years to make room for the fresh new face.

Firstly, I highly doubt we get BOTH Green and Keels. I strongly suspect we get one of them though.

But even in the highly-unlikely scenario that we get both Keels and Green, it wouldn't be a case of "kicking Baker to the curb." We have enough scholarships for all 3 to play next year. It's just that Baker would in that scenario want to go somewhere where he could play.

Scheyer's job is to try to build the best team he can build. If he feels that Baker isn't good enough to be an ideal option as a starter or key reserve, then it is in Scheyer's (and Duke's) best interest to address that via recruiting. It would be poor form to take away a scholarship from Baker, but not poor form to bring in as talented a team as possible within the available scholarships.

[WHOneedsSOX]

I kind of hate that this happened to him. Obviously something changed to the point where he felt like he could no longer get minutes here. Probably that transfer is likely committing to Duke? Did someone lie to Joey? Did he just now realize the effect of adding someone? He would've transferred before the deadline had something been made aware to him earlier.

Joey was clearly a guy who wanted to be at Duke up until today. Something was just made aware to him that changed his mind.

Duke also burned his redshirt freshman year too, right? Wasn't expected to play but played a really low number of minutes because of injuries which burned his year.