Carrick Felix, the ballyhooed junior college recruit, ultimately settled on signing with hometown school Arizona State last month after what seemed by all accounts to be an amicable divorce with Duke.

There was a point when Felix got in deep with the defending national champion after an unlikely courtship happened upon the College of Southern Idaho wing. Felix signed a letter of intent, spent a brief time soaking up Durham and then essentially told Duke and coach Mike Krzyzewski, "It's not you, it's me."

The Arizona Republic caught up with Felix, who expanded upon his feelings about Duke:

"I just kind of felt it was the wrong decision just because it wasn't what I truly wanted. It was just kind of what everybody else wanted. 'They won the national championship. It's Duke. You have to do it. You can't say no to Coach K.' And I was kind of like, 'I guess I can't.' But it just wasn't me."

"It was hard because I'm the kind of person that doesn't like to upset people or disappoint people. It was just kind of the decision where I was like, 'Well, do I want to sit here and kind of just go through the motions and act like I really love being here?' or am I just going to come out and say it and do what's best for my basketball career and me as a person? I said it, and at first it didn't go off too well. But they understood and they talked it out with me and tried to help me find a different school."

It's easy to see how Felix got swept off his feet once a fine program like Duke started whispering sweet nothings into his ear about what he -- a junior college player -- and the Blue Devils could accomplish together.

Felix's decision to commit and sign might have been hasty, but understandable. And it appears he was honest about his feelings and did something about it rather than waiting it out for a couple of years just to see how it would go. (He's said in the past academics were not a factor in leaving.)

So while his departure was slightly awkward, it looks like all sides are OK with it and nobody got hurt. The big loser in all this? Fans of fairytale romances.