Duke basketball: Alarm bells are ringing, but how much should we listen?

The Duke basketball program has been at the forefront of many things related to college hoops. When two of its most respected dignitaries voice concerns, there is a reason to listen.

Duke basketball means a lot of things to a lot of college hoops fans. Whether those things come from places of love or loathing, when a Duke basketball luminary like Mike Krzyzewski speaks, people generally listen. A string of swear words may ensue afterward, but at least the message is heard, if not heeded.

Ever since Jalen Green’s announcement that he was taking his talents in a new direction toward a modified version of the NBA’s G-League, the hot takes have been coming fast and furious while running the gamut from impeding obituaries for the NCAA model to proclamations of its rebirth and revival.

Some are lining up the last of those coffin nails while others say college basketball will just revert back to days before one and done, so there’s no need worry. However, as with most things that reside on the outermost fringes, these various proponents would rather bury their heads in the snow (I’m from Alaska, so it’s more apt for me than sand) than see the full scope of the issue and admit the answers will probably fall somewhere in the middle.

A lot could also be the “Hot Take” nature of sports talk and the hard stances with loaded words that are meant to troll for responses rather than try to look rationally at the problem or lack thereof. Either way, as college hoops fans, and Duke basketball aficionados, when Coach K and Jay Bilas tell us that the NCAA needs to do something to stay competitive in the face of new threats coming for the vitality of the game, there may be something there.

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Regardless of your feelings about what they say or Duke basketball in general, in my opinion, it comes down to a simple question. Would you rather dictate the terms of a situation or have them dictated to you? Even though the problem in this instance isn’t as cut and dry, sometimes the impetus for a response can really be that simple…