Recruit
- Thread starter pisgah101
- Start date
I really didn't care for him at all but I really felt bad for him that night. I thought "what kind of UNC fans are you." I hope no matter how bad the relationship it may become I certainly would be ashamed for Duke fans to be so subtle toward a Duke player on his senior night. I hope everyone of you Tar Heel lurkers read this and put it on the THR board. OFC
Thanks for the recruiting history, Jim. I guess I never realized how down to the wire (and last second change of mind) the recruiting business is (or can be). I've always thought, for the most part, that the players had their minds made up, and just enjoyed the perks of being recruited.
As a coach, it would be incredibly frustrating for a player to let you know he was coming...and at the last second bail out (for whatever reason). It's a tough profession.
OFC
I agree, Sky. There was no reason for Dexter to be treated like that...and I would have been appalled if a Duke player were treated that way.
OFC
The least you can do as fans when a player stays for four years is acknowledge him on their day, ie senior day. He might not have been what you expected, and the team might not have achieved what you wanted, but the bare minimum is at least showing some respect and appreciation on the one day devoted to those players. But what would you expect with some of those jabronis calling themselves fans. "No championship? No production? Why should we cheer for you?"
It is hard to imagine the roller coaster coaches go through during the recruiting process. I know it is tough to feel bad for college coaches when they make the amount of money they make, and the NBA has its own issues, but I am little surprised when some of the great coaches don't take NBA jobs just to get away from the recruiting grind.
At the time it was any recruit that we lost to Dean Smith. The last several years of Deans career it seemed like all he had to do was select his team not recruit. Several players went with Coach Smith that I thought would be coming to Durham.
jimlsumner is so valuable to this board as poster simply because he get's the facts right. For example I mentioned Tom McMillan as a player that had it down to Duke and Md. when actually Duke was about his 4th or 5th choice. I just wanted him at Duke so bad that I remember it my way. His knowledge of not only Duke basketball and football but all Duke sports exceeds us all. Wish he would post more but when he does it's quality. Thanks Jim for being a true to the blood Duke fan. OFC
Yes, I do think part of the reason it seems as if K's moving the goalpost on the end of his career (i.e., into his early 70s) from where we may have thought it would have been about 10 years ago is that, like Dean, he's ending on his career on a bit of a recruiting high. Assuming the 2016 class goes as we hope, the run of recruiting success between 2013-2016 classes probably matches or exceeds any 4 year stretch of his career (likely exceeds in terms of volume, with the caveat that we don't keep these guys as long). Impossible to know with certainty, but I have a feeling K would have been far more inclined to retire if we were missing on a lot of our top targets -- like we did at times between 06-10.
With Billy, while there were a number of personal and professional reasons to take the OKC job, I've heard that he had become increasingly inclined to make the jump b/c he was still struggling to make UF a destination program for top recruits -- which UK and Cal were cleaning up the top-end kids in his own conference. I think Billy D thought it would be quite different after winning a couple championships and competing at a high-level for so many years.
Smith got Duke priorities Jerry Stackhouse and Vince Carter late in his tenure. Duke also recruited Antawn Jamison, although academics were an issue.
On the other hand, K got Joey Beard, so I guess it's a wash.
Seriously, though, Smith did target Shane Battier, Elton Brand, Corey Maggette and Wojo. So K won his share of recruiting battles with DES.
McMillen? He actually signed with North Carolina. But he wasn't 18 at the time, so it wasn't legally binding. McMillen's mother really didn't like Smith and wouldn't sign the LOI. So, McMillen switched to Maryland pretty late in the game.
Correct. I was saying the 92 title would have been vacated because he wasn't in college during the 91 title run and I was being sarcastic about his timeout calling in the 93 championship.
That's the way the story goes. Supposedly Shane called to tell him he was going to Duke and Dean just said, "ok" and hung up the phone.
Danny Ferry was the first recruit who picked K over Smith. K had missed to Smith on Michael Jordan, Buzz Peterson, Curtis Hunter, Steve Hale, Kenny Smith, Joe Wolf and Dave Popson, probably some others, before getting Ferry.
Curiously, Smith did not recruit Dawkins, Alarie or Armaker and K did not recruit Brad Daugherty.
Curiously, Smith did not recruit Dawkins, Alarie or Armaker and K did not recruit Brad Daugherty.
To be fair, when Dean Smith passed, Battier offered a very, very different account of that conversation and how Smith handled his decision. I tend to think that Dean Smith story is more urban legend than truth.
I'm not sure if anyone has posted this yet but my most disappointing recruiting miss was Kris Humphries. He was all set to come, de-committed, and then exploded for a subpar Minnesota team that season. I still believe that we cut down the nets that season if he would've kept his commitment. That 2004 team almost beat the eventual National Champs in the National Semi-Final.
Yes, I had heard from team managers at the time that he basically wanted to be guaranteed a spot in the starting lineup -- somehow not realizing until the eve of his enrollment that he may find himself stuck on the bench behind Luol / Shelden / Shav. It was bizarre considering that nobody at Duke ever considered Humphries to be the type of recruit who would necessarily start on day 1 ahead of the aforementioned guys. Seems to have been a combination of miscommunication and delusion. Maybe just one of the first signs that he wasn't necessarily the sharpest tool in the shed.
