Has anyone been to Duke’s campus?

[Blue Bigfoot]

True story. I never actually set foot in on Duke's campus. But in the 1994 took a Greyhound home from Jacksonville NC. On the way, the bus stopped on near Duke's campus to do a pickup. This female Duke student got on that was whiter than my pasty Scots-Irish rear. She was wearing a full burka..head to toe. Fine whatever...........But it didn't stop there. Oh no! She set directly behind me and started reading the Koran...Out Loud...the whole fricken trip!
Now I understand why Muslim men want to beat their women. I then realized that nothing sane was being produced on that campus.

 

[clevenger32]

While Durham once was a nasty place, it is much better now. Yes there are lots of Northeasterners that have moved to Durham and the rest of “the Triangle”. That is because the region is one of the most desirable and fastest growing regions in the country. And I love Lexington too.

It is desirable if you love a dysfunctional region of jurisdictions that only believe in cooperative efforts if their community is leading it. It is desirable if you love out of control growth and sprawl. It becomes only desirable for non-southerners compared to being even bigger dysfunctional regions in the northeast. No thanks. I will take central Kentucky any day.

 

[WildcatsAndBourbon]

Only one school has a lower acceptance rate than MIT

https://www.usnews.com/best-colleges/rankings/lowest-acceptance-rate

I didn’t intend to respond any further to this post, but that was an interesting link and something I don’t think I would have gone looking for on my own. Interesting to see Alice Lloyd so high on the list.

To answer the fencing program falling apart…it mostly did. I fenced with the club team at UK when I was in high school. I don’t know what it’s like now, but it’s had to have changed a lot since then considering that UK just had a fencer win gold at the Olympics. Back then it was an afterthought of cobbled together, kinda weird people, who didn’t do traditional sports. The equipment was cobbled together too. I really loved fencing, but after I had been involved for a while, maybe like a year, the old guard quit coming for one reason or another; their lives changed. There were some pretty solid guys when I started with some skill, knowledge, and experience. The people who were left were not as serious, not as organized, and not much to learn from. Starting out you could expect 12-15 people to show with a couple of them really able to teach you. By the time I bailed 5-8 would show, and half of those would have started after me. On top of that, I chose to move from foil to epee. Every person who started somewhat before me or after me chose to move from foil to sabre, because sabre was flashier. By my end, there was not a single person left to fence epee with. I could have been really good, I think too. I took to it easy and I often got compliments from the old timers who would pop in from time to time.

 

[WildcatsAndBourbon]

Also, in response to, “I must be weird.” Yes! I absolutely am and my college experience probably was too. I’ve lived a life that a lot of people probably think is the kind of stuff you really only see on tv, the good, the bad, and the totally deranged. By 25 I had in more unique experiences than most people would clock in 75 years, and then things just got more bizarre from there. As far as at UK goes, I was in in business school which explains a lot of the extra large classes. Even 400 level stuff would have 30-50. The 100+ classrooms weren’t taught by TAs, but I definitely had some for rooms with 40-60 kids, all the way up into the 300 level stuff, that were.

I also had some truly terrible or strange professors in charge of some of those huge classrooms, like for some dumbass reason the university important a Mormon dude straight out of Salt Lake City to teach the human sexuality course; what should have been one of the most entertaining courses of all of college had the vibe of a small town middle school teacher teaching 100+ horny, hopped up on hormones, college age kids, 7th grade Sex Ed. I also had an unabashed cougar business writing professor who wore miniskirts and played lots of tennis invite me to her office in a way that you knew wasn’t going to be about education, at least not, writing education. I used to walk with my absolutely beautiful, Russian public speaking professor back to her office after every class. When I asked her out, she said she couldn’t date a student, and I always wished I would have gone back after the semester was over. She looked like Shakira with truly metallic silver eyes.

