As evidenced by some of the comments made on a previous blog entry, a popular topic of conversation, for the past four years, is whether Trinity Catholic graduate Dave McClure made the right decision going to Duke. Those who don’t think so seem to be making their judgment based solely on McClure’s point total, how he is not the dominant scorer he was for the Crusaders.
I have found the line of thinking rather skewed, even more so after talking to him last night for a feature I am writing on him for Thursday’s paper. McClure is playing the same role he did for Trinity, minus the scoring. He is a lockdown defender and solid rebounder, two of his most impressive traits at Trinity. Crusaders coach Mike Walsh said McClure is the best defender he has ever had.
Despite an injury-riddled career, McClure has been a valuable contributor to one of the country’s most elite programs. More importantly, his time at Duke has turned him into the kind of person who will make a difference whenever his basketball career ends.
After hanging up the phone last night following our interview, I couldn’t help but smile. Dave has always been one of my favorite people, and I have even greater respect for him now. Anyone who could have heard him last night would feel the same way.
So perhaps it is best to use a proper prism when assessing McClure. College basketball careers are not based just on how many points someone scored.
And if you don’t believe me, go to the following link: http://www.goduke.com/club/std/mediaByType.dbml
It is Duke’s website. Go down to Coach K’s press conference yesterday and start listening from 10:30 in for the next few minutes about what he had to say about McClure.
You might come away feeling differently.
Jake, You are beautiful! You make a lot of sense though. In my opinion only, halfway through McClures freshman year Coach K knew he made a mistake with McClure. He was starting several non-conference games and he added zero to the game. He kept on moving down the bench and it became clear that he would remain there for the rest of his career. Coach K was in a bind-should he keep giving him minutes or keep him on the bench. He did the right thing by letting him play then getting him out of the game as soon as possible. He can now go back to the schools in Ct. and say he gave David plenty of good time especially if he is looking to recruit some superstar down the road in ct. The high school talent market is down this year in the state of CT. The Williams kid is going to Maryland-a good choice-Chris Evans from Stamford could be a real sleeper on the division two level if he takes basketball serious. The guard from Staples is a lot better than people realize. Sacred Heart could give him a look. Eric G from Trinity could be a decent Division two or three guard but some local college coaches said they saw him mouthing off to the coach during a recent game which is a big negative. The kid Ireland from Crosby is Division two at best. Baskin is a mid-major player looking to play in the big east. His game not only needs work but his defensive skills are horrible. Heres hoping his coach will talk some sense into him. The guard from Rye should go back to Westchester county and concentrate on Football.
Hey Jake, I wasn’t speaking about fooball. This years St. Patricks basketball team has players from four different states starting for them. Check it out. It is much harder to recruit out of state in football because the expense is to great.
Jake, I stand corrected I misread your statement about the NBA draft.
Tim, you didn’t read what I wrote. I said McClure coming out of HS probably saw himself as a first or second rounder. It’s obvious now that if he were to be drafted it would be at the very tail end of the draft, at best. I’m sure in his Freshman year he saw the level of competition and had a rude awakening. He has had 5 years to accept his role.
Anon – I can’t buy that getting a coveted Duke basketball scholarship and then remaining a sub as a Senior is over achieving. Being a run of the mill starter would not be over achieving. Being on the all-conference team would be over achieving!
Butch – I know a bit about North Jersey private HS football. I know the public schools hate to see their best players go to Don Bosco, etc. But I have never heard of families relocating from Texas and North Carolina so their kid can play NJ football. That sounds like a big stretch.
As far as CT public schools competing out of state. Do you remember that top Greenwich football team traveling to FL to get soundly defeated a couple years ago? I don’t believe they went out of state this year, for good reason.
But let’s not pick on Greenwich football. Steve Young, our last big local sports star, I believe. And that took place before I moved here over a quarter century ago.
My other blog did not get through so I am rewriting it again. Jim Calhoun is the greatest judge of talent in college basketball today. I haved talked to several prominent college coaches and they all feel the same way. He does not get the McDonald All-Americans or the top flight talent in each state. He knows who can play and who can’t. He did not recruit David McClure because he felt he would never be an impact player for UCONN. What that means is HE would not play there. I doubt very much if he has ever contacted Tevin Baskin because he is a player without a position. He also could not play there. Rashmel Jones and Craig Austrie are different type of players.
The city of Stamford has always overrated the talent pool in the local high schools- McClure is from Ridgefield so he gets a pass. Baskin should be getting better advice from those who know the game of basketball. I keep hearing about xavier and Rutgers. Tevin if you are listenning-please look at Sacred Heart, Central ct. or Quinnipiac. All outstanding schools with good basketball programs. Stop listenning to the wrong people and smarten up. Everyone keeps telling you that you are great. I’m telling you the truth-you are an above average player with a lot of upside to your game. You can’t dominate in high school-take a good look at your ability and judge for yourself.
