In sports, there are certain organizations that are unilaterally and unofficially regarded as the premiere franchise in the respective league; the Yankees in baseball, the Cowboys in football, the Lakers or Celtics in basketball. That also holds true in the college ranks, particularly with basketball. Love them or hate them (and it’s probably the latter) but it’s undeniable that Duke University is the most preeminent and consistently relevant basketball program today. Because of that, Duke always elicits a response from basketball fans. No one is ever impartial with regard to their feeling on Duke.
Because they are so polarizing, they usually come to mind first when you think of college basketball programs. I’m not saying that they are the most successful program ever, because they aren’t, but they are always worth talking about and it has been that way for a long time. They are the perceived good guys of college ball. The model citizens. The envy of most other institutions. In the minds of many, they represent everything that’s right with collegiate athletics. In fact, it wasn’t until 1999 when the first underclassman left Duke early for the NBA. By that time, that was long since the norm at most other schools. They’ve had a slew of guys forgo their remaining years of eligibility since then, but generally speaking, most of their players stick around for all four years. The general consensus is that the best high school players in country head to Duke. While that’s certainly not always the case, they get their fair share of great players.
But if Duke is the poster-school for being a consistently elite, prominent program, why don’t they produce all-time great NBA players? I mean, they’re always usually good in college, so what’s the problem? Some very good, and many great college ballers have hooped at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Guys like Dick Groat, Art Heyman, Jim Spanarkel, Mike Gminski, Johnny Dawkins, Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill, Cherokee Parks, Jeff Capel, Steve Wojciechowski, Corey Maggette, Trajan Langdon, Shane Battier, Carlos Boozer, Mike Dunleavy Jr., Jay Williams, Luol Deng, J.J. Redick (to name few) all wore a Duke uniform.
Christian Laettner had one of the best college careers ever. Grant Hill was as rare as they came at the time. Trajan Langon could shoot the lights out of any gym. So could Redick. Jay Williams is one of the most talented college ball players I’ve ever seen. Oh yeah, Johnny Dawkins, Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner, Shane Battier, Elton Brand, Jay Williams and J.J. Redick were all named Naismith Player of the Year. So, why haven’t any become all-time greats? Now, many on the list have enjoyed nice, lengthy NBA careers, so I’m not insinuating that they all flopped in the League. But for a school like Duke, you expect more than what they have produced. You expect historically great players from such a school. In fact during the NBA’s 50 Greatest Players presentation during halftime of the 1997 All-Star game, none of those named went to Duke. And how many players from Duke are in the Naismith Hall of Fame based on greatness during their NBA playing career? I’ll give you a minute.
For a while, I actually felt as if going to Duke was a curse for pro aspirations. Bobby Hurley, Grant Hill, Jay Williams and Elton Brand are four of the best players ever at Duke. And they all sustained injuries (whether on the court or otherwise) that either claimed their careers all together or claimed most of their skills, subsequently altering the complexion of their remaining years. You could actually make the argument that Carlos Boozer has had the best, relatively injury-free, NBA career amongst all players from Duke. Nothing against Booz, but take look again at the names I listed above.
Above all, I just find it very odd. It’s an interesting dichotomy that we may never understand. But as this year’s NBA draft nears and Kyrie Irving, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler all sure to hear their names called, will they follow suit with their Blue Devil brethren or will they rewrite history? Probably the former.
If you’re looking for your everyday, predictable basketball talk, then you’ve come to the wrong place, because Kevin Burke of The Kevin Burke Project brings provocative, thought provoking content about basketball as only he can. Kevin also hosts The Hoop Doctors weekly podcast show, which you can subscribe to for free on iTunes. Follow Kevin on Twitter and Facebook
