Duke Basketball has had a rough season and barring a miracle, they will miss the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1995. We all knew that and unfortunately, we’ve come to accept that, but what I can’t accept is quitting on your team, your coaches, your fans, and the university you play for, and that is exactly what Jalen Johnson did on Monday afternoon.
In announcing he has ‘opted-out’ Jalen Johnson has quit on everyone that roots for the Duke Blue Devils, he has quit on his teammates, and he has quit on his coaches. When you sign your National Letter of Intent to play Division I Basketball, you do so knowing what that entails, knowing the College Basketball season ends in April if you’re lucky, and March if you’re not one of those four teams that get to play in a football stadium.
You sign the National Letter of Intent knowing what you’re getting yourself into, and if you’re on scholarship, you sign it knowing you are taking one of the school’s 13 scholarship positions. Jalen Johnson did all of those things, and in ‘opting-out’ he has shown his true character.
If you don’t plan on finishing out the season, don’t start it, because in starting the season you take away one of those 13 coveted scholarship positions, and now, Johnson has, in turn, hurt Duke as they’ll be finishing the season with 12 scholarship players.
If he had simply not come to Duke in the first place, maybe Duke could’ve had a scholarship player that would be able to finish out the season and at least keep Duke fans’ hope of making it to the NCAA Tournament alive.
Right when I heard the news I was furious, you don’t quit on your team with three weeks of the season left just because the season isn’t going the way you had hoped, finish what you started, or don’t start it at all. In doing this Johnson has also made himself look like a horrible teammate and has made himself look bad to NBA GMs who now might think they’ll be getting a player with commitment issues.
It’s also worth noting that this is something we’ve seen before considering Johnson attended three different high schools in three years.
Nonetheless, in quitting on his team, quitting on his coaches, fans, and university, Johnson has officially taken the crown as my least favorite Duke Blue Devil of all time. Hell, I don’t even think he should be allowed to have those four letters next to his name ever again, this isn’t what The Brotherhood stands for, and because of it, he shouldn’t have the honor of having “Duke” next to his name when he’s in the NBA and they’re talking about what school he went to.
I dread when he gets drafted and Adam Silver says “With the __ pick, the ______ select, Jalen Johnson, Duke University.” He shouldn’t have that honor, I hope he returns all of his Duke gear and never posts anything about Duke, or The Brotherhood.