Duke stays the same
Even without Coach K, Devils are loading up with talent. Meanwhile, can Moon Knight please embrace its inner weird?
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Who needs Coach K?
Duke won’t have Mike Krzyzewksi on the sidelines next season. But it’ll still be loaded with talent. And the next year, too.1
This recruiting haul (assuming all the commits follow through) is just that. A haul. Per ESPN, of the nine 5-star players in the 2023 class who have committed thus far, five are headed to Durham. That’s not out of the ordinary (Kentucky bagged similar classes in the mid-2010s), but it is an impressive start for new coach Jon Scheyer.
For more context, 2022 marks the sixth time since 2015 that the Devils will add at least four 5-star recruits to the roster.2 They’ve landed the No. 1 overall recruit three times and had the top recruiting class three times. Not that Duke always thrived with that talent.
They averaged 26 wins a win in that seven-year span (only two with more than 30 wins), won no regular-season ACC titles and two ACC tourney titles. Duke made one Final Four (this year) and two other elite eights. (The previous seven years resulted an average of 31 wins a season, two national titles, two ACC tourney titles and a regular season crown.)
The Duke brand remains strong. And it seems Scheyer is a helluva recruiter. It’ll be interesting to see the on-court results. Then again, could Coach K come back?
Holding out hope for Moon Knight
Two episodes into the newest Marvel Studios show for Disney+ have left me underwhelmed, and not just because of Oscar Isaac’s imitation of Dick Van Dyke. It’s because the unnerving vibes from the trailer are nowhere to be seen.
Look, Moon Knight isn’t cool. He’s a C- character who bounced around the Marvel Universe with a convoluted backstory, a dopey costume3 and no powers. He’s got aliases and a couple of trusty sidekicks. He’s a knockoff Batman, in white, and with less money. Who’s gonna care about that guy?
That’s where opportunity arises.
Moon Knight evolved from a playboy crimefighter to a guy who was probably crazy. His aliases were actually dissociative identity disorder. If you’re taking your cues from Knonshu, the ancient Egyptian God of the Moon, are you a hero, or just a guy hearing voices? Now you can explore storylines clean-cut Captain America can’t.
There was a run of interesting Moon Knight stories in the 90s and into the early 200s, but this idea peaked in 2014 when Warren Ellis did a six-issue run that removed the cowl, put Moon Knight in an all-white suit, and had him focus on being a detective. But a brutal, no-frills detective who’s in the X-Files written by James Ellroy, with art that matches the mood.4
Ellie and artist Declan Shalvey pulled off a stand-alone masterpiece with issue No. 5. Moon Knight goes all Iko Uwais, fighting off hordes of goons in a high-rise to rescue a kidnapped little girl. It’s the kind of story that’s possible when you remove so much of the super-hero mythology, retain a few key accoutrements, and and go all in on the strange and brutal.
That’s what the Moon Knight series is missing — at least thus far.
Steven Grant is a bumbling, clueless character who has a some charm, in no small part due to how Isaac plays him. But do we really need that? Marvel has no shortage of movies and TV series that rely on humor, special effects and actor charisma to carry the day. If there’s a series to try a different formula, this is it. Let Moon Knight be a dark, brutal look at the world. It’s nasty out there, even for guys in pristine white suits. Why shy away from it?
There are pieces. Steven clearly struggles with reality, but it’s still unclear just how much is in his head. Fighting invisible demon dogs and being chased through the scariest storage locker facility in London will do that. Ethan Hawke’s antagonist is equally peculiar, a man who walks on broken glass and sports a voice to match.5 These are damaged dudes, being manipulated by exterior forces and interior voices. Like other Marvel characters, there’s plenty of collateral damage from the fights and the actions of these characters. Does the Disney+ platform prevent the showrunners from letting Moon Knight dwell on all that wreckage? Probably.
But one can hope. Give in Marc. Let yourself be weird.
Drew Timme’s NBA choice
Drew Timme’s a throwback. Whether it’s his interior post moves or his 70s mustache, there was a time when the 6-foot-10 junior would’ve been an NBA lottery pick.
Not today.
Timme’s a terrific college player. He’s two-time second-team All-American, the WCC Player of the Year and averaged nearly 20 points a game the last two seasons as an incredibly efficient low-post forward. But his game doesn’t translate to the NBA. Not yet. He moves well, but doesn’t stretch the floor with his shooting and isn’t strong enough to handle pros down low. Still, he’s testing the NBA Draft waters.
It seems unlikely he’ll stay in the draft. He’s projected a second-round pick. But if he stays true to the process, listens to feedback and spends the summer (and beyond) working ways to improve his game, he’ll have a monster senior season. Like this guy.
The Fast Break
Links to pass the time while you wait for Tiger to tee off
Illinois landed 5-star recruit Skyy Clark, who de-committed from Kentucky last month.
South Carolina just rolled to the Women’s NCAA Tournament title. It’s the favorite for next year as well.
The transfer portal saw a new prize enter on Friday. Louisiana Tech star Kenneth Lofton Jr. was All-Conference USA after averaging 16.5 points and 10.5 rebounds. He’ll have to adjust his game — his 34.3% usage rate was top 10 — but it’s hard to argue with his production.
Also in the portal — Stetson’s Chase Johnston. Sophomores who hit 40% of their shots beyond the arc tend to attract attention.
USC guard Ethan Anderson will transfer to Wyoming. The Pokes also have two other LA-area players visiting this weekend, which is a promising sign for Jeff Linder’s program. Still. Have these guys been to Laramie in the winter?
Tiger Woods is nine shots back of the lead at the Masters. Here’s how to watch.
It’s almost like you can hear the Duke haters groaning.
Those 5-star recruits are, in order of recruiting rank:
2022 — Dereck Lively II, Kyle Filipowski, Dariq Whitehead, Mark Mitchell
2020 — Jalen Johnson, Jeremy Roach, DJ Steward, Mark Williams
2018 — RJ Barrett, Zion Williamson, Cam Reddick, Tre Jones
2017 — Marvin Bagley, Trevon Duval, Wendell Carter, Gary Trent Jr.
2016 — Harry Giles, Jayson Tatum, Frank Jackson, Marques Bolden
2015 — Brandon Ingram, Derryck Thornton, Chase Jeter, Luke Kennard
You’re fighting crime at night in an all-white costume and a cowl. Yes, he’s the avatar of the ancient Egyptian God of the Moon who’s supposed to serve as a beacon of light for the oppressed. But let’s be clear, he was a throwaway character created the 70s, who got retrofitted a bit in the 80s and never really had much to do until the 90s.
That’s issue No. 4, an investigation into a corroded dreamscape. The guy he’s punching? The shrink who hired him.
He’s a former employee of The Sunshine Cleaning Company, right?