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Sophomore Sensations
11/23/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Recalling Second Year Hoopsters Who Made Major Impacts
by Jim Sumner, Blue Devil Weekly
DURHAM, N.C. - Conventional wisdom maintains that college basketball players improve the most between their freshman and sophomore seasons. Sophomores have a year in the system, have shaken freshman home-sickness and have had a summer to work on whatever their coaches tell them to work on. At least that's the theory. Duke certainly hopes this is the case. Exactly half of Duke's 10 recruited players are entering their second season of college eligibility, a scary proposition for those of us who grew up believing the adage that the only good thing about sophomores is that they eventually become juniors.
Of course, these five players enter the 2006-07season from different places and with different expectations. Two of the sophomores, Greg Paulus and Josh McRoberts, have been named tri-captains, along with junior DeMarcus Nelson, a tribute to both high expectations and the team's youth. Â
It is possible to see parallels between Paulus' freshman season and that of Bobby Hurley. Many fans forget how shaky Hurley was at times during his first year. Hurley made only 35 percent of his field goals and committed 166 turnovers, a total that led the ACC that season and remains a Duke record.Â
McRoberts is being touted as a potential All-America after a freshman season that saw him average a modest 8.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game. But those statistics compare favorably to those compiled as freshmen by Danny Ferry (5.9/5.5), Christian Laettner (8.9/4.7) and Shane Battier (7.6/6.4), all of whom later became national players of the year. Shelden Williams averaged 8.2 points per game as a freshman. So the starter-to-star tradition has been firmly established.
Paulus and McRoberts have played at a high level against top competition over extended periods of time, so it's not much of a reach to project them to do so at a slightly higher level this season. But what about fellow sophomores Marty Pocius, David McClure and Jamal Boykin? Pocius played 172 minutes last season, scoring 42 points. Boykin played 70 minutes, with 25 points and 20 rebounds.Â
McClure didn't play at all, redshirting after knee surgery, giving him the additional obstacle of overcoming a year's worth of rust. Two seasons ago McClure played 184 minutes, scoring 43 points. He had two starts. McClure's 9-point, 5-rebound performance against Virginia in the ACC Tournament indicates that he is capable of producing against ACC competition.
We live in an age of instant gratification. Duke has had more than its share of talented players who grabbed a starting spot from day one and never relinquished it. Therefore, many are ready to dismiss the players who develop at a different pace. But Duke basketball history is full of examples of players who spent their freshman seasons in the shadows but became significant contributors later on in their Duke careers.Â
Remember Mark Crow? The 6-foot-7 forward scored all of 20 points as a freshman in 1974, for a 10-16 team that might have been the worst in Duke history. It's hard to have a less auspicious start than being buried on the bench for a bad team. Yet, Crow developed into one of the best shooters in the ACC and played a season in the NBA before enjoying a long career overseas. His classmate, Tate Armstrong, scored 138 points as a freshman backing up the long forgotten Edgar Burch. Armstrong would average over 23 points per game his last two years at Duke before becoming a first-round draft pick of the Chicago Bulls.
Quite a few of Mike Krzyzewski's Duke players have had similar career arcs. Brian Davis played 245 minutes as a freshman, Alaa Abdelnaby played 220. Both ended their college careers starting for Final Four teams and both played in the NBA. In fact, seven Duke players have averaged five points per game or less as freshmen and still played in the NBA. The others not already mentioned are Vince Taylor, Marty Nessley, Tony Lang and Cherokee Parks.
John Smith had perhaps the greatest single-season, nobody-to-somebody story in Duke history. Smith was a member of the high school class of 1985. Unlike classmates Danny Ferry and Quin Snyder, Smith did not make any high school All-America teams. Smith sat out most of his senior season in high school because of academics. He was the 12th man on Duke's loaded, senior-dominated 1986 team. Smith played 91 minutes that season, almost all of them mop-up moments in
games in which the outcome had long been decided.Â
Smith has some advice for this year's sophomores. "I expected to play right away as a freshman. I know that sounds unrealistic but you know how 18-year-olds are. You think you can conquer the world." Once reality kicks in, "you have to adjust. You have to find a way to help the team and a way to improve your game. I went after Mark Alarie in practice every day. I gave him my best shot. I hope I helped him improve his game but I know he improved mine. There's no better training than going against a Mark Alarie every day. You just have to look at it as a learning opportunity and learn as much as you can."Â
Duke lost four of its top seven players after the 1986 season, as was the case with last season. "After the season, I knew playing time would open up and I was pretty sure I knew where it was going to be," Smith says. "I had to get stronger. I practically lived in the weight room over the summer. I put on 15 pounds because I knew I would need it. The guys who had graduated in 1986 had such a strong work ethic. We all learned from that."
Flexibility helps. "You can't lock yourself in, especially playing for a coach like Mike Krzyzewski. He's so good at figuring out what a team needs. I didn't expect to be playing center but he saw the possibilities and made it work."
Smith started the season coming off the bench behind senior center Marty Nessley. Nessley struggled in the early season and Smith inserted Smith into the lineup. He continued as a starter the rest of the year, playing ahead of Nessley and Abdelnaby. The two reserve centers had the McDonald's All-America pedigree but Smith had more game.
"You learn very early at Duke that reputation doesn't mean much. You have to earn your time," Smith notes. Smith earned enough time in 1987 to average just under 12 points per game, including a 28-point game at nationally-ranked Clemson and a 22-point game against a powerful UNC team. Smith's increase from 34 points as a freshman to 382 points as a sophomore computes to an 11-fold improvement.
You also have to be able to seize an opportunity. Look at Marty Clark. The swingman from Illinois came to Duke in the same class as Grant Hill and Tony Lang and played little his first two seasons. Clark says "you have to be more than just a cheerleader. Pay attention when you're on the bench. Watch, learn, be ready."Â
Late in the 1992 season, his sophomore year, Clark found himself in college basketball's spotlight. Duke was playing Indiana in the Final Four. Brian Davis was injured, Grant Hill had fouled out and Duke was trying to withstand a furious Hoosier comeback. Clark wanted to go in, leaning towards Coach K and catching his eye.Â
Clark overcame the butterflies and buried 5-of-6 free throws, as Duke held off Indiana. Clark proved to himself, his teammates and his coaches that he could produce in the clutch. He was a key member of the rotation his final two seasons.
These historical precedents don't predict the future, of course. Not every player, Duke or otherwise, is willing to give the process time or do what needs to be done. But paying your dues still works. Work hard, learn, improve, and be ready. The success of Duke basketball has been predicated on players who did just that and the success of this year's team may well depend on that same ability.
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