Hood Following Parker's Lead
On the bright side, the Duke Blue Devils have more scholarships to offer.
After teammate and top-tier freshman Jabari Parker declared for NBA draft Thursday, Rodney Hood followed suit yesterday.
Hood was the No 2 punch this past season for the Blue Devils. When Parker wasn't asserting himself offensively, Hood -- the Mississippi State transfer -- took over and scored efficiently and effectively for the Blue Devils throughout the entire season.
He averaged 16.1 points per game while piling up almost four rebounds per.
Although the Dookies were bounced prematurely by Mercer during the Big Dance's second number, that shocking upset had no effect on Hood's decision. Like most collegiate basketball players, his dream was to play professionally, so when this opportunity presented itself -- and we can only assume his NBA evaluation came back with promising news -- Hood took the plunge.
He's making a very smart choice, in my opinion. He's a versatile offensive threat with size and range, shooting 42% from downtown last season. According to most of the NBA prognosticators, Hood is believed to be a first-rounder.
And naturally, two-&-shoo Dookie got a ringing endorsement from his former head coach, who added that "He was an integral part of our team two years ago because he was such a great practice player, and this year he was one of the best players in the country. So consistent, and a great young man on and off the court. He will do really well in the NBA."
While you can't argue with one of the best coaches in college basketball when it comes to player assessment, you gotta think Hood should buy a round for the SID dudes who pulled those platitudes off the templates and put them into Krzyzewski's mouth.
After all, that stuff even showed up in the press releases when Christian Laettner and Cherokee Parks embarked upon their professional careers.
Regardless, Hood is making the right decision.
And for those feeling uneasy about Duke going forward, they're unsurprisingly reloading with the alleged No 1 recruiting class in the country.
So as The Original Dude says, they'll abide.