Grayson Allen returned from his "indefinite suspension" Wednesday and started in Duke's 110-57 win over Georgia Tech at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Allen was indefinitely suspended Dec. 22 after a third tripping incident inside of a year. But the All-American guard ended up missing only one game -- Saturday's loss at Virginia Tech. He scored 15 points on five shots against Georgia Tech.
Here are three things to know:
1) No, this is not what I would've done if I were Coach K
Ultimately, this was Mike Krzyzewski's call. And because he's the winningest coach in history, no amount of criticism created by this decision will affect him, or his status at Duke, in any real away -- especially since he's bringing back a player after one game for tripping as opposed to, you know, punching a woman in the face.
That said, I disagree with the decision.
But not because I think a player with a tripping problem needs to sit multiple games. I honestly have no idea what Allen's suspension should've been. My position is more practical, and it's based on this: Duke should be able to easily handle Georgia Tech at home without playing Allen. So why bring him back and invite all of this criticism when you almost certainly don't need him to win the game for which he's returning?
That's my question.
Grand scheme of things, no big deal. But if you're somebody who hates Duke, this will only intensify that. You have new ammo for your Twitter gun. Enjoy it. Use it.
2) This makes life easier for Jeff Capel
The one obvious good thing about Krzyzewski making this decision now, before he has back surgery Friday and misses an estimated month, is that it prevents interim coach Jeff Capel from having to deal with it in press conferences.
Capel can now just focus on coaching the team.
He won't have to answer Allen questions going forward, and that's probably ideal.
3) Allen had no incidents
Any controversial moment involving Allen -- especially another trip or anything that looked like another trip -- would've gone viral immediately. But there was nothing. Allen's final stat line: 15 points, seven assists, three rebounds and zero trips.
