Not liking this one.

Noooooooo!  This one really hurts.

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.

The PSN article seems to indicate that Hugley in = Eli out.

townsonkid wrote:

If Hughley pushed out Wilborn, it was a big mistake signing Hughley.   BIG!

 Couldn't agree more townson. Hopefully, Hughley will come thru in a big way for the Dukes next season. If he doesn't, this could prove to be a huge mistake!! Eli was the best prospect on our roster bar none IMO. On the other hand, there are no guarantees anymore. Any player can leave at any time so we'll never know how his career at Duquesne would have played out including how long his tenure here would have been.

You may be right Motor, but I've seen little improvement in Necas offensively unless I'm overlooking something. Dimichele is intriguing in that we really haven't seen a great deal of him with his best play down the stretch and in the A-10 playoffs in '23-'24. In any case, looking forward to a big turnaround this coming season with 20 plus wins. Maybe too early to start with that! GO DUKES!

I hope you are right Kidd, but I have a feeling that post will not age well; and I say that as someone who is excited to have Hugley coming to the bluff.

Duques102 wrote:

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 came here to say much of the same as this, although I do think Cam Crawford is a nice wing player. That being said, this team was not good enough last year. Keeping these guys and just hoping they develop significantly is unrealistic. Rozier played a lot and he transferred way down. Dinkins was the leading scorer and moved to a team in our conference I would hope we see as inferior to our program. None of these guys are real difference makers in my opinion.

Wilborn was undersized, couldn’t shoot at all, and got in foul trouble quickly in many cases. He had some raw athleticism and you would see a dunk or block here or there (Tysean Powell anyone?) but it’s not like he took over a single game. Could barely get on the floor in front of Chabi who is an average to below average A10 player and Dixon who is a solid role guy. This kid is not going to turn into Kareem or Hakeem in the next two years. His numbers were decent at NEC level and poor here. I thought he often had poor body language on the court and seemed to lack confidence. Hronsky is also an average replacement level player to me. I think Chabi, Hronsky, and Wilborn will all transfer down.

We are talking out of both sides of our mouths saying how we hope Hugley is good next year and hope these other kids develop over the next 2 to 3 years. That model is over and done, this is now an arms race and it’s free agency every year. Don’t expect guys to stay 2-3 years because most won’t. I know most don’t like it but it also creates opportunities to turn around a team very quickly.

Fully agree we need more guys like Hugley and the Kid from BYU and less guys who played well at lower conferences . Hugley being a 4 star recruit and some of his high major production mentioned above makes him one of the best recruits I can think of in recent memory. Seems like fans are loyal to the kids who have been here but that’s not what makes a successful program. Fully agree with Kidd that any of these kids that transferred would never see the floor in an ACC game, and this kid dominated many nights.

This team went 13-19 last year losing to a bunch of schools in lower conferences in non-con, 8-10 in conference and lost in the first round of the tourney. They didn’t put a single guy on any type of all-conference team. Serious change is needed to change the results. Bring in all the talent we can because we need it.

TOTALLY OFF BASE  WITH YOUR THINKING!!
The last two final fours teams I will illustrate the flaw in your thinking.
2023-2024 Final fours teams:
NCSt best two players from Illinois St and Winthrop
Alabama top three players Ohio U, N Dakota St and St. Peter’s
UConn National champs best two players were from East Carolina and Loyola Md
Purdue had a starter from So Illinois

2024-2025 Final Four
Florida The champs best player started at Iona, two other starters. We’re from Fla International and Belmont.
Auburns best player was from Moorehead State and of course Baker started at Duquesne.
Duke had one starter from Tulane.
Houston only had one transfer and it was from a power conference.

I think that’s enough proof to show you how lower level players definitely help out schools.

Wildwood13 wrote:

Duques102 wrote:

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 came here to say much of the same as this, although I do think Cam Crawford is a nice wing player. That being said, this team was not good enough last year. Keeping these guys and just hoping they develop significantly is unrealistic. Rozier played a lot and he transferred way down. Dinkins was the leading scorer and moved to a team in our conference I would hope we see as inferior to our program. None of these guys are real difference makers in my opinion.

