Earl Duncan

[drbruin]

I see a lot of you remember Earl Duncan. I was his 8th grade coach at a small private school in L.A. We became good friends but I lost track of him many years ago. Heard he was in law enforcement in Florida somewhere.

I made a video many years ago of his Syracuse career highlights. Not sure if it was ever linked here, but I think you might enjoy seeing clips from some of the games you have discussed. I sent it to Stevie Thompson a few years back and he really enjoyed watching it. I had the pleasure of seeing him play in high school a lot here. Amazing player. It also includes some highlights of Earl's high school teammate Jason Matthews who played at Pitt. I also made one of his Rutgers career.

Earl Duncan - Syracuse basketball 1987-88

Earl Duncan Rutgers Basketball 1990-91

 

[nnyorange]

The 89-90 Syracuse team went 26-7 and made the Sweet 16 with a combination of Stevie Thompson and Billy Owens playing point guard. I always wondered what might have been if Earl Duncan had stuck around and been the starting Junior point guard on that team

 

[baggerbob]

The 89-90 Syracuse team went 26-7 and made the Sweet 16 with a combination of Stevie Thompson and Billy Owens playing point guard. I always wondered what might have been if Earl Duncan had stuck around and been the starting Junior point guard on that team

If Hughes, Duncan, and Matt Roe had stayed for 4 years with DC and Stevie, we could have had 1 or 2 championships.

 

[ORRange]

Hughes use to jack up a shot with his warmups still in his hand. It didnt bother me that he transfered.

 

[SU94]

The 89-90 Syracuse team went 26-7 and made the Sweet 16 with a combination of Stevie Thompson and Billy Owens playing point guard. I always wondered what might have been if Earl Duncan had stuck around and been the starting Junior point guard on that team

People here talk about Kenny Anderson, etc., but the rational behind a Top 40 player transferring from a top 3 team (and stacked at that) at the moment was set to assume the starting role at PG ... it is just one of the great mysteries of my life. WiTF?

And then you throw Rutgers on top of it ... and the depth of mystery resides right next to The Egyptian Pyramids, the Great Wall and Stonehenge.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

I was playing a casual pickup game with some Lawrinson buddies, in Archbold. Duncan was on the other team. I made a spectacular steal in the backcourt, and was racing toward a fancy, glamorous layup. But, that @$$#*!e Earl Duncan just had to be an @$$#*!e, and he chased me down and blocked my weak sauce. I never forgave him for that. A glorious moment, spoiled. That embarrassment sent me into a life spiral, from which i never recovered.

 

[SWC75]

If Hughes, Duncan, and Matt Roe had stayed for 4 years with DC and Stevie, we could have had 1 or 2 championships.

Hughes and Duncan were one of a handful of players who transferred from here and did anything anywhere else. (I did a project on that several years ago. I may update that list someday). Some people bemoaned the fact that they were "Boeheimed" and would have stayed if they had played more. They were behind Derrick Coleman who became the NCAA's all-time rebounder and Sherman Douglas who set the assist record,, (both calibrated since freshmen were eligible because players could play for four years). That's why they didn't play a lot. Hughes had a problem because he was in the same class as Coleman and then we recruited Owens. But Duncan, had he stayed, might have quarterbacked a national champion, (although UNLV was pretty good in 1990, too). Both played a lot and very well at Rutgers but in neither case was ait a route to NBA stardom. Neither even played in an NBA game.

Earl Duncan College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Earl Duncan - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more

www.sports-reference.com

Former St. Monica Standout Is Trying to Shine His Fading Star : Basketball: Earl Duncan, who attended Syracuse and Rutgers, is trying to impress scouts after failing to get drafted by an NBA team.

Keith Hughes College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Keith Hughes (basketball) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[obliterata]

I was sorry to see him transfer, he was somewhat similar to Pearl body-wise and style of play.

