I have it in my mind that if the 24-25 season turns out as well for the Dukes as the 23-24 season did the local studs would give serious consideration to playing for a hometown program. I realize that is a tall order due to the low likelihood of claiming an at-large bid or going on another somewhat miraculous run through the A-10 Tournament & then getting a big tourney win or two. Perhaps the portal news over the next few weeks will make that kind of thing more likely. I do know that if something close to that happened Duquesne with its young, newly successful, African-American, LeBron James buddy, 2nd year coach would be the place to play in the A-10 for many, many recruits & transfers.

I found watching Tre Mitchell play at UMass & then bounce to 2 big time programs to be disheartening because you just know he gave no thought of being a local hero/Duke. It makes me wonder just how much bounce the program would/will get from a much more realistic top 4 A-10 finish & NIT bid.

I can think of a few solid reasons why Thiero would want not want to play with Bronny, but it is just as easy to think of a half a dozen reasons why doing so would produce great advantages for Adou in reaching his professional goals. Further, taking the Dukes out of his top 5 is not the same as choosing another school specifically because Bronny might not go there.

If the kid & his family see that as a factor to eliminate Duquesne from the running, he couldn't have been that into the school in the first place. It is not as if the 2 players would compete for minutes at the same position. They actually have complimentary talents & skill sets. If anything, having them in the lineup together along with the returning core & some portal generated  shooting/scoring  would benefit them both because the Dukes would instantly become the A-10 frontrunner.

Last edited by phil95 (4/20/2024 10:55 pm)

Bronny would be absolutely HUGE for this program. I can’t believe this is a debate. Make it happen Coach Dru!

SteelBowl wrote:

I don’t know why you raised the question either. Doesn’t seem like you were looking for feedback. Seems like you are always looking for an argument. 
Let’s put aside he’s LeBron’s kid, that LeBron has supported the program, and that LeBron has been a pretty good spokesman for Duquesne and Dru over the last month or so. I’m not sure why you want to turn having Duquesne’s name linked to a highly recruited kid, at least a top 100 kid, as a negative. Does that help the program? But my real issue how you started out putting the kid down. IMO, that’s bad form. 
Now let’s go thru the stages of this thread and most with you. 
Stage 1 Some negative take on something, usually something most see as a positive. 
Stage 2 Attack anyone who disagrees w you. This time w my sarcastic response your shot ant me was warranted. So I’m not complaining. I don’t care. But it’s your standard MO. 
Stage 3 Superior knowledge and/or inside info. 
Stage 4 Everyone else is stupid and only you know all the pertinent facts. 

I follow WPIAL recruiting and Duquesne’s recruiting pretty closely. Maybe not as closely as you. But some, most of the P5 guys I think you are talking about, DU offered or recruited. Some could have been stars here but choose to be complimentary guys elsewhere. I’m not going to put down guys who went to lower D1 schools, but I don’t think a team of them elevates Duquesne. Not sure what any of this has to do with this thread. I guess this is an Optional Stage Shift the focus.  


 

Thanks SB, I too find some of the wild words to be deliberately provocative, and frankly just tiresome.
 

Again, I will say, that this idea of recruiting kids that you know will be here for more than one year is incredibly ridiculous with the current state of the game. The better the player, the shorter period of time they will be here, so basically you are saying you would rather recruit worse players that will stay than better players that may leave. IN..............SANE!!!!!!! You recruit the best possible team for the upcoming year and worry about next year, next year. That's how it goes now. 

Last edited by kidd082000 (4/21/2024 8:21 am)

kidd082000 wrote:

The truth is there are several people who do this, they all are stuck in an old way of thinking and have not adapted to the new landscape of college basketball. Sorry fellas, it's not the 1970's anymore. They just sound like old men yelling "Hey you kids, get off my lawn".

 

LOL, so true.
 

phil95 wrote:

Of course Duquesne doesn't NEED Bronny. That doesn't mean having him on the team wouldn't produce great results for the program in myriad ways. At the absolute least, he would be the highest-ranking recruit since .....I can even think of a comparison. (Maybe Damian Saunders before he committed to DU?)

