Harrison Barnes recruiting thread

[SupaDave]

hope you're right, of course. but i hate to get my hopes up after our recent high profile misses.

You should definitely listen to Coach K's feelings on that in his press conference.

[roywhite]

And sure, he is the type of exemplary young man Duke likes. Every school likes upstanding, well spoken, serious young athletes. They stay eligible and out of trouble. It is not like Ky is going to say, "Oh, that young man is too nice and upstanding. I don't care how good he is, I don't want any well spoken, polite, studious young men on MY team."

Well, perhaps, but I'd say advantage to Duke on this one. We sometimes bemoan the fact that many highly ranked players are not in our sight because they are just not a good fit academically at Duke. But the flip side is that with some of the best and brightest---academics works in our favor.

The player himself usually gets a good idea of where he fits in best with teammates, or potential teammates. For example, I recall Shane Battier being publicly undecided and saying Michigan State was right in the mix before declaring, but some Duke insiders said they would have been surprised if Shane had gone elsewhere.

The deal is not done, but I'm optimistic we'll see Mr. Barnes play for Duke.

[SupaDave]

When I first read the bit about handwritten letters I remembered back to midseason or so and some one asking coach K if he stays in contact with the pros he coached on the Olympic squad and he said something to the effect of "Yes. We talk and text...well they text, I write them letters. I'm not much of a texter."

Couldn't find the article (after a half-hearted search) but I'm pretty sure that's what he said.

Booyaa!!! Sorry but it was driving me crazy...

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/feature...oachk20090422/

(doesn't quite say 'letter' but you get the drift and this is pretty recent)

[SupaDave]

His mom is a secretary in the musical education department at Iowa State University. She isn't exactly an educator, but as someone who works in an educational institution she probably places an extremely high value on education, as do most employees at educational institutions.

That said, Harrison Barnes will probably not graduate from college, or at least not until he is well into or finished playing professionally. I saw a report on him that said he was the most well rounded and complete forward since LeBron (who obviously has physical gifts outside the realm of belief).

It is one thing to value education, and it is another to be faced with being a multimillionaire after 1 year of college. Now, Harrison may stay beyond 1 year. Who knows? But to plan on that, or to assume that his allegedly high value on education will push him to Duke is a specious hope, at best.

In recent years, lots of kids have talked about placing a high value on education only to spurn Duke for Public Schools in the SEC, which are not known for their academic rigor for regular students, to say nothing of scholly athletes.

And sure, he is the type of exemplary young man Duke likes. Every school likes upstanding, well spoken, serious young athletes. They stay eligible and out of trouble. It is not like Ky is going to say, "Oh, that young man is too nice and upstanding. I don't care how good he is, I don't want any well spoken, polite, studious young men on MY team."

All of this to say what? You must not do much business b/c then you would know that the secretary is the most important person in the building - for so many reasons...

I think our track record speaks for itself, especially with exceptional kids like Harrison - whom we are very much in the race for and has probably allowed himself to become comfortable with Coack K. Who's to say how long he stays? Sounds like you're conceding defeat of a recruit to us only to wish him away. Yep - that's exactly what you sound like b/c we're still trying to imagine him in that Duke jersey.

[Cumae Sybl]

All of this to say what? You must not do much business b/c then you would know that the secretary is the most important person in the building - for so many reasons...

I think our track record speaks for itself, especially with exceptional kids like Harrison - whom we are very much in the race for and has probably allowed himself to become comfortable with Coack K. Who's to say how long he stays? Sounds like you're conceding defeat of a recruit to us only to wish him away. Yep - that's exactly what you sound like b/c we're still trying to imagine him in that Duke jersey.

First, that first paragraph is ludicrous. Is the file clerk at a hospital a Doctor? Is the secretary at Goldman an Investment Banker? Is a secretary at a law firm a Lawyer? No. Of course not. None of those institutions could function without those secretaries. In my original post I did not denigrate the importance of the secretary in an educational institution. I simply said she is not a educator. She does not stand up in front of students and give lectures, write up lesson plans, make up and grade tests, and write out essay questions and then grade them. Those are the tasks of an educator. Said educator could not function without the support of an able secretarial staff. But the secretary is not an educator. My parents are both teachers, so I am confident in saying this.