 

[LarryC44]

There was a LOT of talent on those teams

 

[donniesyracuse]

The 89-90 Syracuse team went 26-7 and made the Sweet 16 with a combination of Stevie Thompson and Billy Owens playing point guard.

My recollection is that Michael Edwards got the bulk of the minutes at point guard once the season got going. Of course, I was only 13.

 

[OrlandoCuse]

My recollection is that Michael Edwards got the bulk of the minutes at point guard once the season got going. Of course, I was only 13.

Edwards looked like he was only 13, so at least you had something in common

 

[SWC75]

My recollection is that Michael Edwards got the bulk of the minutes at point guard once the season got going. Of course, I was only 13.

From my archives:

1989-90

Billy Owens
36.0m 20.3p 9.3r 5.1a 2.5s 0.8b +38.0 8.1mfg 1.6mft 2.7to 3.3pf -15.7 = 22.3NP 10.6OE 11.7FG

Derek Coleman
35.3m 20.3p 13.7r 3.3a 1.7s 2.3b +41.3 5.4mfg 2.6mft 3.1to 3.5pf -14.6 = 26.7NP 12.3OE 14.4FG

Stevie Thompson
34.6m 20.6p 6.0r 3.5a 1.7s 0.2b +32.0 8.0mfg 3.5mft 2.8to 2.1pf -16.4 = 15.6NP 9.1OE 6.5FG

Michael Edwards
24.0m 10.5p 1.8r 8.5a 1.5s 0.1b +22.4 5.3mfg 0.4mft 4.1to 3.1pf -12.9 = 9.5NP 4.8OE 4.7FG

LeRon Ellis
21.3m 11.3p 7.6r 1.4a 2.1s 1.5b +23.9 5.6mfg 1.5mft 1.3to 5.6pf -14.0 = 9.9NP 5.7OE 4.2FG

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dave Johnson
18.0m 14.6p 5.2r 2.4a 1.0s 0.4b +23.6 8.2mfg 2.0mft 1.7to 3.9pf -15.8= 7.8NP 4.4OE 3.4FG

Tony Scott
13.8m 16.7p 5.4r 1.1a 0.1s 0.5b +23.8 7.6mfg 0.8mft 2.2to 4.4pf -15.0 = 8.8NP 8.3OE 0.5FG

Richard Manning
12.5m 10.0p 6.9r 0.9a 0.8s 1.6b +20.2 5.5mfg 0.6mft 2.8to 5.6pf -14.5= 5.7NP 3.9OE.1.8FG

Conrad McRae
9.3m 8.4p 8.6r 1.1a 1.1s 4.3b +23.5 2.4mfg 2.4mft 0.5to 7.6pf -12.9 = 10.6NP 3.6OE 7.0FG

Mike Hopkins
8.4m 13.7p 5.7r 6.2a 1.0s 0.0b +26.6 3.8mfg 1.2mft 3.4to 7.4pf -15.8 = 10.8NP 8.7OE 2.1FG

 

[dasher]

I was playing a casual pickup game with some Lawrinson buddies, in Archbold. Duncan was on the other team. I made a spectacular steal in the backcourt, and was racing toward a fancy, glamorous layup. But, that @$$#*!e Earl Duncan just had to be an @$$#*!e, and he chased me down and blocked my weak sauce. I never forgave him for that. A glorious moment, spoiled. That embarrassment sent me into a life spiral, from which i never recovered.

Who among us can blame you?