Let’s say that due to his family rep he was overrated by 50 spots as a high school recruit. That would still have him as one of the Top 75 players in the 2023 class. That is not the kind of player the Dukes have had a strong chance of landing in several decades; not even from the portal.

I have no doubt that other potential recruits are factoring the Bronny situation into their decision making process. Heck, even Jake should mull over the idea that some combination of Bronny, Max Edwards, Dinkins, Corbett, Crawford, & Staton-McCray might be on campus next season. Unfortunately, that is the current nature of college basketball team building. There is, truly, no avoiding players having to base their matriculation decisions on who else is joining or leaving via the portal party.

I also see some risks associated with the media circus that will follow Bronny wherever he lands. I just happen to think that the program exposure & fringe benefits of having LeBron so closely associated with an up & coming program outweigh those risks.

Want to re-claim this thread on a "Positive " note ....before it got hyjacked, by  the Doom & Gloomer's...
Also wanted re-post these videos which got shortshifted when the thread went sideways...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUkQSGyFBmQ  and https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Ikt543i1z3U

I really don't have to say anything...The Video, says it all...

Go Dukes !!!


 

Last edited by CalDuke (4/21/2024 11:02 am)

Im just sorry I got involved mentioning anything about Bronny or theJames family.It would be great if I had millions of dollars and could donate it to Duquesnes NIL. It would be great to see Bronny play for Dukes.
The reality is I dont have that money. I travel 360 miles to watch  the Dukes play at home and try to create
some excitement and create a college basketball atmosphere.I want the best for Duquesne.

Wildwood13 wrote:

By the way, I know for a fact that a player from a power five school had Duquesne in its top five but has since dropped Duquesne over all the speculation of Bronny. But you guys know and have the answers. That is why I brought up this conversation.

I doubt this. But if it is true, for every one player that would back out of coming Duquesne due to the Bronny speculation, 20 more would come BECAUSE of it. It’s the A-10, not the ACC. How many McDonald’s All Americans come to the A-10?  If I’m in the portal and an A-10 team is getting a McDonald’s All American I want to be on that team. My chances of winning a conf tourney and an NCAA game just got much better

Last edited by Styles1229 (4/21/2024 11:52 am)

Wildwood13 wrote:

CLK wrote:

Wildwood13 wrote:

By the way, I know for a fact that a player from a power five school had Duquesne in its top five but has since dropped Duquesne over all the speculation of Bronny. But you guys know and have the answers. That is why I brought up this conversation.

I am not buying this for one second.  I follow college basketball recruiting as closely as anyone here, and believe me the bottom line in today's world of basketball recruiting is money. If DU was ever in this kid's top 5 we didn't get him because of how much he was asking, and not because of Bronny.  Getting Bronny would be like Iwinning the Mega Million lottery.  Hard to imagine that someone would turn it down because of the attention it would bring.  
 

I believe you are calling me a liar, when I know first hand that to be the case.  I don’t appreciate it nor do I respect anything you text because I know what is true and you assume.

Unless you are the recruit or the recruit’s parent you don’t definitively know why he dropped DU from consideration. I believe that you may know that is what the recruit is saying but I agree with CLK that no matter what the company line is, they will go where they get the best deal

Wildwood13 wrote:

If you feel I attacked you i apologize. I really don’t think posting Bronny’s stats  is putting him down. .

Because you like to talk about how much you know about basketball, how about this one.

There was another kid who was a pretty high level recruit AND went to a power 5 school in California AND he was a point guard years ago. UCLA was the name of the school.

Here was his freshman stat line:

1 start, 9 mins per game, 3.4 pts, 0.7 assts, 0.8rebs, 0.4 steals per game.

Wildwood wouldn’t take him because of his stats.

His name is Russell Westbrook.

Bronny had better numbers and was literally coming off a CARDIAC ARREST.

But let’s make sure we get those WPIAL guys.