You sound like one of those people who consider teachers to be completely unimportant by equating them with the secretarial pool.

As for the second paragraph, I did no such thing. I am not wishing him gone before he gets here. I am simply being realistic. Of last year's freshman class, one of the weakest in several years, 1/2 are already in the pros. Yet, people are talking about Barnes by comparing him to Hill and Battier. Yes, he seems to share many of the same qualities as those legends. But a better comparison might be Luol Deng. A star player whose sojurn at whatever school he chooses will be short. Getting 2 years out of Barnes would be a gift from heavan. He almost certainly is not a 4 year player, but that is how a lot of people seem to be considering him.

Look, recruits today are smart, and fairly media savvy. Durant spent his entire frosh year extolling the virtues of college life. He loved the game, the campus, his classes, his class mates, his team mate, and all the fluttering tweety birds in the sky. Most of UT's fans started talking about his soph year. Then he declared for the pros at his first opportunity, as he intended all the while. He played the game correctly. Until I see that Barnes is different, I will work on the belief that an athletic 2/3 with developed basketball skills will not be on campus very long.

K is already putting a press on Quincy Miller from the 2011 class, in a somewhat obvious (I would think) gesture that he doesn't expect to have Barnes on campus all that long. Right now, they play the same position, SF.

I would love to have Barnes, but so would every other program in the country. We have had success with his alleged type before, but so have other schools. Battier and Hill were special. It does no one any favors to try and ascribe their personalites and traits to any HS senior. Battier and Hill weren't the Saints we remember them to be as HS seniors. It took 4 years at Duke to get there. I really don't think that Barnes will spend anywhere near that amount of time in college, especially given his family's radically different financial situtation compared with Hill and Battier.

I put it to the board at large. If we get Barnes, which is a strong possibility, how long do you really expect him to be at Duke?

[Tim1515]

First, that first paragraph is ludicrous. Is the file clerk at a hospital a Doctor? Is the secretary at Goldman an Investment Banker? Is a secretary at a law firm a Lawyer? No. Of course not. None of those institutions could function without those secretaries. In my original post I did not denigrate the importance of the secretary in an educational institution. I simply said she is not a educator. She does not stand up in front of students and give lectures, write up lesson plans, make up and grade tests, and write out essay questions and then grade them. Those are the tasks of an educator. Said educator could not function without the support of an able secretarial staff. But the secretary is not an educator. My parents are both teachers, so I am confident in saying this.

You sound like one of those people who consider teachers to be completely unimportant by equating them with the secretarial pool.

As for the second paragraph, I did no such thing. I am not wishing him gone before he gets here. I am simply being realistic. Of last year's freshman class, one of the weakest in several years, 1/2 are already in the pros. Yet, people are talking about Barnes by comparing him to Hill and Battier. Yes, he seems to share many of the same qualities as those legends. But a better comparison might be Luol Deng. A star player whose sojurn at whatever school he chooses will be short. Getting 2 years out of Barnes would be a gift from heavan. He almost certainly is not a 4 year player, but that is how a lot of people seem to be considering him.

Look, recruits today are smart, and fairly media savvy. Durant spent his entire frosh year extolling the virtues of college life. He loved the game, the campus, his classes, his class mates, his team mate, and all the fluttering tweety birds in the sky. Most of UT's fans started talking about his soph year. Then he declared for the pros at his first opportunity, as he intended all the while. He played the game correctly. Until I see that Barnes is different, I will work on the belief that an athletic 2/3 with developed basketball skills will not be on campus very long.

K is already putting a press on Quincy Miller from the 2011 class, in a somewhat obvious (I would think) gesture that he doesn't expect to have Barnes on campus all that long. Right now, they play the same position, SF.

I would love to have Barnes, but so would every other program in the country. We have had success with his alleged type before, but so have other schools. Battier and Hill were special. It does no one any favors to try and ascribe their personalites and traits to any HS senior. Battier and Hill weren't the Saints we remember them to be as HS seniors. It took 4 years at Duke to get there. I really don't think that Barnes will spend anywhere near that amount of time in college, especially given his family's radically different financial situtation compared with Hill and Battier.

