How did Frank Jackson and BYU get so estranged?

[Gunk]

FJ to Duke and no mission.

I get the whole Duke thing and not surprised. My guess is he thinks he has a shot at being a one and done player or perhaps in a couple years. NBA appears to be on his radar. Mission has obviously taken a back seat for now. Doesn't mean he can't or won't serve. I waited a year to serve out of choice, but he did go from serving a mission right out of school to not serving.

Wonder if Coach K got Jabari on the line to tell FJ something like, "Oh yeah, as an NBA player I have all sorts of mission opportunities and am just as effective. My reach is global." I would, if I was coach K.

Best of luck FJ. Won't say I am not disappointed.

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[BroncoBot]

Duke would be hard to pass up. I get that. But I'm afraid he's selling himself short on the whole mission thing.

Good luck.

Also disappointed....

[hawkwing]

Great opportunity to go to Duke, there's a storied program there that BYU's pales in comparison to. Great opportunity to get to the NBA there, little to no chance to the NBA going through BYU. Saddened about not currently looking to go on a mission but it's his choice.

I would have loved to see BYU pick him up, I think he's a tremendous talent.

[BlueK]

Great opportunity to go to Duke, there's a storied program there that BYU's pales in comparison to. Great opportunity to get to the NBA there, little to no chance to the NBA going through BYU. Saddened about not currently looking to go on a mission but it's his choice.

I would have loved to see BYU pick him up, I think he's a tremendous talent.

LIttle to no chance for Frank Jackson of making the NBA through BYU? What????? That's insanely ridiculous. If he's got NBA talent at Duke, he still has it at BYU. If you have the talent, the NBA will find you just find. They had no problem drafting Shawn Bradley #2 even after only one year of college and two years being totally out of basketball on the other side of the world.

Duke sends more players to the NBA because they recruit better talent. It' s not likeJabari Parker would have lost his shot at the NBA had he gone to BYU. On the other hand, No way someone like Noah Hartsock would have made the NBA had he gone to Duke. For making it to the NBA it's probably at least 95% about natural talent that has nothing to do with where you went to school.

If anything, there is a strong argument to be made that marginal talent has a BETTER chance of getting to the NBA playing for BYU. Brandon Davies, even Jimmer, would very likely not have spent any time in the NBA had they gone to Duke because they would have been playing behind better talent and wouldn't have gotten a chance in college to show the NBA anything.

The reason BYU doesn't send more players to the NBA is because they haven't been recruiting NBA talent. Very few teams can. Other than the Kentuckys and Dukes, most teams are lucky to send even one guy to the NBA each year because 90% of the blue chip talent every year gets eaten up by only a half dozen schools.

[snoscythe]

LIttle to no chance of making the NBA through BYU? What????? That's insanely ridiculous. If you have the talent the NBA will find you. Duke sends more players to the NBA because they recruit better talent.

Actually, in this instance they were recruiting the exact same talent.

If anything, there is a strong argument to be made that marginal talent has a BETTER chance of getting to the NBA playing for BYU. Brandon Davies, even Jimmer, would not likely not have spent any time in the NBA had they gone to Duke because they would have been playing behind better talent and wouldn't have gotten a chance in college to show the NBA anything.

Even assuming your premise that marginal talent has a better shot at making it to the NBA out of BYU than Duke is true (personally, I think it's laughable), the problem with your distinction is this--what college recruit honestly says to himself, "Gee, Duke is looking at me, but I'm only a marginal talent, therefore I should probably look somewhere else if I want to get the the Association." I doubt anyone being recruited by Duke thinks of himself as a marginal talent and probably sees himself as a starter. I can't think of many guys who sign with Duke (or anywhere, really) planning to ride the pine.

As for your premise as a whole, BYU had two players on NBA rosters last year. This year they might have one if Jimmer can stick with SA. They may have zero.

Duke had 18 players on NBA rosters last year. This year they will have 19.

Even Utah has three players who will be on NBA rosters this next season (Bogut, Miller, Wright).

I don't think anyone, regardless of talent level, thinks of BYU when they think of how to get the NBA, regardless of talent level.

