Ben Simmons

[DukeDenver]

That guy is awesome. He fell into Wojo just now and talked some trash, then Tyler Thornton looked like he wanted a piece of that action. Great Duke guards never lose that fight.

Simmons is the #1 pick next year.

 

[gottagonow]

I was really impressed with him also.

 

[dukiejay]

Simmons is going to be a superstar. Terrific talent.

 

[timo0402]

Kid is fantastic. What a game he played- let's give it up for Wojo though, great win for them! Elleson is a beast as well.

 

[DukeDenver]

Yeah, Wojo is showing me something here lately. I really think he's Duke's next head coach. Even if Marquette doesn't do anything huge the next few years, I still like him for the job. I just hope Capel wants to stay in his role too. Those 2 plus Coach Nate and Tyler Thornton would be my dream replacement staff. I love Wojo's fire. His players feed off of it.

 

[timo0402]

Yeah, Wojo is showing me something here lately. I really think he's Duke's next head coach. Even if Marquette doesn't do anything huge the next few years, I still like him for the job. I just hope Capel wants to stay in his role too. Those 2 plus Coach Nate and Tyler Thornton would be my dream replacement staff. I love Wojo's fire. His players feed off of it.

What about Jon?

 

[dukiejay]

I think Capel is probably the guy, initially.

 

[dukehokie]

I think Capel is probably the guy, initially.

With Jon. Scheyer has been great. He should be on anybody's staff.

 

[aah555]

Yeah, Wojo is showing me something here lately. I really think he's Duke's next head coach. Even if Marquette doesn't do anything huge the next few years, I still like him for the job. I just hope Capel wants to stay in his role too. Those 2 plus Coach Nate and Tyler Thornton would be my dream replacement staff. I love Wojo's fire. His players feed off of it.

I'm not a big fan of Wojo as HC. Not sure he ever recruited nearly as well as you'd think / hope compared to our other assistants and, while that win was great, it's just one win over a hyper-talented but unproven LSU squad. That win doesn't erase a loss to Belmont and a 28 pt. home defeat to Iowa.

I've frequently posted my thoughts about hiring in-house v. outside the family. But, if were going in-house, I'd probably go Mike Brey (short term bridge), Chris Collins or Capel (undecided), Quin Snyder, and then Wojo or Bobby Hurley. I don't view Dawkins and Amaker as viable choices.

Personally, I actually find it interesting that nobody ever mentions Brey. The guy was an assistant here during Duke's glory years, has a long and pretty impressive resume at a school where you have to deal with a lot of academic restrictions (and lack the prestige or brand name of Duke), and is probably young enough to last at least 5-7 years at a minimum if K leaves in a couple years. Frankly, I think a person with his personality / experience would handle the pressure of replacing K a lot better than young coaches who are still trying to figure out how to be a HC and prove themselves.

 

[dukiejay]

Well, Brey will be 57 years old at the end of this season, and if K does stick around another five years (which I think is a fair estimate) that puts him at 62 before the job even comes available.

 

[aah555]

Well, Brey will be 57 years old at the end of this season, and if K does stick around another five years (which I think is a fair estimate) that puts him at 62 before the job even comes available.

Fair point if you think K is actually going to last 5 more years. Personally, I'd be a bit surprised if he makes it past the 17-18 season -- which would put Brey at 59. I personally think the 5 yr. number is out there just to assure recruits and probably a bit ambitious at K's age. At 59, I think he'd still be young enough where you could have a few year run with him and help create the bridge to the real longterm replacement for K. Right now I'm just not convinced that a lot of the in-house names that get bandied about are up for this job. Brey may not win national titles here, but who knows -- he'd have resources and a brand name to sell that he never had at Notre Dame.

 

[pisgah101]

Ehh idk about Brey.. But I think 5 years is a smart estimate. The fact that he's staying on with USA basketball as an advisor after this Olympic cycle should make every Duke fan optimistic of a 5 year mark. I don't think he stays on USA and not be at Duke so that 5 year mark is a great estimate considering he will be working with USA till at least 2020. I don't think he really has a timeframe tho I think he personally believes he'll stay until he isn't capable of doing it anymore


As for Simmoms that dude is sick and he's going to be a great great player.. I wish he woulda been ours

 

[barkingpumpkin]

Fair point if you think K is actually going to last 5 more years. Personally, I'd be a bit surprised if he makes it past the 17-18 season -- which would put Brey at 59. I personally think the 5 yr. number is out there just to assure recruits and probably a bit ambitious at K's age. At 59, I think he'd still be young enough where you could have a few year run with him and help create the bridge to the real longterm replacement for K. Right now I'm just not convinced that a lot of the in-house names that get bandied about are up for this job. Brey may not win national titles here, but who knows -- he'd have resources and a brand name to sell that he never had at Notre Dame.

I agree with you on Brey. I'm not sure about the idea of Notre Dame not providing a brand name to sell. It's not Duke on the basketball front, but it's gotta be in the top 7-10 percent of D1 at least. Regardless, I think you put a few dynamic recruiters under Brey at Duke and the results would be positive. Dude is creative and can coach.

 

[timo0402]

I'm a big fan of Mike Brey, always have been. Would love to see him have an opportunity, but I do think it won't be an option. I think it will be Capels to lose.

 

[aah555]

I agree with you on Brey. I'm not sure about the idea of Notre Dame not providing a brand name to sell. It's not Duke on the basketball front, but it's gotta be in the top 7-10 percent of D1 at least. Regardless, I think you put a few dynamic recruiters under Brey at Duke and the results would be positive. Dude is creative and can coach.

Yes, I mean in terms of a "basketball" brand name compared to Duke. ND is a nice program that's always competitive and typically playing in the NCAAs, but there's a huge gulf between them and Duke basketball -- which is basically ND football circa 1992 in terms of its national profile. My only real concern with Brey would be recruiting. However, my personal guess is that whoever comes in here after K is going to still recruit at a really high level. If you look at former Duke assistants, for instance, their mere association with Duke has really helped them recruit in their early days -- whether it be Dawkins at Stanford, Collins getting some top 150 guys to NW, or Wojo at Marquette.

I think whoever comes in here is going to recruit very well and have a chance to prove that he's capable of keeping this train rolling. Thus, while recruiting clearly matters, I think coaching acumen / experience running all aspects of a clean program are probably the most important criteria. Dawkins and Amaker have the latter in spades, but not a ton of evidence that they're good enough coaches for this job. It's a question mark in both regards with Wojo, Collins, and Capel b/c of inexperience -- and the latter having had some issues at OU.

 

[barkingpumpkin]

I've been impressed by Simmons, but I'm already at overload with the hype. NC State wins the game, and all ESPN can talk about is Simmons' 4 pts, 16 boards, and 10 assists. He's a wonderful player, but there's other guys on the floor.

 

[pisgah101]

Another good acc win