While, in retrospect, we could have clearly used his size in the final seconds of the UConn game after all the foul troubled we faced, I think we were probably better off with him going elsewhere. I think this was a classic case of kid who grossly overestimate his own ability, and would have caused problems if he had shown up on campus.
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I remember following the recruitment of David Lee pretty closely for some reason. Duke played a pretty short rotation during Lee's tenure at Florida (02-05). He wouldn't necessarily be a game changer per se, but an extra quality body during those years was something we didn't really have.
I'm paraphrasing here but after signing with Florida, Lee noted that, on his visits, Duke showed him the library, Florida showed him co-eds in bikinis.
just think with humphries we coulda had a reality star!!! Hahaha
very true! Woulda saved him a lot of crapOr maybe a couple of years at Duke would have put some sense into his head.
Adonal Foyle. We were really thin in the post in 96. Between Foyle choosing Colgate to be with guardians and Joey Beard not working out, we were relegated to Newton, Tony Moore, Domzalski & Carmen Wallace in the post with none of them a true or capable offensive player at a PF or C position.
I always saw Foyle going nowhere but Duke due to his character.
Also, didn't follow the recruitment of Alan Henderson, but I think Duke was in it for him, but he was an incredible player & classy guy. He would have been huge alongside Parks.
I remember reading that Baron Davis was set to sign with Duke but grandma wouldn't sign since he was only 17. She didn't want him leaving home. We ended up with Avery, who was better than advertised, so that evened out. Davis was dynamite though.
As someone mentioned, Casey Jacobsen would have been huge had they known about Avery & Maggette. Also read somewhere, Basketball Times maybe, that Nick Collison wanted to come to Duke & when he called K, he was turned down due to already taking Casey Sanders. How big would Collison & Jacobsen have been with that group? Don't know if it were true but it was reported.
I remember reading that Baron Davis was set to sign with Duke but grandma wouldn't sign since he was only 17. She didn't want him leaving home. We ended up with Avery, who was better than advertised, so that evened out. Davis was dynamite though.
As someone mentioned, Casey Jacobsen would have been huge had they known about Avery & Maggette. Also read somewhere, Basketball Times maybe, that Nick Collison wanted to come to Duke & when he called K, he was turned down due to already taking Casey Sanders. How big would Collison & Jacobsen have been with that group? Don't know if it were true but it was reported.
Duke absolutely wanted Collison. Getting he and Sanders early might have shut the door on Boozer later on, however.
Henderson? Duke hoped to get at least two of Parks, Webber and Henderson, all three if possible. Henderson's father was one of the country's most prominent African American surgeons. But, like Jared Jeffries a decade later, Henderson elected to stay closer to home.
Foyle? Good call. A native of the Grenadines, Foyle attended high school in the U.S. His U.S. guardians were Colgate professors. Foyle narrowed his college choices to Duke, Syracuse and Colgate. Based on Foyle's public comments, his guardians convinced him that Colgate was the academic and athletic equal of Duke.
Foyle became a first-round draft pick but had a lackluster NBA career.
Would a couple of years at Duke have put him on a career-arc to NBA stardom? Who knows? But he would have come in handy at Duke.
Duke did miss on some guys who would have been around in the mid-'90s. But Duke won lots of recruiting battles in those classes. But Ricky Price, Taymon Domzalski, Greg Newton and Joey Beard all turned out to be much less productive than anticipated. Call it bad luck, call it evaluation misjudgments but Duke had a boatload of consensus top-20 players on some mediocre teams.
Henderson? Duke hoped to get at least two of Parks, Webber and Henderson, all three if possible. Henderson's father was one of the country's most prominent African American surgeons. But, like Jared Jeffries a decade later, Henderson elected to stay closer to home.
Foyle? Good call. A native of the Grenadines, Foyle attended high school in the U.S. His U.S. guardians were Colgate professors. Foyle narrowed his college choices to Duke, Syracuse and Colgate. Based on Foyle's public comments, his guardians convinced him that Colgate was the academic and athletic equal of Duke.
Foyle became a first-round draft pick but had a lackluster NBA career.
Would a couple of years at Duke have put him on a career-arc to NBA stardom? Who knows? But he would have come in handy at Duke.
Duke did miss on some guys who would have been around in the mid-'90s. But Duke won lots of recruiting battles in those classes. But Ricky Price, Taymon Domzalski, Greg Newton and Joey Beard all turned out to be much less productive than anticipated. Call it bad luck, call it evaluation misjudgments but Duke had a boatload of consensus top-20 players on some mediocre teams.
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I feel so comfy here now that Mr.Sumner has moved in.
The kid would have started from from day one, but why have the headache of his father? He went on to be Big Ten Rookie and MVP of the year.
My only real gut punch was Barnes. It wasn't only that we missed on him. but the Skype-thing to Coach Williams was very "bush" -- felt like he was practicing being a pitch man for all those future endorsements....that have not quite come in yet. Since then, I am pretty resolved. The recruit that I want is the one that K and staff have extended an offer, and the kid reciprocates with accepting.
My understanding is that Duke realized they weren't getting Barnes when they heard he was announcing via Skype and they hadn't been asked to have in place the equipment to receive a Skype transmission.
