Word on the street says that Duke forward, Gerald Henderson, is leaving college for the NBA…and he will be signing with an agent?
Gerald Henderson is also expected to announce he’s leaving college shortly, and is expected to hire an agent with strong ties to Duke.
WTF? I get the declaring yourself eligible for the NBA, but why sign with an agent? Any reasonable junior would declare so they can go workout with NBA scouts in Chicago. There he can be evaluate by the brightest minds in the NBA (much like Ellington, Green and Lawson did last year). Afterwards is when you make that final decision whether to return or not. If you decide not to, then you hire an agent.
This rumor doesn’t make a lot of sense. There’s is no harm in not hiring an agent now. However, as soon as he hires one, his college career is over, whether he bombs during the workouts or not.
We’ve said it before, we think Henderson is going to be a solid pro (assuming he remains healthy), but he needs more work. He still struggles to drive to his left, especially against real athletes and he doesn’t have NBA (three-point) range yet, which he’ll need since he’s only 6’4 and will be asked to play shooting guard.
For most, the 1999 season will be remembered for two things. First, that year’s team was the best Duke team to not win a title. It also was the year when Duke basketball fell back to earth, joining the rest of college basketball, to watch its best players go bye-bye early to the NBA.
For me though, while 1999 was significant, it was actually 1996 when Duke first lost a player early to the NBA…a smart, athletic 17-year-old from Lower Merion High School, that reminded many of a young Jordan, passed on Duke. You might have heard of him, Kobe Bryant?
While never officially offered a scholarship, Kobe made it quite clear, if he decided to go to college, he would attend Duke University. In the end though, he picked the NBA and the rest is history.
Since then, the Blue Devils (like every other school) has had to adjust to this simple fact, kids aren’t going to stay four years. However, since I have nothing better to do with my time, I wondered what the Duke roster would have looked like over the years if kids did stay all four years.
