Bagley, Bullies and “The Bureaucracy”

A swift, yet impressive, chain of events has been pulled off by the Duke University Blue Devils that culminated with the top recruit in the nation. Marvin Bagley will now be ready to lace them up this season, and it certainly wasn’t as easy as Duke made it look. Bagley, with the help of Duke, was able to switch his year of graduation.. while still getting accepted into the University.. and then have the NCAA clear him to play for the upcoming 2017-18 season.

It’s a mouthful to even say, nevertheless pull off in the matter of 3 months. Now, with a loaded roster of freshmen sensation Bagley and point guard Duval topped with returning senior Grayson Allen, it has become idiot-proof to say the Blue Devils are this year’s favorite to win it all. Duke fans are, of course, ecstatic over this, and the Duke haters are given yet another reason to keep on hating.

If you happen to be either a UNC fan or a Duke hating bully, I can see how the immediate news of this would make your blood boil. But why exactly? If we really look at what Duke pulled of, it was simply to have a kid who was already committed to the program play a year early. Sure, this makes this year’s team much more dominate, but what if he had stayed the extra year in HS? You would of only seen an even more ready Marvin Bagley the following year, still in a Duke jersey.

Yet, for Bagley’s personal career and future, this move should prove to help him more than anybody. Unless Bagley had thoughts of playing oversees, he needs to play a year in college before going pro. The only question was whether it would be this year or next. Since his body and skill set are ready to play at the college level now, Bagley will be able to enter the NBA draft at the earliest possible date. This will only help him in the long run, as he essentially gets an extra year under an NBA program, compared to anybody else.

So, to bring this full circle for all the “Duke hateful” out there, this move will not effect your long term psyche as much as you think. Regardless, you would of had to root against Bagley. Regardless, Bagley will probably make you eat your words. If anything, now you get to root against him while he’s still good, but not yet sensational.