Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero is one of many lottery picks that Duke has produced. If former Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski had his way, Dallas Mavericks point guard Luka Doncic probably would’ve been one as well.
Mavs’ Luka Doncic Was One Of Legendary Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s ‘Favorite Players’
“He got Duke written all over him,” Banchero says of Doncic, when asked where he thinks the perennial MVP candidate would’ve attended college. Recalling his own recruitment experience, he says that Doncic is “like one of Coach K’s favorite players.”
“I remember when he was recruiting me, it was during the (NBA) bubble, and he would call me and he’d be like are you watching Luka Doncic right now?
Luka said if went to college in the US he would’ve went to ARIZONA
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— Overtime (@overtime) September 21, 2024
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Like, you gotta go watch Luka. Like that’s what you gotta be like.”
Luka To Arizona?
Doncic says he would’ve went to the University of Arizona, though he didn’t make it sound too convincing. At the time, Arizona was coached by Sean Miller, a three-time Pac-12 (and one-time A-10) Coach of the Year. The Wildcats were coming off of their sixth consecutive NCAA Tournament. However, they had been eliminated in the First Round for the second time in three years.
All things considered, there’s a possibility that the success of their coach and program could’ve appealed to Doncic. After all, Real Madrid was one of the EuroLeague’s top teams by the time he left for the NBA. Furthermore, though there’s no indication that he had any contact with Miller or Arizona, the Phoenix Suns has a long history of drafting European players:
Georgian center Jake Tsakalidis was drafted in the first round in 2000; Serbian power forward Žarko Čabarkapa was drafted just outside of the lottery in 2003; Spanish point guard Sergio Rodriguez was drafted in the first round in 2006; Bosnian power forward Emir Preldžić was a second round selection in the 2009 NBA Draft; and Bosnian big man Dragan Bender was the fourth overall pick in the 2016 NBA Draft.
Doncic may have heard good things about Arizona even then.
Duke Too Hard To Ignore?
A lot of foreign basketball players who live abroad are often drawn to powerhouses. This isn’t just because of those teams’ excellence. As it turns out, they just don’t have the opportunity to digest as much American basketball. Subsequently, they’ll be fixated on teams like the Los Angeles Lakers, for example.
So, when it comes to who Doncic would’ve chosen to play for in college, the Blue Devils may have had the upper hand.
A blue blood program, Duke has won five national champions in college basketball. Those championships came while they were coached by Krzyzewski, one of the most recognizable figures in the sports world. So admired and expected was he that he even coached the U.S. men’s national basketball team.
This obviously isn’t true for every prospect. However, for someone of Doncic’s stature, having the opportunity to star for Duke had a high probability of outweighing a future at Arizona. Unfortunately for Coach K and the Blue Devils, they never had a chance to find out.
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