Link to PSN article - https://pittsburghsportsnow.com/2021/04/20/duquesne-and-freshman-chad-baker-part-ways/?fbclid=IwAR25dW-QftvEV-iktK29N0UjctIDkjPoHxOguDzSph9ydy_tl1TF-SIGUN0

This is disappointing and unexpected

I don't much like this but,  I also don't find it even mildly surprising.

KD made it clear in public statements that he won't go through another season with players working against the system & constantly breaking discipline. Nothing Chad did on the court indicated that he would snap into compliance. Chad seems to think quite highly of himself & must know he will have many suitors. Couple that with the 3-4 very promising newcomers that have crossover skillsets plus Okani and maybe Acuff from last year's bunch & Chad seemed to be a strong bet to enter the dreaded transfer portal.

Chad could have been a star in the A-10 for a couple of years. You have to give the coaching staff credit for realizing what this player had to offer & bringing him on board. The only differences between Chad Baker & a 4-star recruit headed to a bottom-tier Big 10 school with the same skillset, athleticism, & length are his advanced age for a freshman, maturity challenges, & 15-pounds of muscle. With any luck, KD & his staff are only a year or 2 away from having to take so many chances each recruiting cycle on diamonds in the rough, obviously flawed talents, & the possibly overlooked.

THIS is a fine example of what is to be expected from college basketball for the foreseeable future.

Good luck Chad! Take heed of the example Mike Hughes set & realize that failing to gain better control of your emotions on the court will most likely limit the value basketball people will place on your services.

Hopefully, Chad's departure helps make room for a strong center with 2 or 3 years of eligibility.

Agree with this, Phil95. Time will tell if this will play out  successfully. Do like the step in the right direction though. Think this had to happen. Much credit to the coaching staff here in an attempt to "fix things."

In Keith Dambrot I trust. I loved the hell out of Chad Baker and Sincere Carry and I wish them wonderful careers in college and beyond, and thank them for their contributions here. But it's all about putting a team on the floor that's capable of getting to The Dance, and if that means different players for us then we'll be fine. 

El Presidente wrote:

Agree with this, Phil95. Time will tell if this will play out  successfully. Do like the step in the right direction though. Think this had to happen. Much credit to the coaching staff here in an attempt to "fix things."

It's a shame they could not "fix things" by helping Chad see the light and be a more mature, disciplined ballplayer.  Helping mold men is certainly a task in their charge.  KD is starting to show a poor track record with working with really talented ballplayers (Eric Williams, Sincere Carry, Chad Baker.)  I am still a KD guy but this one hurts.  Baker had the goods and now he is gone.  We'll never know how toxic his presence was in the locker room so we'll never know if there was anything KD and the staff could have done or not but I'd like to see KD mesh well with at least uber-talented baller at Duquesne and get him to stick around.  That's how we move from the middle of the pack to top tier in the A-10.  Lebron James was a long time ago

The NCAA created this mess. and Duquesne is adjusting the best they can.Dukes are basically going to
recruit a new team each year.As for Chad Baker ,he was good at the A10 level but move into the ACC  or
Big Ten and that skinny body takes a beating and that attitude gets you sitting on the bench.Not a big
deal.

I did not see this one coming.  From the article it sounds to me more like KD pulled his scholarship than Baker deciding to leave. 

I'm kind of torn on how to take this news until we find out more... but I'm definitely disappointed. Yes I trust KD as well, but punting on a kid after 1 year... I mean at least let him show you he can mature. Which leads me to believe this is more so Chad betting in himself and leaving, than a purely attitude issue. Maybe it's a mix of both... idk, but when KD talked about Chad post game he noted that he was a positive influence on the rest of the team, high energy, positive attitude, the only draw back was the in game shenanigans (in which KD made light of a couple times). Now if there is something that happened with the coaching staff as far as respect, talking back, etc. then yes that is not acceptable. Unfortunately I think we'll never know, because KD is classy, and wouldn't put Chad on blast to the point that it hinders his future. As far as next year... I was tagging him for double digit points every game, we have a while, but hopefully someone else can step up. Doesn't make me feel too optimistic about next year though, I think we're back in the "in two years we'll be good" talk. Hopefully I'm wrong.

As CLK has said the portal changes everything. Yes Coach Dambrot may have told him to go but this new world of college basketball gives the players the opportunity to transfer without penalty. Unfortunately, college basketball rosters will turnover on a 2 year rather then 4 year basis. As far has the HS players they have been dealt a bad card hand. I don’t blame any of the coaches to build their teams for the moment by going portal.

That transfer rule is going to kill mid-major programs. You sign a player that "flew under the radar" and one good year, goodbye. Sure we wish the departing players well but..... Heck, I'm still pi###ed that McConnell left. And he DID have to sit out a year. 

pressurecooker wrote:

Instead of responding to coaching players can easily opt out. They would benefit from accepting discipline in the long run. As my mom used to say " You can't put an old head on young shoulders." 

Not so young, Chad Baker is already 21 years old (birth date is 01-27-2000).

I am not buying what most of you guys are selling on this thread. First,  players transfer for numerous reasons but the four most which includes 95% of the reasons a player transfers are 1. A coaching change.( no fault of the new coach)  2. A player was under recruited and has displayed he can play at a higher level and wants to play at that higher level to showcase his skills.  ( shows the coach can find players) 3. A player was over recruited and in order to play in college he must transfer to a lower program or division. ( illustrates that the coach has trouble identifying what kind of talent it takes to compete at this level)  4 player and coach just don’t see eye to eye or the player is homesick.( this kind of falls on the coach for not really knowing the personality of the player)

In scenario 1. The first year or two Dambrot lost a few of Ferry’s recruits which is understandable. Scenario 2 I think the only player that falls into this category is Eric Williams. But at the tail end of Williams tenure here, he and the coach didn’t not see eye to eye. Scenario 3, Dambrot has brought in more than 20 players that are not A10 quality players and they left the program for lesser schools. The final scenario it seems to me that only four players have fallen into this category. Mike Lewis, Eric Williams, Sin Carey and now Chad Baker. What is very strange to me about these players is that they all got considerable playing time and started most of the time. What happened is anyone’s guess. But regardless, why play these players so much if they were giving bad attitudes or causing problems. It’s the coaches job, first to know the talent, then to know the recruit will fit into your beliefs and then to build a strong relationship with that player. I feel Dambrot has failed miserably at knowing what talent it takes to win at the A10 level. I feel he only had a good relationship with three players to date. Mike Hughes, Weathers and Dunn. Under all the scenarios that I listed, most of the problems with our revolving door of players falls on the coaching staff.