Duke Or NBA: Trevor Keels Was “Torn”

It’s probably not a real surprise, but turns out Trevor Keels really was torn about staying at Duke or leaving for the NBA.

Duke assistant coach Chris Carrawell says it really was tough: “Really torn. He was torn, man...All the way up to the end he was torn. He was really torn. Because, Trev is 18 years old. You can come back and be one of the best players in the country. Or, I say to all these guys, the NBA trumps everything.”

And that’s the heart of it. A guy like Keels, or Zion Williamson for that matter, has a great time in college, bonds with his team and school and would like to come back.

But the NBA is the goal. It’s the ultimate proving ground for guys like them.

To be clear, Keels is not on the same level as Williamson, but the goal is the same: get to the NBA. He’s worked his whole life to get to this point. Not going would make as much sense as not playing Carnegie Hall as a musician.