phil95 wrote:

Styles1229 wrote:

El Presidente wrote:

I won't attack anyone here ever but, while I know that KD doesn't walk on water, we are fortunate to have a coach of his caliber at Duquesne.  Could he be more flexible in certain situations? I really can't say for sure since I don't know the whole story when it comes to any players who have left or may  leave. What I do know for certain is that KD will do things his way while he is HC here and that's the way that it should be. Go Dukes!

Yeah, everything is speculation when it comes to exactly how the coach handles a player and the reasons for his transfer.  We just don't get any anecdotal info in those matters  I'm a KD guy - sincerely.  I've said before, though others disagree, his in-game management is impressive.  Under Ferry, I was would get so frustrated watching the other team neutralize our guards in the last 5-8 minutes of games and storm back to beat us.  Now, whether ahead or down, I'm confident KD can lead us to the win.  When we lose, it's more about execution than plan. 

 I'm not sure KD has earned the benefit of the doubt though when it comes to managing the higher-end talent.  At least as the Dukes' coach.  Harris hasn't left yet so I cannot fault him for anything there but Harris was a highly touted recruit, at least by Duquesne standards, and if he leaves now, especially at this date, I think it will have to be because he is not satisfied with his treatment.  Again, maybe it's good riddance - but I'd love to see a guy who is not your typical "team guy" "hard worker" "good head on his shoulders" and all the other platitudes to describe an "easy to coach" player choose to stay at Duquesne if he can be a difference-maker.  It's a coaching skill important in these times.  KD hasn't shown me THAT yet.  

This very well stated & a fair assessment of the subject matter.

Agreed.  One of the things that KD has not yet been able to establish is a winning culture; it's extremely difficult to do.  Once you win and you have players who bought into the program/system/coaching, it becomes much, much easier to coach and retain high level talent. The upperclassmen become keepers of the culture and have ability to get the new talented player to buy in and not think "me, me, me".  I thought that we might have had that start with Weathers/Hughes/Dunn-Martin, but it broke apart this past year.  As an example, I watched Eric Williams turn into a really good team player at Oregon; in my opinion, it wasn't that Dana Altman knew how to handle Eric better than KD - it was the program and culture that Altman built that allowed Williams to be coached to be part of a team.

levon1975 wrote:

My understanding is that going forward they will get one transfer without penalty; but remember that the rule doesn't apply once the player has graduated; but retains eligibility.  The "grad transfer" doesn't sit out a year, even if he transferred earlier in his career.  So if you see a guy, that you know has already transferred once, moving to another school and playing instantly; it is probably because he graduated from his second school.  That would apply to Marcus Weathers, whom, I assume has a Duquesne degree; so he could transfer again without penalty.
Keep in mind that this year is a lot more hectic, because of the Covid rule that basically gives every player an extra year of eligibility.  Many of the transfers this year, like Marcus, are players that would have exhausted their eligibility after last season.  I haven't heard anything about Mike Hughes' professional status; but if he doesn't get a Euro contract, he could play for Duquesne again, or transfer to the school of his choice for one year.  

The one time transfer exception does apply to all players now, even grad transfers. So if you transferred last year and are a grad transfer this year, you have to sit out next season unless you get a waiver. Players like James Akinjo who transferred to Baylor and Rasior Bolton who transferred to Gonzaga will need a waiver to play this year, even as graduating seniors using their extra year of eligibility. Marcus Weathers doesn't have to sit out though because he sat out a year when he transferred to Duquesne, so this would be his one time exception. 
 

He is an excellent passer.I mean he is probably best passing big man ever at Duquesne.

Truly hope that Harris realizes the opportunity that exists here for him. He will be part of a good team and will be utilized according to his skill set. All he has to do is work hard and follow orders. If that's not enough for him, then the best of luck to him!

Maybe he wanted everything handed to him on a silver platter. Or maybe he just didn't want to be in the 'Burgh anymore. Who knows? Life will surely go on! Maybe he'll find success elsewhere.

I am disappointed that Harris is gone. I really never saw him at the same level of distraction as Baker. If his departure is strictly based on his on or off the court bad behavior, then this might be the proper outcome. Hopefully KD and company will learn from this moving forward. My guess is that they will. Taking it all into account, I really don't believe that losing either of these two players will have a negative effect on next year's team whatsoever.

I agree that if Dre wasn't a debilitating distraction on the team, his loss is significant. I'm strictly going on the assumption that there were problems and maybe he had to go. Will we ever really know?

1111 Vickroy wrote:

El Presidente wrote:

I agree that if Dre wasn't a debilitating distraction on the team, his loss is significant. I'm strictly going on the assumption that there were problems and maybe he had to go. Will we ever really know?

El P, he got a little unruly on the bench on at least one occasion.At least the way I saw it, he seemed a bit unhappy. I'm not surprised. I would add that he did really flash a little brilliance at times, so in that sense it is a loss. Consider also that he waivered a bit on the recruiting commitment.

was he made not happy by the coaching staff? I think that question goes to the heart of my overriding premise.  to a large degree, it's on the coaching to make the higher-end talent, and everyone else for that matter, happy.  Or maybe he was just a malcontent despite great efforts by the staff to appease him.  We will never know.