https://twitter.com/PghSportsNow/status/1389685651709247492?s=20

I was hoping he'd work out here.

WashPaRick wrote:

I was hoping he'd work out here.

As I said, tough to judge when the kid didn't get a single minute of playing time, while we saw retread Murphy and the second coming of Justin Stright play.
 

El Presidente wrote:

I think we have to trust the process. KD and all alumni, fans, and followers want the very same thing.
 

Agree. I for one think this transfer/recruiting class is the best we've had for decades. Embrace it and trust it i say.

I don’t understand the angst from some posters regarding the loss of a player who couldn’t get on the court. There is a reason for this - they were not good enough to play meaningful minutes. For whatever reason. The coaching staff and teammates watch these players for hundreds of practice hours; if they were good enough to contribute and make the team better, they would have played. Two years ago it was James Ellis; now it is Jett Roesing. I wish I could scrub from my mind watching Jett play his 5 minutes against Fordham; it was painful to watch. He certainly didn’t look like the player on the First Love highlight videos. You can never predict how a young man will respond when they have to step up to another level; confidence is a fragile thing for any athlete.

PhoenixRising2 wrote:

I don’t understand the angst from some posters regarding the loss of a player who couldn’t get on the court. There is a reason for this - they were not good enough to play meaningful minutes. For whatever reason. The coaching staff and teammates watch these players for hundreds of practice hours; if they were good enough to contribute and make the team better, they would have played. Two years ago it was James Ellis; now it is Jett Roesing. I wish I could scrub from my mind watching Jett play his 5 minutes against Fordham; it was painful to watch. He certainly didn’t look like the player on the First Love highlight videos. You can never predict how a young man will respond when they have to step up to another level; confidence is a fragile thing for any athlete.

He played??  Hmmmmmm.....

Wildwood13 wrote:

It’s not the fact that Jett and some other players were not able to play at this level. I find the major problem is the coaching staffs ability to judge high school talent. There have been too many swings and misses. Players they bring in can not even contribute at lower level schools when they transfer out. As of today this staff has brought in 22 high school recruits. Only seven remain. Of which five are from last year’s incoming class. So that number is still in question. Of the 15 players to leave, only Williams moved up and contributed to his team. The remaining 14 players are struggling. So, it’s really not the fact that these players are transferring, it’s the judgement that the coaching staff has had trouble identifying what it takes to play in the A10 that concerns me.

Wildwood13, your point is certainly valid. There have been too many swings and complete misses so far; and I don’t think the coaching staff would disagree with you regarding these misses. They have to step up the recruiting game if they are to obtain residence at the highest level of the A10.

I was really pulling for Jett to be at least moderately successful as a Duke. Two things that need to happen for the program to continue its upward trend are vastly improved shooting & the attraction of more casual fans to fill The Coop. Given his local roots, Jett had the potential to provide both, in varying degrees.

​Hitting on a few local prospects over the next 5 years will do wonders for this program. For this reason, I was & am strongly in favor of taking some chances on the Roseing & Ellis types.

If he doesn't have the A-10 chops, for his sake & DU's, he should move on with his 4 years of remaining eligibility to pursue his dream elsewhere. There's no great tragedy in this outcome.

However, I will never, ever understand why, if Jett was both healthy & in the good graces of the coaching staff last season, he didn't get a half dozen 5-minute audition runs when the team was shooting dreadfully from 3PT range. It seems implausible that given his prep school history & offers from other programs of reasonable quality that 30 minutes couldn't be found for him during an 18 game season that saw 2 starting guards transfer less than a third of the way through the schedule. If he is/was that bad, the coaching staff most certainly laid an egg on this one.

Is there any intel suggesting that Jett was injured, laid low by lingering COVID effects, or became a work ethic/grades/disciplinary challenge to the coaching staff?

I am basing this last comment on nothing more than a hunch. I expect Jett to transfer down & have a noteworthy career as a sharpshooter.




 

phil95 wrote:

I was really pulling for Jett to be at least moderately successful as a Duke. Two things that need to happen for the program to continue its upward trend are vastly improved shooting & the attraction of more casual fans to fill The Coop. Given his local roots, Jett had the potential to provide both, in varying degrees.

​Hitting on a few local prospects over the next 5 years will do wonders for this program. For this reason, I was & am strongly in favor of taking some chances on the Roseing & Ellis types.

If he doesn't have the A-10 chops, for his sake & DU's, he should move on with his 4 years of remaining eligibility to pursue his dream elsewhere. There's no great tragedy in this outcome.

However, I will never, ever understand why, if Jett was both healthy & in the good graces of the coaching staff last season, he didn't get a half dozen 5-minute audition runs when the team was shooting dreadfully from 3PT range. It seems implausible that given his prep school history & offers from other programs of reasonable quality that 30 minutes couldn't be found for him during an 18 game season that saw 2 starting guards transfer less than a third of the way through the schedule. If he is/was that bad, the coaching staff most certainly laid an egg on this one.

Is there any intel suggesting that Jett was injured, laid low by lingering COVID effects, or became a work ethic/grades/disciplinary challenge to the coaching staff?

I am basing this last comment on nothing more than a hunch. I expect Jett to transfer down & have a noteworthy career as a sharpshooter.




 

 Allow me to pass-on an observation/opinion from a past member on this board who was my predecessor, mentor, and one of the most astute basketball minds I have known.
After KD's first term as coach my dear friend noted that KD is a throwback to the coaching style of the old Big East conference. Dambrot embraces a physical, in-the-trenches, punches them back in the mouth style of play and, as a consequence of that attitude, appears to favor players who fit that mold.
Fast forward to the recruitment of Jett Roesing. Like most, I had visions of Jett knocking down 3s in bunches for the Dukes. His highlight videos were incredible.
At that time, my mentor advised that I watch Jett's game videos, not the highlight videos, his game videos. His observation was that Jett didn't fit the mold. His in-your-face defense was non-existent. The theory was that KD could teach him to play a physical defensive style--providing the kid was willing to play that way.
I pass-on the suggestion to you to view Roesing's First Love Academy game videos and see if the reason for his lack of play last year comes more into focus. My good friend's read of KD was right-on: shooter or not, if you don't play KD defense, you don't play and/or you don't stay around.

List of schools recruiting Jett Roesing. I still think this kid will be a great player. Some day we might see him in ESPN three point shooting contest. Sorry he left DU. Great kid. I wish him well, but selfishly I would  hate to see him wind up at Fordham.

https://twitter.com/jakelieberman2/status/1399743425428160514?s=20

You may be right Iron Duke, but I really don't think so from what I've read and heard.  In any event, you are on point (no pun intended) about the incoming guards and Acuff.  Spears and Johnson were both pretty highly recruited and great gets for the Dukes.  KD has even gone out of his way to suggest they are talented enough to come in and play right away, which is a good thing.  Remember KD even said you could see Spears and Johnson on the court at the same time when he wants multiple ball handlers.  These 2 were also Prep Players so they have already played at a higher, more competitive level than typical HS players.  I also believe Acuff got better and better last year in a limited season so I expect even more from him next year - although I think KD sees him more as a combo guard, but the kid has talent.  I am really excited about the guards for next year and the influx of talent overall.  Again, KD talks about "winning championships" and you can't do that on good culture alone, you need A-10 skill level to go with positive team chemistry and attitude.  

WashPaRick wrote:

KD said that as long as Jett's dad was running First Love we would be in on any player they had but maybe that's not the case anymore with Jett's departure.

One would surely have to wonder with Jett's departure. With the new transfer rules in place First Love may not be quite as significant as before either. Time will tell.