Wow….I am sure Dave would be glad to know he is such a popular topic of conversation. There is not much more to add that I haven’t already said, except Jake it is not exactly revelatory that Connecticut sports are not on a par with the rest of the country. The Darien volleyball and New Canaan football programs would have a lot of trouble elsewhere.
But who cares. They don’t have to play elsewhere, they have to play here and they run exemplary programs.
Like I’ve said, if you can’t appreciate things the way they are and get some perspective you will always be able to rail against things and find things to criticize.
You have basically set a level of expectation for Dave that was unfair for him to expect to reach. And a coach giving that many scholarships doesn’t expect every play to be a star….who gives 12 players major minutes?
Nice to know people are reading and I appreciate you all keeping the level of discourse at a professional level.
Jake. Let me get this straight. You think that McClure should be a first or second round pick in the draft. Are you serious. If the Army instituted a draft he might not get picked.
McClure should have stayed local. What would you rather have a degree from Yale or Harvard or a degree from Duke. Common sense my friend. Unless he couldn’t get into Yale or Harvard then I think Duke was the right choice.
Hey Jake,
He overachieved by getting a full ride to Duke!
If your point is that CT High School sports are not up to the par with the rest of the country, you got waaaaaaaaaaay too much time on your hands.
There are countless kids who get scholarships both academically and athletically from going to High Schools in CT!
Your just a negative dude Jake….
Dear Dave,
I really enjoy this blog because people can honestly give their opinion about things. Good sides both ways regarding Dave McClure. The number one judge of talent in the coaching business is Coach Calhoun of Uconn. He doesn’t have a roster full of McDonalds All-Americans like North CArolina or Duke but he knows talent. He said at a banquet in Stamford that Dave McClure could not be a contributer to his program. What does that mean ? I think he means he would not impact any game in which he plays in. Did he even contact TEvin Baskin? I assume NO. That means he can’t contribute. Austrie is a different story. In high school he dominated-everyone knew who he was and what he could do. As a basketball player he is in a different class than the other two. The same with Rashmel Jones. The thing is even if McClure went to a Fairfield or a Manhatten he would be the same player he was at Duke. He would not dominate a game because he simply does not have the offensive ability to do so.
As far as competition around the state is concerned our good teams can compete with the public schools from the other states in any sport. The private schools we cannot. The Catholic schools from New Jersey would destroy Trinity in BAssketball because they recruit from TExas, North CArolina etc. The Gatorade player of the year award does not mean you are the BEST high school in CT. Too many factors go into picking that award.
I can assure you Coach K was expecting big minutes. You don’t give a four year free ride to Duke without thinking that. Of course you know it won’t always pan out.
Saying he was overachieved at Duke is comical. Is anonymous Dave’s Dad? Very limited minutes as a sub and almost no points!
I thought a state player of the year award meant the player was consider the best player in the state that year. It would sure sound that way from the name of the award.
I wouldn’t say first or second round would be out of order for a state player of the year. The MAAC’s Jason Thompson went lottery this year! How? He just went out to Sacramento and showed his stuff. They said he blew everyone else away that they brought in. BTW he scored 20 last night in the King’s win over the Suns. He also did well against the Knick’s at MSG a couple weeks ago, in their 25 point win.
Let’s face it CT high school sports doesn’t rank very highly on the national scene. Even the highly touted Darien girls volleyball team doesn’t go on to play top college vball. They aren’t recruited by Penn State and Stanford. They go to Holy Cross or Vermont or something. I saw the Darien CT Vball championship game a couple years ago in West Haven. I was shocked at how low a quality the play was.
I saw a list of the top 100 HS football players going on to college next year, not one CT kid on the list.
Even in cheerleading the top local cheerleader acknowledged in The Advocate that the flips only she can do in Fairfield County are done regularly by the entire squad in Texas, etc.
David McClure MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE going to Duke University! Stop this nonsense about Fairfield U or Yale University or any other local entity. Mr. Ruden is right on in his columns and comments. NOBODY projected McClure to be a “stud” playing large minutes in the ACC. Gatorade Player of the Year doesn’t mean as much as you think Jake. McClure played High School basketball with Craig Austrie and a fine surrounding cast. McClure has OVER ACHIEVED his entire career both at Trinity Catholic and at Duke University and will have a great future ahead of him. As a Husky fan, I am so glad that Mr. Austrie is playing for the Huskies and not at UMass. It would have been great for the people in CT to watch Duke v. Uconn at the Final 4 but now it’s all up to the Huskies to bring Craig home a Champion. Austrie has played to his role magnificently.
Go Connecticut !!
A first or second round draft choice? Come on.
I don’t care what anybody says, after you are the Connecticut Gatorade Player of the Year, it’s got to be a tough pill to swallow to find you’re still a sub in your Senior year at college. You may not admit that publicly, but top players have a lot of pride and warming the bench isn’t how a state player of the year ever envisions finishing his college career. Coming out of HS I’m sure a first or second round draft choice was what he had in mind.
