ElDuque wrote:

http://blog.triblive.com/dejan-kovacevic/2013/10/25/morning-java-a-truly-special-talent/


Jamie Dixon lands a nice recruit from Hampton in 6-8 Ryan Luther. Kevin Gorman has that.
You won’t be blown away by the other schools who offered, but it’s worth noting that one of them was Duquesne. Let that serve as just the latest example of how little cache the Dukes continue to carry in our region. And that’s why Jim Ferry is rounding up juco ringers from wherever he can. Can’t say I blame him. Fact is, nothing will change on the Bluff, fair or not, until there’s actual winning. Have to find that where you can.

Conveniently ignores the fact that Dixon is building his roster with transfers right now.

As I've said many times, the difference between the programs is money. Let them compete with our budget for a couple years, and let's see how brilliant these guys are.

Money, conference, and recent success. Conference plays a huge role in this. The ACC is seen as the big time. The A10 is not. On the other hand, you didn't see Bobby Mo on Luther's list, despite the fact that they have been much more successful than us lately. The reason is conference. While the A10 is not the ACC, it is seen as being far above the NEC. The truth is, conference matters a lot. Duquesne will never be able to consistently outrecruit the better teams from BCS conferences. Xavier couldn't do it. Neither could Temple. We might occasionally win a recruiting battle with a big boy, but not consistently. We just can't compete with the exposure that those teams get on ESPN. What Temple and Xavier did, was win recruiting battles with BCS also rans. That is what Duquesne will need to do to become a consistent power in the A10.

Man, Dejan must have had a really rough time when he attended Duquesne.   

As for Luther, I agree with everything Duq81 said.  It's impossible to compete with high level BCS teams.  As much as we all hate Pitt, it's still a good program in argurably the best conference.  The key is outrecruiting the lesser programs in BCS conferences like a Penn State/Iowa in the B1G or Boston College/Virginia Tech in the ACC.  

ElDuque wrote:

This is Pitt's first local kid since who, Clancy? Pitt has always recruited nationally and snubbed its nose at local talent.
 

Well, there was Dajuan Blair. But before that nobody really since Sean Miller and Darelle Porter.

Really unsavory stuff from Dejan, though. Absolutely no reason to do it. To me, I think he's still holding a grudge against the school for the Everhart situation (which hurt his buddy, Alan Robinson). I like Dejan and most of his work, but he's almost always unbalanced when talking about Duquesne.

Unfortunately, I think Dejan's comments are accurate. Sometimes it's hard to face the facts. The hope is that the situation will change and as Dejan said, that will come with winning.

It was gratuitous, plain and simple. Let Pitt and Luther have their moment. Mention Duquesne was a suitor if you want. But to stick it to the Dukes and piddle on Ferry's recruiting efforts isn't necessary. First of all, Duquense has always recruited locally. Pitt's the Johnny-come-lately to this party. Second, Ferry isn't bringing in Neil Hood, the JUCOs he recruited are legitimate A-10 players. Tell you what, show up for a practice, or better still, a game before you make that call.

If Ferry is still looking to recruit locally this year, he now has a local story telling kids not to bother.

To me it's just bad reporting. I know he and I both have BAs in journalism from the same institution; I had the benefit of four years with Paul Krakowski. Clearly the K was gone before Dejan got there.

steve19981 wrote:

ElDuque wrote:

It was gratuitous, plain and simple. Let Pitt and Luther have their moment. Mention Duquesne was a suitor if you want. But to stick it to the Dukes and piddle on Ferry's recruiting efforts isn't necessary. First of all, Duquense has always recruited locally. Pitt's the Johnny-come-lately to this party. Second, Ferry isn't bringing in Neil Hood, the JUCOs he recruited are legitimate A-10 players. Tell you what, show up for a practice, or better still, a game before you make that call.

If Ferry is still looking to recruit locally this year, he now has a local story telling kids not to bother.

To me it's just bad reporting. I know he and I both have BAs in journalism from the same institution; I had the benefit of four years with Paul Krakowski. Clearly the K was gone before Dejan got there.

I wonder what Dejan's thoughts are on Gregg Marshall who took 5 JUCOs all the way to the Final 4 this past year. In the past, I've preferred four year players to transfers but I'm beginning to see teams exploiting multiple avenues to bring in talent and my attitude about eligibility has softened quite a bit. Look at what Dr G has done at LaSalle with Galloway and Garland already and with Jordan Price sitting out this year. Oklahoma loaded up on JUCOs this past year. Pitt has lined up as many transfers as Duquesne did this year, but let's leave that part out.  

Aside from the JUCO point, I think exagerrates a lot about our standing among basketball people. I agree that we don't carry a lot of weight in the area, but it's a lot better than it used to be when guys like Amir Johnson picked Radford without a sniff at Duquesne. Ryan was the top rated player in WPIAL and he chose the top program in the region. If we were as serious about Collin as we were about Ryan and Collin picked GW over us, I'd see Dejan's point but it would have been a major upset had Ryan picked the Dukes over the Panthers. Let's ignore that it took him a month to make his mind up.  Let's also ignore that Micah Mason returned to play for Duquesne.

I don't read Dejan at all anymore. Thankfully, I'd be surprised if the local basketball prospects check out his column daily.
 

He has become to Duquesne, what Pitt fans have long considered Bob Smizak to be to them. A hateful alum with a grudge against his school.

That is odd.  I dont read him very often. When he was Complaining about Pitt hiring SMS and that Duquesne could have kept her, I sent him a message challenging him.  

I am paraphasing here and but he said "He knows she would have stayed if they offered more money and that he cares because he went to Duquesne.'    You are correct he never said he graduated.   I just thought he did for some reason.

Last edited by duqkurt (10/28/2013 2:35 pm)

apluski:  What stores sell Kovacevic mustard?

I read this morning where another player--this time for Conneticut was cleared to play this season. Isn't that great since he'll have the opportunity to practice, play exhibition games and begin to mesh with team mates and the program's system of play. One would almost be tempted to conclude that conference affliliation is a consideration to early approval, but we know that can't be right because the NCAA would never defer to the larger conferences--that would be favortism and we all know that the NCAA's sole concern is the welfare of all of it's student-athletes, regardless of which school or conference is in question. In the meantime we wait, and wait, and... 

apluski wrote:

I read this morning where another player--this time for Conneticut was cleared to play this season. Isn't that great since he'll have the opportunity to practice, play exhibition games and begin to mesh with team mates and the program's system of play. One would almost be tempted to conclude that conference affliliation is a consideration to early approval, but we know that can't be right because the NCAA would never defer to the larger conferences--that would be favortism and we all know that the NCAA's sole concern is the welfare of all of it's student-athletes, regardless of which school or conference is in question. In the meantime we wait, and wait, and... 

 
You are correct sir!  Follow the money when the NCAA is involved.  If you are not a money generator, you don't even exist in the eyes of Mark Emert and his bad of thieves known as the NCAA.