Dukes are busts man, it's scary af.
Ingram, Parker, Ball, Rivers, Singler... then you have Sheldan Williams. Duke players scare me.
Each player is evaluated on his own merit.
This used to be the view of spread QB's and then guys like Brees, Rodgers, etc. emerged.
Going to Duke doesn't exclude you from being a good NBA player.
If you look at modern examples....guys taken in the top 5, the Duke track record isn't THAT bad.
92: Christian Laettner (long NBA career)
94: Grant Hill (Star)
99: Elton Brand (long NBA career)
02: Mike Dunleavy (long NBA career)
02: Jayson Williams (Injured)
06: Shelden Williams (Bust)
11: Kyrie Irving (Star)
14: Jabari Parker (Injured)
15: Okafor (Verging on Bust)
16: Ingram (TBD)
Most have had good NBA careers IMO. Hill and Irving are the stars (20%)...but Brand, Laettner, Dunleavy all had good NBA careers........does a school really have a better percentage than that (20% star rate?) If yes, I can't think of one.
I'd also consider that many of these players were pre 1-and-done at Duke. So while they were great college players, Coach K wasn't necessarily picking guys who had immediate NBA talent, he was looking to find guys like Laettner, who would be great college players who STAYED for multiple years, making it easier to sustain that coaching success.
Starting with Kyrie, that's when you should be judging guys IMO. So out of 4 top 5 picks, Irving is a star, Parker could be one if he could ever stay healthy (doubtful), Okafor is meh and the jury is at least still out on Ingram.
Again, in the world of scouting, a 25% hit rate on a star isn't awful. I don't love Duke players but the only true dud out of that group was Williams.