I had an old, fuddy duddy accounting prof who straight told us at the beginning that he didn’t care if we came to class because all he was going to do was read off the PowerPoint presentation that we already had. I had a history prof that wore costumes and brought action figures and would get up on his desk when he taught; that was the only college class that I never missed a single lecture. I had a sociology prof that was an ex high security prison guard who told us about the time his wife kicked him out and all he had was his motorcycle, his shotgun, and a bag of coke. He came up to me one day after class and gave me a book that he said reminded him of me; it was about serial killers 😑. Btw, I’m actually a pretty nice human being, and entirely non-violent, but once upon a time I was wickedly smart, had some serious brass balls, and definitely stood out in just about any crowd.

 

[JonathanW]

It is desirable if you love a dysfunctional region of jurisdictions that only believe in cooperative efforts if their community is leading it. It is desirable if you love out of control growth and sprawl. It becomes only desirable for non-southerners compared to being even bigger dysfunctional regions in the northeast. No thanks. I will take central Kentucky any day.

You know nothing about what you talk about.
I am a Southerner, one from southcentral KY, and the Triangle is still southern. Other Southerners are moving to the Triangle too. Why? It’s a great place to live, annually for the past 30 years ranked in the top 10 places to live. It’s a high tech growth area for jobs too. You don’t have to live in a small town to be Southern. Dysfunctional how? Who pissed in your cheerios!

 

[Montana81]

This makes sense if your goal is to get an actual degree and pursue a normal entry-level job in the real world.

But I don't see why it should make a damn bit of difference if you're a basketball player who's just planning on making a brief pit stop there before entering the pros. Which is what nearly all the top recruits are nowadays.

I think some of these kids parents are swayed by the “status” of being able to say their son attends or attended Duke. It’s a silly thing to be swayed by. But it’s more important if you’ve never had that. I really think that had at least something to do with Marquis Bolden picking them over us. His mom REALLY wanted him to go to Duke.

 

[clevenger32]

You know nothing about what you talk about.
I am a Southerner, one from southcentral KY, and the Triangle is still southern. Other Southerners are moving to the Triangle too. Why? It’s a great place to live, annually for the past 30 years ranked in the top 10 places to live. It’s a high tech growth area for jobs too. You don’t have to live in a small town to be Southern. Dysfunctional how? Who pissed in your cheerios!

Done work over there for years with government and private sector leaders. Everybody has has an opinion. I have mine. You have yours. I respect your opinion. Nobody pissed in my cheerios.

 

[CaptainBoogerBuns]

What CCU are you talking about? I’m guessin you probably mean Coastal Carolina … but, you know, that’s not an acronym that’s familiar to folks in the way those of more well known schools are.

And I seriously doubt you had TAs doing the lectures with hundreds of students. As I recall, the TAs only handled smaller groups, never the big ass auditorium ones. Personally, I never got the problem with large classes. You get the same content, books, and material and don't have to listen to the annoying students ask dumb questions nearly as much as you do in smaller classes. The big ole classes were fine by me.

Frankly, you kinda come across as someone who's perhaps a bit bitter that he just didn't do as well at UK as he did at CCU.

This is what I was thinking. Once you get past the admissions gauntlet at Duke or UK, then what? To your point—you have books, curriculum and classes. Is Duke more like Hogwarts where magic happens inside their business program?

 

[uky8unc5]

Durham is roughly the same population as Lexington

But Durham covers 116 square miles and is a congested nightmare
Lexington is spread out over 285 square miles

POINT: Nobody chooses Dook because of the city.

 

[WildcatsAndBourbon]

It seems like the true reason you started this thread was simply to talk about yourself ...because that''s pretty much all your posts do.

We don't care. This is a UK basketball board, not some sort of group therapy board. If your goal is simply to drone on and on about your own life then I'm sure you can find other sites better suited to that purpose.

I mean, that’s not why. I really never meant to write as much as I have when I first made the post, but I’ll admit it sort of went that way. I really did just want to offer up a reason why Duke has an advantage over UK for a type of recruit. People made it personal or asked personal questions at a few points and I took the bait. Plus, I’ve been hecka busy the last few days, not even really much time to sit down and watch TV so writing my stories was kind of a break for entertainment sake.

 

[WildcatsAndBourbon]

Durham is roughly the same population as Lexington

But Durham covers 116 square miles and is a congested nightmare
Lexington is spread out over 285 square miles

POINT: Nobody chooses Dook because of the city.

