Rodney Hood Update

Rodney Hood was only in Durham for two seasons and played just one but he was deservedly a fan favorite.

It wasn’t just that he was really good - he was - but that he just put himself out there. There was never a lot of guile. You got your ticket, you got Rodney. He always struck us as confident yet humble. Never came across as bigheaded or egotistical.

He just always seemed like a regular guy.

Just Rodney.

There are a lot of Duke players who have irritated opponents over the years - JJ Redick, Bobby Hurley, Dahntay Jones, most recently Grayson Allen and above all Christian Laettner.

We can't ever remember anyone saying a bad word about Hood.

Anyway, he’s been gone for a while now so it’s nice to see that his time at Duke really meant something to him and is, he says, always with him.

He’s coached now by fellow former Devil Quin Snyder and though the Jazz were eliminated Monday night by the Golden State Warriors in four games, Utah’s future is bright: the team won 51 games and has a very solid, very long core. This team should be good for a decade or more.