Goodbye Carrick Felix, we hardly knew ye!

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Carrick says on his Facebook page that he is now a Blue Devil! He'll be entering as a redshirt sophomore (he's out this year with an injury and can play next year) with 3 years of eligibility at Duke. He's a an alarmingly athletic ;) defensive specialist who should contribute next season - think taking some of Lance Thomas's minutes at the 3/4 position.

[Jesus_hurley]

Not much youtube video on him, all I could find quickly was this dunk from the foul line:

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

Ok, so I've lost track of who's coming and who's playing when. Can somebody get me up to speed on who is coming and playing which year? This is too much for my senior citizen brain.
Love, Ima

[Ima Facultiwyfe]

Never mind, I found it all on DD.
Ima

[devildeac]

[Jesus_hurley]

BDN has a pretty good read on Carrick Felix up.

http://bluedevilnation.net/2010/05/carr ... s-at-duke/

“I introduced myself to Coach James in our coaches offices and then we get on the court. He’s watching our center and I was just playing like I always play. I play hard and practice hard and later that night he gave me a call and was excited about the way I played basketball. Ever since then, he’s followed me everyday and we’ve developed a wonderful, wonderful relationship. He’s actually playing like the big brother role right now,” said Felix.

As we mentioned Felix has all the tools to play key roles especially on the defensive end, “They’re going to use me as a defender. On offense Coach K is excited and feels he can use me at any position because of my versatility. He’s excited knowing he can use me a multiple positions and that’s what they need, so I’m excited about that and look forward to being the best player I can be,” said Felix.”

Felix’s journey to play for the defending national champions wasn’t always smooth but he persevered. “My mom didn’t even graduate from high school but she still pushed me and made me understand the importance of academics. I was not a good student when I was younger. I didn’t know what I wanted to be in life so I eventually sat down with my mom. We had a talk and identified what was important and academics is part of that.. I just want to do the best I can, just like I do on the court? I want to work that same way in the class room if not harder. I’m a student athlete first not an athlete-student.”

[devildeac]

Not enrolling according to TDD/scout/DBR.

[wilson]

Not enrolling according to TDD/scout/DBR.

Disappointing for him, but from the team perspective (especially for next season), I think his ceiling was probably more Carmen Wallace than Nate James anyway.

[CameronBornAndBred]

http://www.wralsportsfan.com/duke/story/7656690/

I'm changing the title of this thread.

[Jesus_hurley]

On the plus side, it's more minutes for Dawkins, Curry, etc when Singler sits and the smaller lineup is on the floor. On the negative side, there's nobody to really match up with Singler in practice - Felix had the size and skills that have given Singler trouble in the past so it would have been nice if he could have faced that in practice.

Oh well, I'll take a small disappointment after winning a championship....

[devildeac]

On the plus side, it's more minutes for Dawkins, Curry, etc when Singler sits and the smaller lineup is on the floor. On the negative side, there's nobody to really match up with Singler in practice - Felix had the size and skills that have given Singler trouble in the past so it would have been nice if he could have faced that in practice.

Oh well, I'll take a small disappointment after winning a championship....

Plus, it frees up another scholly for the 2011 class. Are you reading Mssrs.(?) Rivers, Plumlee and Miller? ;)

[Jesus_hurley]

On the plus side, it's more minutes for Dawkins, Curry, etc when Singler sits and the smaller lineup is on the floor. On the negative side, there's nobody to really match up with Singler in practice - Felix had the size and skills that have given Singler trouble in the past so it would have been nice if he could have faced that in practice.

Oh well, I'll take a small disappointment after winning a championship....

Plus, it frees up another scholly for the 2011 class. Are you reading Mssrs.(?) Rivers, Plumlee and Miller? ;)

That would wrap the class up nicely...

Adams, Gbinjie, Rivers, Plumlee, Miller - that's a class you could run out as a complete team....

