Many people at Duke University are dissatisfied with the way K has been running the basketball program in recent years, and all the negative publicity it has generated, the underachievement on the court and the dropouts and academic and criminal controversies. Parents of players seem to be upset as well. In 99, Avery was projected as a top 10 pick and even after sliding because of K's criticism went 14th...
"Krzyzewski had a big disagreement with Avery and his mother, Terri Simonton, in April before Avery announced he was leaving.
Reportedly, Krzyzewski used an expletive to tell Simonton that her son was going to mess up his program. She said Krzyzewski was ``rude, personal.''
``Coach K is selfish,'' Simonton told ESPN The Magazine. ``He talks about a so-called close Duke family. But he just wants to protect his program. He lied to us about where William would go in the draft. Late in the first round? Maybe even second round? Come on. Even I could pick up the papers and read he was going earlier than that.''"
<a href="http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:ZSD2e2vGAroC:augustasports.com/stories/082999/oth_180-4085.001.shtml+%22curry+kirkpatrick%22+will+%22avery%22+K+%22program%22&hl=en" target="_blank">http://216.239.39.100/search?q=cache:ZSD2e2vGAroC:augustasports.com/stories/082999/oth_180-4085.001.shtml+%22curry+kirkpatrick%22+will+%22avery%22+K+%22program%22&hl=en</a>
Why do some players at Duke leave early while other don't, what kind of advice are they getting, and from whom? K badmouthed Avery and Maggette and their readiness even though they were projected as top 10 picks, and they slid in the draft, while K lobbied hard for Langdon who inexplicably went ahead of them after being behind them in all the draft projections. Boozer wasn't even a first rounder but K was okay with him leaving even at least a year ago when he wasn't even close to the second round pick he ended up becoming, so much so that K signed 3 big guys to replace him and Boozer was on the 3 year sociology degree plan which included playing summer basketball overseas while skipping most of his independent study classes.
Meanwhile Dunleavy was guaranteed to be picked in the top 3 or 4 yet K put heavy pressure on him to stay, then refused to comment when he left. Jay Williams was the undisputed #1 pick last year yet K advised him to stay because he said Williams still had a lot to learn about basketball and leadership, even though most expected even then that Yao Ming would knock Williams down in 2002. Why did K claim he advised Brand that it was a "no brainer" for him to leave as a "lottery" pick, if Jay and Dunleavy were told to stay?:
"“It’s a great day for Elton, his mom and for Duke basketball, myself and Duke University,” Krzyzewski said via telephone from his home, where he’s recovering from hip replacement surgery. “Going to Duke provides you with great decisions to make. Because of how well he has done, the decision-making process has been moved up. So it’s obvious Elton is making the right decision for everybody involved. It’s nice when a kid has a chance to make this type of decision and it’s his decision to make... It’s absolutely a no-brainer"...
Brand said he relied on information and opinions from within the Duke program to make his decision. He didn’t consult with outside sources, he said.
Not surprisingly, Brand said about 99 percent of feedback from students on campus encouraged him to stay...
Brand, a native of Peekskill, N.Y., said he realizes he might not be ready for instant stardom in the NBA, where his size as an inside post player has been questioned.
“A month or two from now, I’ll be more prepared,” he said. “Once I get there, I’ll be more prepared.”
Krzyzewski and Dawkins helped research Brand’s draft status. Brand averaged 17.7 points and 9.8 rebounds per game as a sophomore.
“His range of numbers (in the draft) will be a lottery pick,” Dawkins said. “Based on what we were able to gather, Elton Brand is in great position to come out this year and have a great career.” ...
Brand will use the Duke Career Counseling Committee to select an agent. He plans to attend summer school to continue on track to earn a degree."
<a href="http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:-EFfJiz8vpYC:www.thetimesnews.com/1999/99-04/99-04-15/sports-1.html+%22no+brainer%22+%22brand%22+%22krzyzewski%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:-EFfJiz8vpYC:www.thetimesnews.com/1999/99-04/99-04-15/sports-1.html+%22no+brainer%22+%22brand%22+%22krzyzewski%22&hl=en&ie=UTF-8</a>
Dunleavy's father originally wanted him to go go UNC and is friends with Dean Smith, and reportedly had been pushing Mike Jr. to drop out for a while, and even his mother told him to dump Duke for the cash even though they have millions. Does Sr. have a bad relationship with K and if so for how long? Interesting post from DBR:
"As The Blue Devils Turn
AtlantaDuke
05/14/02 00:09
Mike Sr. being bounced from practice, which K declared to be closed to non-team members and coaches, was reported to have come at the end of the regular season - it was my first perception that Mike Sr. coming to all the games was not quite the second coming of Calvin Hill watching Grant insofar as unquestioned support for the program was concerned. This was not communicated in a post on the DBR (not that the board is unreliable) but reported in "mainstream" media. Sorry I can not remember the source of the report. Those closer to the program than me (which would be just about anybody) may be able to confirm that Mike Sr. was tossed."
This sounds like when Bob Knight tossed IU's president Myles Brand out of practice, then eventually got fired by Brand. K knows how to say the right things to the media to get them on his side, but other than that he seems to share a lot in common with Knight, on the sidelines and behind the scenes. Ken Burgess said K didn't play Chris enough or as much as K said he would, Duke sites were reporting before 98-99 that K was considering starting Brand, Burgess, and Battier. ESPN wrote that K told Will Avery's mom that her son was going to "F--- up my program"
Have there been other disagreements with parents of Duke players, was Doug Collins upset with K or Gaudet?
David Falk is K's agent and also represents Duke players like Brand in the pros, a clear conflict of interest, and has access to talk to Duke's players and even high school recruits, how is that permissible when most colleges do everything they can to keep agents away from improper contact with players, why did K have Falk talk to the Crazies who booed him? Why does K associate himself with "scumbag" "oily" "greedaholic" Falk, maybe the most hated person in sports, was it Falk's idea that K go on a book tour about applying his coaching principles to the business world, while Wojo was getting killed on the recruiting trail in 2000, and does this have anything to do with all the recent scandals on Wall Street? No wonder Brand supposedly wanted to leave even after his freshman year with greedy scum like Falk around:
"I can't help but notice that Bird of Prey agent David Falk has been present at so many recent unsettling events. He was at Thompson's side, at Jordan's side; he was in the middle of the NBA strife, exhorting his clients to the barricades; as Mike Krzyzewski's agent he was hanging around the Duke locker room at Cole Field House 11 days ago when Duke pounded Maryland."
<a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/nba/longterm/jordan/articles/tk14.htm" target="_blank">http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/sports/nba/longterm/jordan/articles/tk14.htm</a>
K and Falk ranked high on an unflattering list:
<a href="http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:ANQ5lit_TvIC:www.mit.edu:8001/people/ed_k/jerks1.html+%22david+falk%22+%22krzyzewski%22+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">http://216.239.37.100/search?q=cache:ANQ5lit_TvIC:www.mit.edu:8001/people/ed_k/jerks1.html+%22david+falk%22+%22krzyzewski%22+&hl=en&ie=UTF-8</a>
