When Michael Gbinije decided to transfer from Duke after the 2011-2012 season, he was an unheralded freshman who averaged 1.7 points, 0.8 rebounds and 0.2 assists in his lone year as a Blue Devil. News of his transfer drew little fanfare and attention, the Associated Press only wrote a short 78-word blurb on the subject, and he was considered almost irrelevant when it came to affecting a team's success.
At the time, Syracuse Orange men's basketball head coach Jim Boeheim wasn't overly impressed with Gbinije and needed convincing from assistant coach Adrian Autry, Gbinije's former AAU coach, to take Gbinije in as a transfer, Boeheim told Bleacher Report's Greg Couch.