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Who is/was Duke’s best lowest ranked HS player?

Buzzooka Joe

Buzzooka Joe

Cameron Crazy
Feb 20, 2006
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Jordan Goldwire was barely a top 400 ranked High School recruit, but has been a really good player for our team.. who are some of the other great low-ranked HS players we have had, since about 2006 (the last year the NBA drafted HS players)..

Lets not count Seth Curry since we didn’t recruit him and we all know the Curry’s were never ranked properly.
 
Tyler Thornton was low but Goldwire is as low as anyone I can remember. And before Duke recruited him he was even lower. Boy, was he a bargain!
 
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dbav said:
Dave McClure
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That’s what I was thinking, but I looked it up and he was ranked #74 (247Sports).


christophero said:
Jack White was pretty low.
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Jack was low (#224 on 247).. I think Goldwire is going to end with a better career than Jack had though.



dukedevilz said:
Miles Plumlee wasn't a top 100 recruit for several recruiting services
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Rivals has him as #101 and the other places I saw didn’t have a number rank but did have him as a 4 star (which would be top 100).. he definitely gave us a lot in his 4 years though.. and him coming to Duke surely played a part in us getting Mason & Marshall.


Liftee said:
Tyler Thornton was low but Goldwire is as low as anyone I can remember.
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Thornton was #128 (247Sports) and ESPN has him as a 4 star but no number rank. Hard to believe Josh Hairston was a top 40 recruit from the places I looked - ESPN had him #19 (wow).
 
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Seems like Hairston matured early. What was Marty Clark ranked?
 
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The Plumlees definitely helped us win a title. Bringing those 2 off the bench to fly around was pretty special.
 
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Reggie Love? Was he even rated as a basketball player
 
Liftee said:
As I recall, Mason was already recruited and as a result, Miles decommitted from Stanford. Mason was the gift that kept on giving!
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I seem to remember it happening like that too. We were recruiting Mason and after he committed to Duke, Miles decomitted from Stanford not long after and committed to Duke, then we ended getting Marshall and it couldn’t have worked out better because all 3 left Duke with championship rings and degrees.
 
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DiehardDukeFan4Life said:
I seem to remember it happening like that too. We were recruiting Mason and after he committed to Duke, Miles decomitted from Stanford not long after and committed to Duke, then we ended getting Marshall and it couldn’t have worked out better because all 3 left Duke with championship rings and degrees.
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And all 3 got to play in the NBA.
 
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Can someone tell me what the ranking was for Thomas Hill coming out of high school in 89? I did read where he wasn't an All American, but I'd love to know what he was rated.
 
Well we all know Josh Hairston was the worst scholarship player we’ve had this century. I guess we can go with Tyler Thornton. This is a hard one. Goldwire may end up having the better career than Thornton
 
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Just can't stop bashing Josh Hairston can we. How long has it been going on now 10 years? Everyone has the right to their opinion but Josh is a Dukie. He did nothing to shame the Duke uniform he wore. He got his diploma on time. If nothing good to be said about him just don't even bring his name up. I imagine he is a fine young man doing the best he can. The last I heard he was still making a good living playing pro ball overseas. After that is over he still has that diploma. OFC
 
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Josh Hairston got a Duke degree, played for the GOAT, is still making a living playing basketball, and after basketball I'm sure will do fine.

Do you think he cares what we say about him?
 
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Liftee said:
Josh Hairston got a Duke degree, played for the GOAT, is still making a living playing basketball, and after basketball I'm sure will do fine.

Do you think he cares what we say about him?
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Nope. Not at all. OFC
 
There is no reason to bash a player who gives his all and represents the team and University honorably. None. It is not the player's fault that the coaches didnt bring in someone better.
 
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Marty Clark was not a McDonald's All-American. But he was a top-100 player. Thomas Hill was ranked around 50 or so and was a prized recruit.

Brian Davis and John Smith over-achieved relative to their prep rankings.
 
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John Harrell played in high school at Durham Hillside. He was lightly recruited and played his freshman year at North Carolina Central. He transferred to Duke and started for the 1978 team that lost the National Championship Game to Kentucky at Point Guard.
 
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Met Hairston about 3-4 times and he was always respectful and a very nice guy...just overrated by the services but that wasn't his fault...he played hard every second he was in the game...just didn't have all the tools to make a major contribution..not his fault again
 
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jimlsumner said:
Marty Clark was not a McDonald's All-American. But he was a top-100 player. Thomas Hill was ranked around 50 or so and was a prized recruit.

Brian Davis and John Smith over-achieved relative to their prep rankings.
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Brian Davis was the person I thought of when I opened this thread, as I don't him being super highly ranked coming out of high school. Granted that was over 30 years ago, but I don't remember him having the name value of a lot of freshmen of the time.
 
While not a Duke player Tim Duncan was not very highly recruited.Matter of fact pre internet days when you got ur recruiting news from Street and Smith,they projected him as probable redshirt project
 
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VaBlueDevil33 said:
Met Hairston about 3-4 times and he was always respectful and a very nice guy...just overrated by the services but that wasn't his fault...he played hard every second he was in the game...just didn't have all the tools to make a major contribution..not his fault again
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I always give Josh a hard time, here and on our podcast. I saw him play a few times in high school and never felt his game would translate. Having said that, the jokes are simply about his game and I’ve also heard he’s a super good dude.
 
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I'm not entirely certain Duke maximized Josh Hairston's abilities. He came to Duke at about 215 and left at about 235/240. Duke thought they needed him inside and asked him to bulk up. And he did, not necessarily to his benefit. Similar thing happened to Nick Horvath.

Hairston pops in to Cameron a few times a year and he's slimmed back down to a better weight. He had a nice run in the Euros, albeit not at the highest level. But yes, he's a nice guy who did what he was asked and what he could to help his team win.
 
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I remember a certain game against UK, a game we were "supposed " to lose. Josh had a very good game kind of out of the blue. Oh yeah, we won that game. For that game alone, he gets my gratitude forever.
 
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I really like Goldwire and Thornton (and all the players that overachieve).
 
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