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When Marshall Plumlee was a freshman, he took the microphone for a behind-the-scenes video for Duke Basketball and was just such a presence we couldn’t shake it: it was impossible to dislike him.
Later, when he had become an effective big man, Jahlil Okafor came along and moved ahead of him in the rotation.
He didn’t complain or whine; he just worked. And after a year of working hard to guard Okafor in practice every day, not to mention winning a national championship - the third Plumlee to do so - he stepped in and started as a senior and was very good and proved to be an emotional leader for his team.
He made it to the NBA, but this video from Duke Basketball features coach Mike Krzyzewski discussing Plumlee’s decision to walk away from the league for another dream: being a soldier.
And not just any soldier, but a Ranger.
As a West Pointer, Coach K obviously takes immense pride in Plumlee for dreaming the dream first, achieving it and pushing hard to be, well, the best he can be.
As Krzyzewski alludes to here, Plumlee has applied the lessons he learned in the Brotherhood in a completely different way and Duke fans should be really proud of him, as should all Americans.
Now just imagine a 7-1 soldier coming at you. The mind boggles.