I had no idea that Durham was that big. When I think about notable cities in NC, it’s Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Asheville. I was thinking Durham would be something more like the size of Bowling Green. I’ve never really been through that specific area.

 

[LTDukeFan]

Is Duke’s campus exactly what you would expect it to be?

I just looked through the Cooper Flagg post a bit and most everyone seems pretty certain that if he goes to college, it’ll be Duke.

I didn’t come from top 5% wealth or really anything like that, but I’m white, my family was in decent financial shape. I excelled in academics. I wasn’t much of an athlete, but I was a pretty solid fencer until the program fell apart. I’m getting off track…

I started college at CCU and ended at UK and can honestly say that as much as I love Kentucky sports; I hated every minute of attending classes at UK. Classes too large, campus too large, buildings very hit or miss, teachers definitely hit or miss. The point is, coming from a somewhat privileged, white background with emphasis on academics…if I have the choice to go to UK for free or Duke for free…I’m going to Duke. I think that’s a reality we have to accept as UK sports fans.

@WildcatsAndBourbon -- it is pretty much exactly what you'd expect. I will post this respectfully:

I worked at Duke and then went to grad school at Duke. The only way I could afford the school was that it was an employee benefit. It was one of the best decisions I have ever made and am very happy to be a Duke alum.

The campus is stunning — not going to lie. I have been to a lot of college campuses and it is easily in the top 10. North Carolina is a beautiful state that has the benefit of four seasons. The community of Durham and Research Triangle Park is vibrant -- it is an exciting place to live.

Academically it is checks a lot of boxes. Top 10 medical school, law school, business school, ungraduate program. If I'm a parent of a basketball player with an offer to Duke, I'm thinking this is a no-brainer.

Politically it is the opposite of where I am. However, I will say that most academic institutions are opposite of where I am. I went back to the Duke campus this past year (after not being there for 15+ years) and the students are still pretty smart, more entitled, and easily would be tagged elitest. I went to the business school so my profs were on average conservative and level-headed -- but most of the professors there were "woke" before that was a phrase.

I have never been to Rupp Arena. I know that it has to be an awesome experience. Long, proud, real history -- truly. If I have the chance, I will make a game there and it will be great. I can tell you -- Cameron is pretty special also. The thing that UK does not have is their rival is 8.5 miles down the road. There is a special kind of hate that can only be fostered from a distance of 44,880 feet or less.

The thing UK does have is fans -- generational, dedicated fans. The sheer number of folks on this board alone is staggering. The Big Blue Nation is just that, a nation.

I use to get worked up if a prospect was going to choose Duke or not. Trying to get inside the head of a 18-19 year young man is too cramped -- there is not much room there. If someone does not choose Duke, I am thankful. Don't want someone that doesn't want to be there. I would think it is the same for UK.

 

[LTDukeFan]

Durham is roughly the same population as Lexington

But Durham covers 116 square miles and is a congested nightmare
Lexington is spread out over 285 square miles

POINT: Nobody chooses Dook because of the city.

My wife and I bought our first house in Durham. A 950 square foot home built in 1947 -- truly nothing fancy on the edge of Trinity Park -- close(ish) to Duke East Campus. In 1989 we paid $67k... we drove by the house earlier this year. Zillow has it's value at $393K. Durham is the hot spot in RTP at the moment. Not sure what you are talking about...

 

[Jacket4]

Cooper is probably going to end up at Duke but it won’t be because of the campus.

It’ll be interesting to see if Duke locks up Flag AND the boozer twins. Could be a hell of a team to watch if they do.

Flagg seemingly has been eyeing Duke since he first appeared on the national scene, his visit this week was an unofficial visit with his official visit coming later in the season.

 

[ralphdaltonfan]

Cooper is probably going to end up at Duke but it won’t be because of the campus.

It’ll be interesting to see if Duke locks up Flag AND the boozer twins. Could be a hell of a team to watch if they do.

Flagg seemingly has been eyeing Duke since he first appeared on the national scene, his visit this week was an unofficial visit with his official visit coming later in the season.

Are the Twins planning on reclassifying? Flagg will be part of '24 class soon. I've not heard anything definite about the Twins reclassifying.

