Comments

I totally agree with Dan.  If you want to ensure you will always have 4 yr. players, recruit badly.  This is today’s world.  You have to recruit talent and you will see attrition.  Instead of being negative about CP, James & Teague leaving early, give thanks for them selecting WF and giving us the wins & excitement we got!

Jim on 07/10/2009 (10:30 am)

I totally agree that they should have taken at least a guaranteed 3+ million. My only gripe is with the current recruiting rules/how long players can take before deciding whether to come back to school. More props for them, but the NCAA/NBA need to go along with baseball and football. What do you think?

Aaron on 07/04/2009 (3:51 pm)

I am sure that Chris Paul is an outstanding person, as well as basketball player. He undoubtedly has a solid future and will earn millions of dollars along the way.  He will also help many youngsters and his foundation will serve humanity. One wonders however how much he could have helped his team and the other players who would have seen and benefited from his athletic gifts at Wake. It is said he had learned all he could as a player at WFU.  That is nonsense. Try to imagine the help he could have given the team that he essentially left high and dry.  Our present culture’s motto seems to be “I, me, my and mine” and let everyone else take the hindmost and fend for themselves; and they who might do the most to alter that blight even in the slightest simply join in the rush to have it all. Yes, I know all this sounds “old world” and out of date but there is a certain smell to the state of affairs to which we have come of late.

Lee Anglin on 07/04/2009 (10:36 am)

In my book it’s called hyper-individualism, a cult of one (get out asap and get all you can quick).  Make all you can as fast as you can and to hell with anything or anyone else. Our society is one of gross self-entitlement without a care in the world for group or team.  The pros are, as a collection of spoiled individuals who are little short of pampered brats. Is this reality? The real world?

Lee Anglin on 07/03/2009 (1:52 pm)

Dan, got a question on the rules of recruiting.  Noticed that Travis McKie is contacting players in an effort to lure them to Wake, so I am wondering is it permissible to have former players like Duncan & Paul to contact Wake recruits?

john on 07/03/2009 (10:31 am)

I believe a scholarship is like a contract. You accept it, you stay 4 years. Pro players don’t break contracts but college players sure as hell jump hard and fast to get out from under a scholarship and get to the NBA. The NCAA and the NBA need an agreement as to when a kid can put his name in the draft. That would keep kids in schools and the NBA would know exactly what they’re getting when the time arrives.

Might be just me, but if I was Dino, or any other college coach, I’d be pushing hard for an agreement with the NBA. I’d sure hate to successfully recruit high school phenoms, then have ‘em say, after a year or two, “the hell with school.” It’s not fair to the school, the coach, only the greedy player benefits. College IS NOT supposed to be the minor league of the NBA!!!

Ken Green on 07/02/2009 (2:44 pm)

Dick,
Insurance was obviously an option. Tim Duncan insured himself his final year or two at Wake. On the other hand, the family must pay the premium, which would be around 1 to 1.5 percent. So the bill for insuring a $3 million contract would be more than $30,000 if my public school education serves me well. That kind of investment would add a bit of pressure on next year’s performance, in that if he were to slide out of the first round the money might never be recouped.
I’m not saying your point’s not well-taken, there’s just another consideration.

Dan on 07/02/2009 (1:29 pm)

Dan,
Good comment. I mentioned to you earlier that Teague was taking a huge chance in putting his name in the NBA draft this year. If he had not been selected first round, he would now be saying “What If”...

Like you, I wished both had stayed in College one more year. But with the current economic conditions, IMO, both made the correct decision…

T. Willis on 07/02/2009 (10:20 am)

Good job Dan!  You also have to take into account that the dream for both of these fine young men has been to play in the NBA for many years if not their entire lives.  Playing College Basketball which I’m sure was fun for them and was a dream for them growing up was not the Dream.  It was the means to fulfill the Dream, playing in the NBA.

Andy on 07/02/2009 (9:53 am)

A million bucks…WOW.  Guess I would take the money also.  I graduated from Wake almost 40 years ago, took a job paying $6k a year plus company car, thought I was J. Paul Getty.

john on 07/02/2009 (8:03 am)

Good stuff, Dan. You’re right in your analysis here. At 23, Johnson had no reason not to go. Teague could have returned and improved his draft status enough to move into the top 10 where he would have received considerably more guaranteed money. But he also could have been injured or gone into a slump that hurt his draft status. At that point, it’s gut check time and his gut said to go. They both leave behind a team that will miss their contributions but one that still has a strong nucleus and considerable potential in 2009-10.

TM on 07/01/2009 (9:45 pm)

Completely agree. Why does it have to be constantly repeated- the purpose of higher education is to prepare young people for their chosen career. I wish both young men well, and hope we lose two more first round picks every year.

Dave O on 07/01/2009 (9:20 pm)

On the other hand, if Teague had improved his standing to number 10 the next year, as some had said he could, he would have made $1,807,100 the first year, which is around $662,200 more than he will make this year. That is not a bad year’s pay for most, certainly more than enough to justify playing one more season. And he could have been insured against injury, so being injured should not have been a factor. I suggest the “smart money” says he should have stayed if he had considered the money difference only. I guess he thought he wouldn’t do any better next year.

Dick on 07/01/2009 (5:46 pm)