 

[joct]

I think when Duncan signed to come here in 86-87, he was a very high profile recruit and at the time he was even considered "oh good we have a replacement for Pearl". Sherman Douglas only played 10 mpg or so the year before, so it looked wide open when Duncan came in. Then he couldn't play because of academics, and Sherman took off. I remember Sherman was good as a freshman but I had no idea he'd be as good as he was.
Then it looked like he'd be solid at the 2 guard in 87-88, but Roe really developed after his frosh year to where he played a lot, and with Sherman being a superstar, he didn't see a path to play a lot, though he was still good for 20mpg. Then of course Roe left, and left with no returning guards on an otherwise loaded team in 89-90

 

[SU94]

I think when Duncan signed to come here in 86-87, he was a very high profile recruit and at the time he was even considered "oh good we have a replacement for Pearl". Sherman Douglas only played 10 mpg or so the year before, so it looked wide open when Duncan came in. Then he couldn't play because of academics, and Sherman took off. I remember Sherman was good as a freshman but I had no idea he'd be as good as he was.
Then it looked like he'd be solid at the 2 guard in 87-88, but Roe really developed after his frosh year to where he played a lot, and with Sherman being a superstar, he didn't see a path to play a lot, though he was still good for 20mpg. Then of course Roe left, and left with no returning guards on an otherwise loaded team in 89-90

I’d love to have Boeheim talk about these decisions 30 years later. Would be fascinating if he could be honest or close to it.

 

[OrangeDW]

I’d love to have Boeheim talk about these decisions 30 years later. Would be fascinating if he could be honest or close to it.

Pretty sure Boeheim talked about Earl Duncan’s transfer in his book a bit.

 

[kuethstheman]

At the time he transferred, he talked about Boeheim "giving up on him twice". I take it that he got some chances, didn't necessarily play well, then got banished to the bench for some period of time. It's how JB operates (for better or worse) and some kids can't deal with that.

 

[SWC75]

I’d love to have Boeheim talk about these decisions 30 years later. Would be fascinating if he could be honest or close to it.

JB will never do a tell all but I'd love to see Mike Waters, in conjunction with colleagues, write one at the conclusion of the Boeheim era. Imagine the stories!

 

[RF2044]

People here talk about Kenny Anderson, etc., but the rational behind a Top 40 player transferring from a top 3 team (and stacked at that) at the moment was set to assume the starting role at PG ... it is just one of the great mysteries of my life. WiTF?

And then you throw Rutgers on top of it ... and the depth of mystery resides right next to The Egyptian Pyramids, the Great Wall and Stonehenge.

He transferred after the '88 season, where he sat behind the established all-american caliber PG [Sherman Dougla], and lost his starting role at 2G to Matt Roe.

Had he stayed, he would have only supplanted Sherman for his senior year, due to Prop 48 taking away non-qualifier's frosh year of eligibility. It was a really stupid NCAA rule.

Duncan was fairly highly rated, he didn't see himself starting until his senior year, so he bailed.

Who knows how things might have turned out if he'd stayed, truthfully. But I'm comfortable saying that we would have been better off with him as a starter instead of Michael Edwards, who stunk.

 

[SU94]

He transferred after the '88 season, where he sat behind the established all-american caliber PG [Sherman Dougla], and lost his starting role at 2G to Matt Roe.

Had he stayed, he would have only supplanted Sherman for his senior year, due to Prop 48 taking away non-qualifier's frosh year of eligibility. It was a really stupid NCAA rule.

Duncan was fairly highly rated, he didn't see himself starting until his senior year, so he bailed.

Who knows how things might have turned out if he'd stayed, truthfully. But I'm comfortable saying that we would have been better off with him as a starter instead of Michael Edwards, who stunk.

Yep. And his last moment in Orange was missing a last second, would-be, game-tying jumper from the top of the key vs URI. Ugh.

 

[Eric15]

Edwards looked like he was only 13, so at least you had something in common

Yeah Edwards always looked like he was 10 years old to me, which is why I had trouble him picturing him breaking into cars or starting bar fights or whatever nonsense he was into.

 

[JKinPhilly]

Yeah Edwards always looked like he was 10 years old to me, which is why I had trouble him picturing him breaking into cars or starting bar fights or whatever nonsense he was into.

I believe he was smashing cars with a hammer in the alley outside Sutters, which eventually led to its closing.