 

[dukecorey]

Cooper might end up in the 2024 class, the Boozer twins will be 2025.

 

[Jacket4]

Are the Twins planning on reclassifying? Flagg will be part of '24 class soon. I've not heard anything definite about the Twins reclassifying.

That seems to be the rumor on Cooper, until things are confirmed I try not to pay attention to reclass rumors.

But that would also explain why Cooper took an unofficial visit this week to evaluate what needs to be done for 24 reclass and what Dukes plans are for the 24 team.

As for the Boozer twins, their stuff has been very quiet and private. But when your legacy recruits and you’re named after the stadium, it’s clear as day. It’s like when Tim Tebow was being recruited and all the college coaches had to walk past the Florida Gator mail box and greeting Mats to visit him.

 

[ralphdaltonfan]

That seems to be the rumor on Cooper, until things are confirmed I try not to pay attention to reclass rumors.

But that would also explain why Cooper took an unofficial visit this week to evaluate what needs to be done for 24 reclass and what Dukes plans are for the 24 team.

As for the Boozer twins, their stuff has been very quiet and private. But when your legacy recruits and you’re named after the stadium, it’s clear as day. It’s like when Tim Tebow was being recruited and all the college coaches had to walk past the Florida Gator mail box and greeting Mats to visit him.

I'm not discussing the Boozer Twins going elsewhere, just wondered if they were moving from '25 to '24. I am quite certain Flagg will be in '24 based on who told me that was happening. Also heard UConn is the only school outside of Duke with any chance.

 

[BlueBlackNWhite]

If Duke gets Bidunga (which it may not be a lock now, Kansas is gaining some steam) and Flagg for the 2024 class, than WOW. They probably need 1 of the 2 freshman 5-star guards to return as a sophomore, and that will be a stacked team.

 

[ralphdaltonfan]

If Duke gets Bidunga (which it may not be a lock now, Kansas is gaining some steam) and Flagg for the 2024 class, than WOW. They probably need 1 of the 2 freshman 5-star guards to return as a sophomore, and that will be a stacked team.

Flory Bidunga's hype and his actual talent level are nowhere in the same ballpark. He's a good player with a high motor who has not had great showings when other players are as big/bigger and have high motors.

 

[uky8unc5]

My wife and I bought our first house in Durham. A 950 square foot home built in 1947 -- truly nothing fancy on the edge of Trinity Park -- close(ish) to Duke East Campus. In 1989 we paid $67k... we drove by the house earlier this year. Zillow has it's value at $393K. Durham is the hot spot in RTP at the moment. Not sure what you are talking about...

I live in NC. Durham is last on my list of places I would choose to live.
Similar size to Lex on half the area.

But no doubt as you say: it has mushroomed due to the Triangle's Research Park. Etc

 

[uky8unc5]

I had no idea that Durham was that big. When I think about notable cities in NC, it’s Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Asheville. I was thinking Durham would be something more like the size of Bowling Green. I’ve never really been through that specific area.

Rank	City	Population
1	Charlotte	897,720
2	Raleigh	476,587
3	Greensboro	301,115
4	Durham	291,928
5	Winston-Salem	251,350
6	Fayetteville	208,873
7	Cary	180,388
8	Wilmington	120,324
9	High Point	115,067

 

[JonathanW]

Done work over there for years with government and private sector leaders. Everybody has has an opinion. I have mine. You have yours. I respect your opinion. Nobody pissed in my cheerios.

My 27 years in the Triangle easily trump your handful of 1-3 day visits. And the irony is that I find KY and NC quite similar, except for the economic growth and opportunity.

 

[JonathanW]

Rank	City	Population
1	Charlotte	897,720
2	Raleigh	476,587
3	Greensboro	301,115
4	Durham	291,928
5	Winston-Salem	251,350
6	Fayetteville	208,873
7	Cary	180,388
8	Wilmington	120,324
9	High Point	115,067

Populations can be deceiving. Durham (city) is 292k on here, but in 2020 Durham county was just 325k. And Durham county is way over the 128 sq miles someone posted. Raleigh is 476k here with Cary 180k more. But Wake county, which is Raleigh, Cary, Wake Forrest, Apex, Holly Springs, Fuquay-Varina, Knightdale, Morrisville, Garner, Rollsville is 1.13M (slightly more than Mecklenburg Co where Charlotte is), so almost double Raleigh+Cary.

