Raw potential and insufficient talent
Nessley: Negative Conditioning
Martin Nessley was a 7’2″, 280 lb. heavy mountain from Whitehall-Yearling High School in Columbus, Ohio. Along with his size, he brought impressive credentials such as McDonald’s All-American and Parade All-American. Can’t you like it? Coach K pursued him and got engaged to Duke in 1984. The coach probably believed he could get Martin to do weight training and conditioning and speed the guy up, give him a vertical jump of at least several inches.
Nessley was put on a strict diet. Alarie remembers that the guy barely ate anything besides maybe a salad at the training table. However, he couldn’t even lose a pound. Marty didn’t play much his first year, too slow. Then knee surgery limited him as a sophomore.
Sumner describes one night between 1:00 and 2:00 am Amaker, Nessley’s roommate, woke up to a knock on his door and then a muffled conversation. As Amaker tried to fall asleep, he heard movement from across the room. He turned on a lamp and found Nessley munching on a large pizza under his blanket. Surely Nessley had to know that the trainers at Duke would have satisfied that hunger with plenty of protein drinks and protein-packed low-fat meats. But maybe his drive to stand out wasn’t powerful enough.
Finally, in his senior year, Nessley played in every game, starting four and blocking 24 shots, not bad. The best game of his career was at Harvard with 25 points and 8 rebounds. But that was the extreme exception. It looks as if that 7-foot-2 frame of his could have accomplished so much more. He played small ball in the NBA for a year.
Randolph: bad breaks or bad attitude?
Shavlik Randolph became an instant star at Broughton High School in Raleigh, North Carolina. His record of 56 points in a game broke Pete Maravich’s record at the same school. With that kind of game, it shouldn’t be surprising that he was a McDonald’s All-American, a two-time Associated Press North Carolina Player of the Year and a two-time Parade All-American.
The kid got off to a terrific start at Duke with 23 points and a team-high 7 rebounds in Game 1 against Army. Two days later he had a double-double against Davidson. Then, suddenly, Shavlik was almost out of sight. He scored in double figures just five more games that season and struggled somewhat with injuries. Over the summer he had to rehab after successful hip surgery. As a sophomore, he played in all 37 games for Duke, averaging 7.0 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. He then seemed to come alive for the NCAA tournament, playing very well against Alabama State and UConn.
During his junior year, his averages were slightly lower than his sophomore stats, but he missed four games recovering from mononucleosis. Still, he averaged nearly 20 minutes of playing time per game. Then, inexplicably, after his lackluster junior year, Randolph decided to opt out his senior year and declare himself a candidate for the draft. Over the years, he has gone back and forth between brief stints with NBA teams followed by playing in European leagues.
Price: a fantastic year
Ricky Price played three years of high school basketball at St. Anthony’s and his senior year at Serra High School in Gardena, California. One thing that became apparent during Price’s high school career and later at Nike camps is that he was fully capable of taking charge of games and carrying a team on his back. A McDonalds All-American Slam Dunk Champion, he was unanimously named one of the top 5 players in the nation by USA Today/AP/Parade.
Price started 14 games as a rookie during that nightmare season without Coach K. He then had a breakout sophomore season making 29 starts in 31 games. He acted as the go-to man in close games and won several in the closing seconds. Against Virginia he went wild with 28 points. All was going well for Price until shortly before preseason his junior year when he broke his finger and began having trouble with his outside shot. He only started 11 games that year. Definitely a disappointment.
Then, as he entered his fourth year, this should have been his golden opportunity to top his stellar sophomore stats and make NBA scouts salivate. However, he was caught plagiarizing and declared academically ineligible after his third year. He had to sit out the fall semester as a senior. In December, when he was able to resume play, Coach K apparently wasn’t too impressed because he only had one start on senior day against UNC. Price ended up playing professionally abroad.
Pure talent is not enough
Nessley, Randolph and Price arrived at Duke with accolades and awards rivaling some of the greatest recruits of all time. Veteran scouts raved about them and they were voted high school All-Americans. His raw potential seemed almost limitless. Some may blame injuries, but many Duke players have battled through injuries and still had excellent careers at Duke. When the boys show up at Duke, success isn’t even close to being inevitable. They have to stretch par excellence, fight for minutes, be slaves to strength, speed and conditioning. They have to play for the team, learn from the coaches and outplay their opponents. Nothing is guaranteed in sports. That is why it is a fierce competition until the end.
