Folks, we have to be honest about our recruiting situation. The past few years weren't great from a recruiting standpoint. Last year the hoops world saw Jayson Tatum take the NBA by storm. Though he finished third in the ROY voting, there was little doubt which of the three players most opposing fans would rather have. In other words, Tatum is a rising star on a storied and high profile and rising team. He's starting to scoop up endorsement deals. Essentially, he's what every single top tier hoops fan wishes to emulate. Unfortunately, it comes after a season at Duke where he played out of position and wasn't the number 1 option, as he should have been. He was the third option. And that was a huge, glaring mistake by K. Huge. I understand why K used that strategy initially, if I don't agree. But K's failure to make JT the overwhelming number 1 option by late Jan was just awful. Further, K played JT out of position. Recruits don't like to see that.
.
Last year, K brought in a disruptive player (tactically, not from a personality POV) in Bags very late in the process. It changed the style of hoops we played, and not for the better. Compounding that, K installed a defense whose only purpose was to hide the deficiencies of that player, coupled with the defensive failings of another player, Senior Allen. So we played a style of D that negated the strengths of the other frosh. Further, the O wasn't designed to highlight the entire team, but rather to highlight Bags and Allen.
.
We can whine and moan about Carter's Mom or Duval, but we cannot state definitively that they were wrong. Further, their arguments will land with a lot of recruits.
.
Next, there are a lot of unknowns about the 2019-2020 season. Tre could be back. It looks more and more like Bolden and Javin will be at Duke to possibly play big minutes. AOC might be one of the best wings in the nation, and Jack White and Baker will probably be capable of extended high level minutes.
.
There is possibly a lot of high level comp awaiting recruits at Duke. I can see why some might be wary. Nicco Manion is a great player. But I can't say he be better than Soph Tre Jones. James, who seems to love Duke, would be a serious impediment as well (his trajectory is straight up). Carey would see two seniors on the roster. Carey starts, but he has much less leeway that maybe he thought he'd see. Ditto Stewart and possibly Hurt (though I like our position with him more and more). Antoine, who we thought loved us, would have to wonder about a junior AOC at SG, Senior White at SF, with Baker probably getting some MPG there as well.
.
So I can see why our recruiting is shakey. The last two years have featured some decisions that might make recruits wary. Further, next year's roster is surprisingly experienced AND talented. Really, only 1 position looks at all unsettled, and that is on the wing. Cole Anthony and Carey are the only two guys who would start no matter what. James is nearly there, but that is because he can play any position from PG to SF.
.
Now for the good stuff.
.
Players will fall back in love with Duke sometime in late November. We are going to be exciting. RJ and Zion are going to play well and dominate high lights. By Jan there will be open speculation about the size of the endorsement deals they are going to sign. We are likely to play the way recruits want to play while dominating media attention. Recruits will want a part of that. Watching Tatum, who loves Duke, and Kyrie, have fun in Boston will be great. Ingram will be a great running mate with Bron, and don't think media types won't talk about how much they loved the same coach they've shared, aka Coach K.
.
So, sure, it is a little dark right now. But the sun is about to come back out once the games kick off. Some kids that drifted away will start sniffing around again. If they don't grovel accordingly, and publicly, I hope K moves on.