 

[uky8unc5]

My 27 years in the Triangle easily trump your handful of 1-3 day visits. And the irony is that I find KY and NC quite similar, except for the economic growth and opportunity.

I live in North Carolina.
Way longer than 27 years.
I don't need a geography lesson.

Not certain your point, but mine is:
The City of Durham is a mess.
Nobody signs with Dook to live there.

 

[JonathanW]

I live in North Carolina.
Way longer than 27 years.
I don't need a geography lesson.

Not certain your point, but mine is:
The City of Durham is a mess.
Nobody signs with Dook to live there.

I do love geography,
But how close are you to Durham, or are you out away from the Triangle. Like I couldn’t speak about Charlotte much/any better than many KY residents. And I never said Durham was great, I said it was bad 20 years ago but has gotten much better the past 5-10 years.
I also said no top 20-40 player goes to a school because of academics or the city. If that were true Univ Hawaii would be the all time best in every sport.

 

[clevenger32]

My 27 years in the Triangle easily trump your handful of 1-3 day visits. And the irony is that I find KY and NC quite similar, except for the economic growth and opportunity.

Great for you

 

[EastLansingCat]

Thing is that the average ACT and SAT score of instate students at both UNC and Duke are in the same 21-24 range that is at most public universities. The increased academic prestige is that they only accept top of the line out of state students that have 25+ scores and often in the top 10%.

So the instate kids are actually pretty on par w any other large state institution in the ACC/B10/SEC/B12/p12

Are you telling me you can get into duke with a 21?!???!!! No way. I got a 28(in 2001) and that wasnt enough for Miami of Ohio and U of M.

Bleed blue but was really concerned with prestige at the time. Realize it doesn't matter now. UK has gotten better academically since then though for sure. But I had a great time at MSU so no regrets.... Except the Patrick Sparks Elite 8 game.

 

[EliteBlue]

Are you telling me you can get into duke with a 21?!???!!! No way. I got a 28(in 2001) and that wasnt enough for Miami of Ohio and U of M.

Bleed blue but was really concerned with prestige at the time. Realize it doesn't matter now. UK has gotten better academically since then though for sure. But I had a great time at MSU so no regrets.... Except the Patrick Sparks Elite 8 game.

If you’re an instate NC student…yes. Absolutely not if you’re out of state.

These days though incoming students aren’t even required to take an ACT or SAT and it’s “whole student concept” so if you check the right boxes you can get in with a pretty average highschool gpa anywhere. I know a 950 SAT that got into UCLA.

But even before they did away with the focus being test scores, the above regarding instate students was/is true for Duke/UNC/Wake. Which is really intelligent by the state to implement bc it’s increasing the national perceived value, based on reputation, of their state degree for their instate residents on the backs of only taking the top out of state students. So your tax paying residents get max value for their investment into public institutions.

 

[bluegrasshickory]

Cooper Flagg just had a good visit

 

[JonathanW]

If you’re an instate NC student…yes. Absolutely not if you’re out of state.

These days though incoming students aren’t even required to take an ACT or SAT and it’s “whole student concept” so if you check the right boxes you can get in with a pretty average highschool gpa anywhere. I know a 1950 SAT that got into UCLA.

But even before they did away with the focus being test scores, the above regarding instate students was/is true for Duke/UNC/Wake. Which is really intelligent by the state to implement bc it’s increasing the national perceived value, based on reputation, of their state degree for their instate residents on the backs of only taking the top out of state students. So your tax paying residents get max value for their investment into public institutions.

It’s interesting. I hear it both ways (easy to get in, hard to get into school X). My (recent-ish) sample size of 1. My oldest just 3-4 years ago was top 2% of his class, taking several AP classes, especially math and science, good but not great ACT/SATs (I think like a 27 and 1300). Yet was wait listed at Michigan and UCLA (not getting into either), and initially (Jan) even waitlisted at in-state NC State but was admitted by Apr. Colorado and UK did accept him early on.