[BlueK]

LIttle to no chance of making the NBA through BYU? What????? That's insanely ridiculous. If you have the talent the NBA will find you. Duke sends more players to the NBA because they recruit better talent.

Actually, in this instance they were recruiting the exact same talent.

If anything, there is a strong argument to be made that marginal talent has a BETTER chance of getting to the NBA playing for BYU. Brandon Davies, even Jimmer, would not likely not have spent any time in the NBA had they gone to Duke because they would have been playing behind better talent and wouldn't have gotten a chance in college to show the NBA anything.

Even assuming your premise that marginal talent has a better shot at making it to the NBA out of BYU than Duke is true (personally, I think it's laughable), the problem with your distinction is this--what college recruit honestly says to himself, "Gee, Duke is looking at me, but I'm only a marginal talent, therefore I should probably look somewhere else if I want to get the the Association." I doubt anyone being recruited by Duke thinks of himself as a marginal talent and probably sees himself as a starter. I can't think of many guys who sign with Duke (or anywhere, really) planning to ride the pine.

As for your premise as a whole, BYU had two players on NBA rosters last year. This year they might have one if Jimmer can stick with SA. They may have zero.

Duke had 18 players on NBA rosters last year. This year they will have 19.

Even Utah has three players who will be on NBA rosters this next season (Bogut, Miller, Wright).

I don't think anyone, regardless of talent level, thinks of BYU when they think of how to get the NBA, regardless of talent level.

I actually don't disagree with anything you just said. Of course top HS talent would almost always rather go to a place like Duke.

[BlueK]

Actually, in this instance they were recruiting the exact same talent.

Exactly. In this rare case, it's the SAME talent. Therefore, my main point that it's ridiculous to say that Frank Jackson has little to no chance of making the NBA through BYU. It's completely irrelevant whether other players who don't have NBA talent and play for BYU have little to no chance of getting there. We're not talking about them and I would never make the argument that a guy who doesn't have what the NBA wants would still make the NBA going to BYU. They wouldn't get there through Duke either. Each case is individual. If Duke were to sign a player who doesn't have NBA talent (like that LDS Christensen guy a few years ago) they still wouldn't make the NBA. Whether they would rather play for Duke or not in that case isn't relevant to the argument. Of course most players would rather go to a place like that.

And my comment about Davies or Jimmer was just to point out that at least for a couple of years, NBA teams DID want their talent. That's not even in dispute. They went to BYU and it did happen. But Frank is above their level and would have it much easier getting there.

IF Frank Jackson naturally has what the NBA wants, the NBA will take him whether he plays for Duke, or BYU, or Weber State. Of course I understand why he'd choose to go to Duke. There are lots of other reasons (Coach K, ACC, national rankings, better chance at winning national chamionship in college, etc.) There are other non-basketball reasons for choosing BYU, but they weren't strong enough for him, and that's fine.

[nuk13]

I do not admire anyone for going to Duke. If I were young and was the best talent in the nation I would never choose them. Blue K you are making some good points.

[BYULV]

As I stated before, it's sad that he's put basketball and his NBA aspirations ahead of a mission. I'm sure it's a tough decision when you have that level of talent, but if my kids are in that situation I'm steering them toward BYU and a mission first. Maybe you still make it to the NBA, maybe you don't, but you'll still have a great life with a lot stronger foundation. Going to Duke is Not worth the sacrifice.

[nuk13]

As I stated before, it's sad that he's put basketball and his NBA aspirations ahead of a mission. I'm sure it's a tough decision when you have that level of talent, but if my kids are in that situation I'm steering them toward BYU and a mission first. Maybe you still make it to the NBA, maybe you don't, but you'll still have a great life with a lot stronger foundation. Going to Duke is Not worth the sacrifice.

Ditto! I wish I'd have said it like you did. Years ago my cousin went to Utah State and did very well there. He then went on a mission serving the Lord and came back to another school which did not appreciate him as USU did. We all felt that cost him a lucrative NBA career. However at this time he is in a bishopric still serving the Lord. In the end that is what really counts.