[devildeac]

On the plus side, it's more minutes for Dawkins, Curry, etc when Singler sits and the smaller lineup is on the floor. On the negative side, there's nobody to really match up with Singler in practice - Felix had the size and skills that have given Singler trouble in the past so it would have been nice if he could have faced that in practice.

Oh well, I'll take a small disappointment after winning a championship....

Plus, it frees up another scholly for the 2011 class. Are you reading Mssrs.(?) Rivers, Plumlee and Miller? ;)

That would wrap the class up nicely...

Adams, Gbinjie, Rivers, Plumlee, Miller - that's a class you could run out as a complete team....

I'm guessing you run Rivers at the point, Gbinjie at the 2 spot, Miller at the 3 (?) and the other 2 guys at your 4/5 spots. I was thinking Gbinjie was more of a 3 spot player and Miller a bit big at the 3 and maybe more of a 3/4 type player. Unless, of course, MP3 has developed his shooting and handle enough to play the SG position.

[CameronBornAndBred]

The speculation is that he is not enrolling due to Singler returning. This makes little sense to me, Carrick has 3 years eligibility, and while he won't start nor get as many minutes next year, he gets to learn Duke's system coming off the bench. Two years from now he might have very well been a solid contributor if not a starter. Hardly anyone comes in and starts anyways..pretty goofy reasoning.

[Jesus_hurley]

That would wrap the class up nicely...

Adams, Gbinjie, Rivers, Plumlee, Miller - that's a class you could run out as a complete team....

I'm guessing you run Rivers at the point, Gbinjie at the 2 spot, Miller at the 3 (?) and the other 2 guys at your 4/5 spots. I was thinking Gbinjie was more of a 3 spot player and Miller a bit big at the 3 and maybe more of a 3/4 type player. Unless, of course, MP3 has developed his shooting and handle enough to play the SG position.

Yeah - that's what I figured for an all-freshman team. Gbinjie is really a true 3 and Miller is a 3/4, but at Duke there are no positions just players

And Plumlee at the SG position would be a great mismatch on the offensive end. If he's fast enough it'd be fun to watch him tower over some shorter guards too

[Jesus_hurley]

The speculation is that he is not enrolling due to Singler returning. This makes little sense to me, Carrick has 3 years eligibility, and while he won't start nor get as many minutes next year, he gets to learn Duke's system coming off the bench. Two years from now he might have very well been a solid contributor if not a starter. Hardly anyone comes in and starts anyways..pretty goofy reasoning.

I've seen reports of that and reports of academic issues - not grades necessarily, but transfer credits and the like. Then there's this article from the fayobserver with this quote:

Despite widespread Internet reports in the winter that indicated Felix only went the juco route out of high school in hopes of attracting more high-profile college interest, Southern Idaho coach Steve Gosar said Felix was actually a non-qualifier after graduating from Millennium High School in Arizona in 2008. Gosar also said Felix's academic laziness early on at Southern Idaho was so frustrating that it almost led to his dismissal.

"There was a point where I told Carrick he was headed home if he didn't straighten out," Gosar said.

What gets me is he's been on campus for a week or two and has supposedly even played pick-up with some of the players who were still here at the time.

[pinkbend]

All the stories about Felix refer to him as Coach K's "first juco recruit." Wasn't Roshon McLeod a juco grad who came to Duke? Help me out here, people...I love to prove the media wrong!!!

[pinkbend]

Nope...I was wrong...he came from St. John's.....and I also spelled his name incorrectly!

Roshown McLeod (born November 17, 1975 in Jersey City, New Jersey) is a retired American professional basketball player who was selected by the Atlanta Hawks in the 1st round (20th overall) of the 1998 NBA Draft. A 6'8" small forward from St. John's University and Duke University, McLeod played in three NBA seasons from 1999 to 2001. He played for the Hawks and briefly for the Philadelphia 76ers. In the 2001/02 season he was a member of the Boston Celtics but was permanently injured and unable to play. Due to this injury he had to prematurely finish his career.