luckymcd wrote:

Good points Phil. Maybe we don't need to find a sniper after all.

I agree. Getting a great shooting point guard would be a luxury at this point.  if anybody remembers Brandon Knight at Pitt obviously we’re not getting someone of his quality but a point guard that passes first and runs the office perfectly would be a great pick up.  Jake is not a knockdown shooter, but he is going to provide a lot of what the team missed last season - crafty scoring, energy.  I don’t remember him being a great defender his freshman year, but I don’t remember him being a liability either.  Point being I’m OK with the scoring on this team right now we just need a quarterback.

https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2025/04/29/weiss-only-one-way-to-grade-duquesnes-mbb-season/

It seems WE (our forum) got some bad press today. Speaking for myself only, I will stand behind everything I post on this board.  I don’t personally attack players and I feel my criticism is fair and balanced.  These aren’t children we are discussing here. They are men - several of whom earn more money a year than I do.  We are the fans and it’s our fanaticism that drives the program. I don’t abide unfair and ugly remarks that occasionally rear their heads on this board but I do take exception with the tone of this article as it implies that we should not have this haven to discuss our collective passion when we feel the team is underperforming.

I’d love to see a true PG get locked down soon. We have shooters and a sizable front court .  I’m starting to think Dru brings in a Dru type PG. pass first, good ball handling veteran type.  He has to know this team sorely needs one.

kidd082000 wrote:

You guys are all crazy. Eli Wilborn was recruited by the worst conference in Division I, transferred to us and averaged 5ppg and 3.5rpg in 12 mins. You all are acting like we are losing Cooper Flagg.

John Hugley was a 4 star recruit, who was Honorable Mention All-ACC a couple of years ago. Yes, he has not been the same player since he got hurt, but he still averaged 8.4 ppg and 3.8 rpg in 24 games last year at OKLAHOMA and played 34 games at XAVIER this year, where he just wasn't a fit. This is one of the biggest signings we have ever had! Do you guys know what Eli Wilborn would average in the Big East or the Big XII?? O.O and 0.0 because he would never even see the floor. If Hugley stays healthy he could be the A-10 Player of the Year. We NEVER get players from power 5 teams, this is beyond exciting and a game changer from Coach Dru.

I think a lot of you often think too small or have some sort of power conference bias. I would trade EVERY single player on our roster for the 10th-12th men from power conference teams. That's how VCU wins. That's how Dayton wins. These are the types of guys we need to be getting! Everyone should change their mindset and realize that transfers from St. Francis and Chicago St. and Canisius, regardless of how good their stats look, are NOT good signings in the A-10.

I tend to agree with the spirit of this post BUT you can’t throw Eli’s Duquesne numbers out there and act like that is the player he is. He barely played. And when he did play he often dominated against A10 competition. He had holes in his game for sure but he was still learning. If he played 20 mins a game in the non conference season he’d be a completely different player. Big man take more time to learn in college than other players. We are losing Wilborn at the wrong time. He would have been an asset next season. And this statement “transfers from St. Francis and Chicago St. and Canisius, regardless of how good their stats look, are NOT

This is the the type of player that pushes the Dukes to the top 5 of the conference.  They need to make this happen.  Empty the coffers.  The fact that he’s considering Duquesne with those other schools on the table shows that Duquesne is a player.  Only a few years ago KD remarked that he didn’t even chase kid that Dayton was chasing because he knew he wouldn’t get him.  Would LOVE to see this happen!

Now, Hugley HAS to be a difference maker. The comparison to Mahorcic no longer applies. It will be Hugley and Dixon splitting time at the 5 with Necas and Williams at the 4.  I do think another big is necessary now. I will say I do not believe Wilborn and Barre left because of Hugley - the timing of their portal entrance notwithstanding.  Barre expecially.  With Wilborn leaving, Barre would be in the same position he was last season. This is conjecture only but, perhaps Wilborn and/or Barre had not secured a lucrative enough deal yet when the portal opened. They were hanging around prepared to keep the deal they had until something better came along. Dru knew this so he was always trying to get their replacement.  Or perhaps Barre was shown the door to free up another scholarship.  There are so many moving parts it’s impossible to know without having inside knowledge.  I will say this is the most likely scenario:  with 15 scholarships EVERY coach is trying to land as many good players as possible regardless of position and will live with whatever fallout ensues. Dru can’t afford NOT to recruit Hugley even with 4 bigs because he knows they can enter the portal at any time.