Wilborn was undersized, couldn’t shoot at all, and got in foul trouble quickly in many cases. He had some raw athleticism and you would see a dunk or block here or there (Tysean Powell anyone?) but it’s not like he took over a single game. Could barely get on the floor in front of Chabi who is an average to below average A10 player and Dixon who is a solid role guy. This kid is not going to turn into Kareem or Hakeem in the next two years. His numbers were decent at NEC level and poor here. I thought he often had poor body language on the court and seemed to lack confidence. Hronsky is also an average replacement level player to me. I think Chabi, Hronsky, and Wilborn will all transfer down.

We are talking out of both sides of our mouths saying how we hope Hugley is good next year and hope these other kids develop over the next 2 to 3 years. That model is over and done, this is now an arms race and it’s free agency every year. Don’t expect guys to stay 2-3 years because most won’t. I know most don’t like it but it also creates opportunities to turn around a team very quickly.

Fully agree we need more guys like Hugley and the Kid from BYU and less guys who played well at lower conferences . Hugley being a 4 star recruit and some of his high major production mentioned above makes him one of the best recruits I can think of in recent memory. Seems like fans are loyal to the kids who have been here but that’s not what makes a successful program. Fully agree with Kidd that any of these kids that transferred would never see the floor in an ACC game, and this kid dominated many nights.

This team went 13-19 last year losing to a bunch of schools in lower conferences in non-con, 8-10 in conference and lost in the first round of the tourney. They didn’t put a single guy on any type of all-conference team. Serious change is needed to change the results. Bring in all the talent we can because we need it.

TOTALLY OFF BASE  WITH YOUR THINKING!!
The last two final fours teams I will illustrate the flaw in your thinking.
2023-2024 Final fours teams:
NCSt best two players from Illinois St and Winthrop
Alabama top three players Ohio U, N Dakota St and St. Peter’s
UConn National champs best two players were from East Carolina and Loyola Md
Purdue had a starter from So Illinois

2024-2025 Final Four
Florida The champs best player started at Iona, two other starters. We’re from Fla International and Belmont.
Auburns best player was from Moorehead State and of course Baker started at Duquesne.
Duke had one starter from Tulane.
Houston only had one transfer and it was from a power conference.

I think that’s enough proof to show you how lower level players definitely help out schools.

lol. The fact that you think the lower level school guys we get are the same ones that UCONN, NC State, and Duke are recruiting is pretty hilarious. The guy from Florida you mentioned went to Florida Atlantic not Florida international, and that FAU team made the Final Four and he scored 26 in the final four game. Chad Baker got to Auburn after being 6th man of the year at San Diego State, an objectively higher level program than ours.

I literally said “ we need more guys like Hugley and the Kid from BYU and less guys who played well at lower conferences”. In no way is that me saying we shouldn’t get any of those guys at lower level schools, I specifically mentioned I like Crawford as a player.

So instead of trying to make my post about something it wasn’t, maybe address my points about Wilborns ability and influence on games all year for us, Hugleys actual production in games at the ACC and Big 12 levels and size and recruiting profile compared to anyone else we have had on our roster in recent memory, and the fact that all the guys we have had transfer are going down a level, or the fact that the team was poor last year with all of these guys on it. Any thoughts on any of those actual points I made or do you just want to make a narrative that I said all lower level guys aren’t good and we shouldn’t recruit them at all?

The guys from smaller schools who are very projectable end up going to big schools and get paid big money like the ones you highlighted. The fact that you think we are in the running for those guys, or even the tier of players below them that go to other power 5 schools that aren’t the blue bloods shows you don’t really understand the new model and what is happening. How do you not understand we are recruiting completely different small school guys than Duke and Florida????

When we get productive guys from lower level schools, in most cases it will be the guys that the blue bloods and other power 5s passed on and didn’t want. You’re talking like the 3rd and 4th tier of small schools guys. In my opinion they are a bigger question mark to make the step up, and I could come up with a long list of guys who came up to Duquesne and weren’t impactful (Wilborn). I personally would rather take guys that at some point were thought of as legitimate prospects for schools above our level, especially guys like Hugley who have been really good at the power 5 level. Would love to hear some thoughts on actual points I’m making rather than twisting words on one point I made.

Wildwood I agree. Two things can both be true.

Let’s try to continue without calling folks names…🤣. Lower level players USUALLY won’t help anyone but there are times when a lower level player from a conference can help. Everything isn’t black and white they are exceptions. But for the majority of Duquesne players… as I have often said in most years… we lost with those players last year… yes I thought Wilburn had an upside but looking at everything his loss will not impact the program.
Let’s all try to play nice during Holy Week.