Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Where are they now - The Danny Nee recruits

When Danny Nee left the Duquesne program so did almost all of his players. Here is an update on some of the players:

Devario Hudson - 6'7 - 210 pounds

Devario is one of the few players I actually wanted Duquesne to hold onto when Everhart took over. Hudson is extremely athletic, and had mad hops, much like Gary Tucker in that respect. Hudson transferred to Division II Valdosta State in his home state of Georgia. Hudson became an immediate starter and had solid averages with 11.2 ppg, 9.4 rpg, with 60 blocked shots. Hudson is off to a nice start this year, his senior year, with 15.5 ppg and 8.5 rpg.

Sean McKeon - 6'10 - 250 pounds

McKeon was supposed to be the Dukes' savior in the post when Danny Nee recruited him. McKeon was redshirted and had two forgettable seasons with the Dukes. Sean was a legit 6'10, but he just wasn't a Division I player plain and simple. The coaches seemed to work so hard with McKeon to get him ready to play in the A-10 but it just never happened. McKeon transferred to Division II Kutztown where he became an immediate starter.

McKeon averaged 14.8ppg and 8.6rpg last year at Kutztown as a junior starter and is off to a strong start this year averaging 10.2 ppg and 5 rpg.

Ronnie Thomas - 6'8 - 220 pounds

Good old Ronnie Thomas. Ronnie was one of those kids who you saw during warm ups and thought to yourself, "how is this kid playing Division 1 basketball." The funny thing about Ronnie is that he is one of the few kids who left Duquesne and accepted a scholarship at another Division I school, I guess it pays to be 6'8 and a good student. Ronnie sat out last season after transferring to Wright State. Wright State plays in the Horizon League. Ronnie now in his sophomore season of eligibility has only appeared in 1 game this season playing 7 minutes.

Brian Kelly - 6'7 - 215

Kelly transfered to Division II Clayton State where he saw limited action last season before breaking his leg. As a senior this season Kelly has started every game and is averaging 9.9 ppg and 9 rpg. Clayton State plays in the Peach Belt Conference. (no picture of Brian Kelly is available)

One of good things about bringing in a new coach is that he can trim the fat and get rid of a lot of bad scholarships, guys like McKeon and Thomas who just were not going to be competitive in the Atlantic 10.

9 comments:

Scoville said...

Have any of the incoming recruits Nee had for last season amount to anything? I know Hall ended up deemed ineligible, but did the other 2 turn into players at all?

Not to cast stones at Nee, but I really thought that he was a bad hire from the start. Wasn't Bruiser Flynt interested? He's done pretty well at Drexel. Regardless - Everhart was the best hire they could have made, at least, in my opinion. I'm sort of curious exactly what he told all the players that left that had them backing their bags...

The Duke from Dukes Court said...

To be honest I don't remember who Nee had lined up for his last recruiting class besides Luis Colon. Colon was a highly regarded recruit who Nee claimed he had locked up to come to Duquesne.

Everhart recruited him hard to come to Duquesne after he took over for Nee, but eventually Colon chose Bobby Huggins and Kansas State. Huggins promptly left K-state leaving Colon and a number of other top recruits high and dry. Colon averaged 2 ppg last year and is only averaging 1ppg this season.

To be honest i am a bit surprised he isnt doing more at K-State, he is a big boy, 6'10 275. Playing behind freshman phenom Michael Beasley can't help.

Scoville said...

Hmm - tracked them down...
Steve McNees, Antonio DiMaria and Hernol Hall.

McNees is getting about 20 minutes at Akron. DiMaria is listed on Kent State team - but it doesn't look like he's played yet. Hall ended up deemed out of eligibility.

The Duke from Dukes Court said...

Impressive.

where were you able to find that information? I am always looking for good college basketball sites.

Scoville said...

Just did the google dance. Googled Nee recruits. It took me to a PG article with the names. Google searched each name - one kid came up at yahoo sports, the other on ESPN.

stormingthefloor is pretty decent - it's linked off some of the larger blogs, so you may have seen it. Not sure I know of any good fact sites outside of the obvious ones.

The Duke from Dukes Court said...

good old google.

thanks Scoville

Anonymous said...

There was a kid that committed to Nebraska over us that Nee claimed would be the savior for the program if he committed. I don't think he lasted a year.

Steve

Scoville said...

Congrats - MSM jacked your work for an article! Well, at least the idea, and probably the work. Your blogging credentials are now fully established. (Not that they weren't before...) I guess in fairness to the PG - they did throw in Chauncy Dukes...

Anonymous said...

i think you forget that kieron achara and aaaron jackson were both nee recruits.....steve mcnees and antonia dimaria, who is redshirting on a ncaa bound team, are going to be great players. The reason hernol hall was deemed ineligible because he went to the big east after commiting to duquesne and no one cared when he was going to poor little duquesne so people found dirt on him. I hope everyone takes this year with a little more caution they are doing great , but if you think this is a new trend and ron everhart will stick around you are sorely mistaken.