I think you raise a good point that is a matter of perspective. Would you rather have had Dave’s experiences at Duke or been a star at Fairfield U, a program that unfortunately has become an invisible non-player for years for a variety of reasons?
It is a chocolate vs. vanilla argument. I know Dave would not trade what has happened. Others might rather go the Fairfield U route.
It’s nice to have the choice.
I don’t think people are looking to knock the guy. He gave it 100%, but when people state his Duke performance was a carbon copy of what he did at Trinity, except for the scoring, that’s just nonsense. Hey, he got a great education, etc. and maybe he can play in Europe. However, from a basketball perspective he could have gone to Fairfield U. and truly been a star and lifted a local program. Look at what Jason Thompson has done coming out of the MAAC.
By the way sometimes I respond from two different places. Blogosphere is in fact Dave Ruden and not an alias!
Well at the very least I am gratified to see that there are some people out there reading the blog and I appreciate you all doing so and taking the time to write.
Stamford Fan: If I didn’t believe what I was writing I would not write it. My opinion has nothing to do with the Stamford connection. If that was the basis for my opinions I would not last long in the profession and not have much credibility…..I like to think I have that.
Jake: I just think people have to accept Dave for what he is and not for what he is not. If success is only measured by playing 35 minutes a night and scoring 15-20 points a game, then I guess he has come up short.
I just don’t see it that way. And I think you cannot discount the impact injuries have had on him. The surgery he had that caused him to sit out his sophomore year was both quite rare and invasive.
Dave could have easily opted not to come back this year. He knew what his role was going to be, accepted it and I feel did a good job at it.
Dave is the first player from Ct. to go to Duke since Mike Gminski. That is quite an accomplishment.
Was he the same dominant player he was at Trinity? No. Does that make him a failure? Definitely not.
Thanks all for writing.
To say that McClure’s role for Duke is a carbon copy of what he did for the Crusaders, except for the scoring, is absurd. In HS he was a starter, always got a lot of playing time and was the state player of the year. At Duke he is a sub, getting limited minutes and far from being a star. Early in his career at Duke he got serious minutes for a few games, didn’t produce that much, and then had his minutes cut way back. Then the injuries came and it was all over. At this stage of his career Krzyzewski puts a premium on players that are not headaches, and McClure fits the bill. However, players like McClure not developing into college stars is the reason that Duke has dropped a level in recent years. Certainly no one expected McClure to be a role player at his Senior year at Duke.
McClure did not have a great career at Duke. Very average. You are just defending him because of the Stamford connection. If this was another player with the same stats, you would not be dishing out so much praise. To paraphrase John Lennon, just give us some truth.
Peter,
We will have to agree to disagree, though your comments as well as some others have helped serve as the impetus for a column I am writing for tomorrow’s paper. Just point of fact, Dave got a lot of minutes at the end of ACC games. I think you are off base on his role. And I think he has had an excellent career. I wouldn’t begin to rate it compared to the former Trinity players. All four you mentioned achieved a great deal and have a lot to be proud of.
Dave,
Again, I enjoyed your fine article about Dave McClure. He is as fine a person as you would ever hope to meet. However, if you watched last nights game against Villanova, his game last night was the exact type of game he has had for four years at Duke. He never plays (rarely) at crunch time in any ACC game , unless his team is in foul trouble. He never looks to score under any circumstances. He does not help the team win. What he does do is give the other players a chance to rest and he never screws up the game for Duke. I am not alone in this assessmente. I know you think otherwise and I respect your opinion but he is a very limited player. Why do you think someone is bashing him for pointing out the facts. He was a great player for Trinity And he has had a great education both academicly and athleticly at Duke. When you compare his college career to his high school teamates he comes in fourth to Thomas, Austrie, Trimboli. He had a much better career than the kid from Brown.
Peter,
I’m going to have to STRONGLY disagree with you on this one. When Dave was a freshman he hardly played. He probably grew the most from freshman to senior year than any high school player I can remember. His offensive game improved tremendously each season. So you are definitely wrong there.
I think you minimize the importance of defense. And all successful programs need players to fill the roles that Dave performs.
If you want the bottom line, look at the overall record of Dave’s teams from his first year at Trinity to today. It is astounding and no coincidence.
I just don’t understand where the McClure bashing comes from. Appreciate him for what he is and not what you think he isn’t. There are other veterans on the Duke team this year that have lost their playing time. Dave hasn’t. There is a reason for that.
Dave,
Coach K or any coach when talking about a player will always be positive about that players role as it pertains to his team. McClure is a great defender, the easiest thing to do in a basketball game is defend because defense takes all heart and determination, which Dave possesses. He has not improved on his offensive skills since he was 15 years old. This is not a knock but reality. If someone can prove me wrong than I am all ears. Dave either lacks confidence in his shooting or scoring or he lacks the ability to contribute to Dukes offense. No one can go wrong choosing Duke as an institution or its basketball program. Here I think Dave made a great choice to attend Duke. He is a tremendous asset to all that have known him and we at Trinity are very proud of him.