I wonder what came first, Eli deciding to leave or Hugly signing?  We will never know but maybe Dru knew all along Eli was leaving so he signed Hugley. If I thought one person was leaving this off-season, it was Eli.  I didn’t want it, but I felt he was the one to go.  He played so sparingly in the early season. It made me wonder if he just didn’t gel with the coaches. Maybe he made his mind up in December he wasn’t staying and maybe it was well known.

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

Good luck to Tre; hope he gets paid somewhere.  I was hoping that he would not come back; to me, his shooting prowess did not overcome his defensive and ball handling deficiencies.  At Canisius and Duquesne, his teams went 37-57; to me, not a guy that is going to take you to the top 4 in the A10.

I almost agree at least about ball handling and defense (he wasn’t terrible at D). I wish he would have had a little more Kareem energy and grit too. But I would have loved to see him play the true 2 spot where he could focus on getting good looks and knocking them down. Trey could fill the rim like few we’ve seen around here. Hes no centerpiece of a team but he will certainly help put a team over the top.  We could certainly be a top 4 team in the A-10 with him at the 2.

levon1975 wrote:

Assuming Jake is healthy next year, he should take some of those minutes that Matus got this year.  There is also a possibility of Williams returning from injury.  Hall is another guy at 6’4” that hopefully can provide some scoring punch at the 2-3 spots.  DAT least on paper there are some replacement options.  Matus is bit taller than the guys I mentioned, but I think they will score more and hopefully not hurt us on defense.

Yes.  Perhaps Max has indicated to Dru that he is coming back. With Jake, that makes Matus expendable though, to Phil’s point, Matus would have been nice bench player 5-7 mins a night and providing continuity for the program. But of course he should go where he can play.

Motor wrote:

Well since the portal is now open I have a couple thoughts.

1. How many additional roster members will leave?
    My guess is 2 or more. And for respect of those
    Player’s I am not going to speculate on names.

2. If those 2 or more leave my request is for a true Center 6-10 or bigger, a small forward who can attack the rim but still shoot 3’s and a power forward who plays with back to basket! And most importantly a true Bigger PG. These would preferably be portal additions.

This is of course assuming Dinkins comes back and we get Lawson.

A lot of wishful hopefuls!
Go Dukes

I think there has to be a true, seasoned 4th or 5th year PG we can find get from the portal to complement our front court and Dinkins at the 2.  Dixon, Wilborn, and Necas returning (hopefully) give us a nice big set of 4s and 5s that will not be outmatched in the A-10. Adding another true big man would be a nice luxury. Then just get a 3 who can attack the rim and hit 3s. With Max retuning and Jake, I think we’d have a solid team

Rayrich wrote:

SkepticAl wrote:

indygjm wrote:

 
Yes, that's the same former Duke, and he has been mentioned as a candidate for the NCAA national player of the year!

Regarding UNC vs WVU --  Despite ALL the protesting that the AD from UNC who is on the Committee "left the room for any discussion involving them"  A legislator from WVU is considering a lawsuit..  There is a posting making the rounds of the Internet that the UNC AD gets a $124,000 Bonus if they make the tournament..  They even posted a link to that clause.

NOT that I care for WVU -  still haven't forgiven them for the Huggins-BB Flenory incident

Despite what Dickie V says --  if the name North Carolina wasn't on the FRONT of the uniform..  NO WAY do they make it...  1-12 vs the top quad????
 

Dickie V has been paid millions over the years by ESPN by promoting their power conferences and progressively diminishing the A-10 especially. He should have been an advocate for mid majors coming from Detroit U, but he helped create this mess. Weird (profanity), but it's always been in their game plan. The three or four other Power 5 conferences saw right through it and ESPN realized that was a bigger market. The Oligarchs of college basketbal have taken overl. Remember when you fill out your March Madness bracket this year, the refs have been told who will win and there will be no upsets outside a Jerry Falwell Liberty team and maybe the "Christian nationalist" college in Lipscomb maybe. The mormons will get every call and VCU will be one and done. Just the state of the union these days. Yay
 

You keep fighting the good fight Rayrich!

No Chabi at all. I wonder if it was because VCU is so fast and athletic or because of no foul trouble or Dixon and Wilborn playing so well. Anybody?

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

Styles1229 wrote:

I’d like to preface this by saying I don’t believe it will happen, but, if the Dukes win out and St Joes and Loyola both lose out the Dukes get the double bye?

https://x.com/liminutemen/status/1896225848916918652

So you’re telling me there’s a chance! 😂