 

[Bhad Rhabies]

Is Duke’s campus exactly what you would expect it to be?

I just looked through the Cooper Flagg post a bit and most everyone seems pretty certain that if he goes to college, it’ll be Duke.

I didn’t come from top 5% wealth or really anything like that, but I’m white, my family was in decent financial shape. I excelled in academics. I wasn’t much of an athlete, but I was a pretty solid fencer until the program fell apart. I’m getting off track…

I started college at CCU and ended at UK and can honestly say that as much as I love Kentucky sports; I hated every minute of attending classes at UK. Classes too large, campus too large, buildings very hit or miss, teachers definitely hit or miss. The point is, coming from a somewhat privileged, white background with emphasis on academics…if I have the choice to go to UK for free or Duke for free…I’m going to Duke. I think that’s a reality we have to accept as UK sports fans.

Dumb liberal likes pompous white private school better than public school? Shocker.

Food for thought: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/02/opinion/trump-meritocracy-educated.html

 

[EastLansingCat]

If you’re an instate NC student…yes. Absolutely not if you’re out of state.

These days though incoming students aren’t even required to take an ACT or SAT and it’s “whole student concept” so if you check the right boxes you can get in with a pretty average highschool gpa anywhere. I know a 1950 SAT that got into UCLA.

But even before they did away with the focus being test scores, the above regarding instate students was/is true for Duke/UNC/Wake. Which is really intelligent by the state to implement bc it’s increasing the national perceived value, based on reputation, of their state degree for their instate residents on the backs of only taking the top out of state students. So your tax paying residents get max value for their investment into public institutions.

Wow!!!!!

I actually have lived in Western NC Mountain area now but I wasn't aware of this at all. If I was 22 years younger I could get into Duke. My mind is blown actually.

I didn't get into UofM nor Miami of Ohio in 2001 because lack of extra curriculars. For me that was getting high all day so... Lol. GPA and ACT were more than fine and it was a good high school as well. I wonder how much extra-curriculars matter these days.

 

[breeztheel]

UNC's is just as pretty, and you don't even have to go to class to become an academic all-american. That'd be my choice.

Ha Ha Ha. You speak the truth. Kind of like having the hot honeys at Fox News be your teachers as opposed to most of the witchy poos in the liberal media.

 

[BlueSince92]

I walked around Duke’s campus for a while. Hey if you like vines and brick it was awesome.

I also walked around UNC’s campus for a while. And I must say, as dirty as their athletics program is, that place had some honeys.

 

[BlueCephus]

I went to their campus once. Figured things out quickly and couldn't get out of there fast enough. @BlueBlackNWhite

 

[JonathanW]

I live in NC. Durham is last on my list of places I would choose to live.
Similar size to Lex on half the area.

But no doubt as you say: it has mushroomed due to the Triangle's Research Park. Etc

If Durham is last on your list, then you’ve not been to Fayette-nam, I mean Fayetteville.

 

[LineSkiCat14]

I think some of these kids parents are swayed by the “status” of being able to say their son attends or attended Duke. It’s a silly thing to be swayed by. But it’s more important if you’ve never had that. I really think that had at least something to do with Marquis Bolden picking them over us. His mom REALLY wanted him to go to Duke.

I get the feeling that schools like Duke and Notre Dame might cleanup nicely in the NIL era. Just a lot of money to throw around and big alumni support. They are name brands in their respective sports, prestigious schools, and like you said, there's a status thing.

 

[Docpath1972]

That Research Triangle has a big population. My son went to UNC Chapel Hill from 94-98. Even then you really couldn’t tell when you drove from one town to the next. Cary is in the area as well. My son was and still is a huge Cats fan. He had a great time ribbing the Tarheel fans during that three year stretch when the went to the finals each year and won two times. He got a great education by the way.

 

[drawing_dead]

triangle has surpassed the piedmont (charlotte-mecklenberg) for population; maybe 2.2 million in the triangle.

been here since 1986. a lot has changed, mostly for the good.