I put it to the board at large. If we get Barnes, which is a strong possibility, how long do you really expect him to be at Duke?

I agree with this. Yes it's great to assume that Barnes will stay in college for 4 years because he values his education and seems like a Duke kid like Battier and Hill...etc etc.

Maybe we all get extremely lucky and that actually happens but it's more likely if he stays 4 years it's because he didn't live up to expectations. Barnes can always finish his education at Duke if he leaves after 1 year...in fact K would encourage it so i don't see how him valuing education really helps the case of him staying longer.

[roywhite]

Fearless forecast:

Harrison Barnes will attend Duke, stay for 2 years, win 1 national championship, go pro as a high draft choice, but earn his Duke degree within 5 years of matriculating.

[Cumae Sybl]

I agree with this. Yes it's great to assume that Barnes will stay in college for 4 years because he values his education and seems like a Duke kid like Battier and Hill...etc etc.

Maybe we all get extremely lucky and that actually happens but it's more likely if he stays 4 years it's because he didn't live up to expectations. Barnes can always finish his education at Duke if he leaves after 1 year...in fact K would encourage it so i don't see how him valuing education really helps the case of him staying longer.

This would be great. I would love to have a successful NBA player spending summers on Campus finishing up class work.

"Hey, recruit x, thanks for dropping by campus for an unofficial visit. Great to have you. Let's go look at our gorgous practice facility. Hey what do you know, some of our current players are playing pickup. Oh sure, Harrison Barnes, NBA all star, plays here a lot during the summer. He is finishing up his degree. He was only here for a year, but we had a great season, and we really supported his decision to leave early. He was ready for the league, and all we ask is that a player stay until he is ready, which we really help our players achieve. Playing against that guy helps out too. Barnes is a freak. Did you see that dunk against the Lakers last year? Crazy. You know, we see a lot Harrison in you, recruit X."

Yeah. I could live with 1 year of him on campus and the 4-5 summers of him finishing up his degree.

[SilkyJ]

Booyaa!!! Sorry but it was driving me crazy...

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/feature...oachk20090422/

(doesn't quite say 'letter' but you get the drift and this is pretty recent)

Nice work...don't think its the article I'm thinking of, but same idea.

Keep writin' those letters, Coach

[SupaDave]

I would love to have Barnes, but so would every other program in the country. We have had success with his alleged type before, but so have other schools. Battier and Hill were special. It does no one any favors to try and ascribe their personalites and traits to any HS senior. Battier and Hill weren't the Saints we remember them to be as HS seniors. It took 4 years at Duke to get there. I really don't think that Barnes will spend anywhere near that amount of time in college, especially given his family's radically different financial situtation compared with Hill and Battier.

Battier and Hill weren't saints? You're kidding right?

Battier, who graduated from Country Day with a 3.96 grade point average and was named the school's outstanding student in his senior year, went on to attend Duke. (That's right. STUDENT. NOT student-ATHLETE).

And well Grant was already a superstar. You couldn't be more wrong.

This kid will be in college to learn and well you can't ask much more of him than that. Let's let him get on a campus before we start wishing him away.

[SupaDave]

First, that first paragraph is ludicrous. Is the file clerk at a hospital a Doctor? Is the secretary at Goldman an Investment Banker? Is a secretary at a law firm a Lawyer? No. Of course not. None of those institutions could function without those secretaries. In my original post I did not denigrate the importance of the secretary in an educational institution. I simply said she is not a educator. She does not stand up in front of students and give lectures, write up lesson plans, make up and grade tests, and write out essay questions and then grade them. Those are the tasks of an educator. Said educator could not function without the support of an able secretarial staff. But the secretary is not an educator. My parents are both teachers, so I am confident in saying this.

Well you were the one who felt the need to make the distinction between his mom being a secretary or an educator - as if it truly makes a difference.

And you're most definitely looking at importance the wrong way b/c it in no way has anything to do with a person's position in an organization but everything to do with their function. Something most 'secretaries' understand (and many more get paid top dollar for). Not to mention the fact that she's a mother, who by nature are educators, unless you would like to imply that raising a child requires no parental tutoring or guidance.

[m g]

Fearless forecast:

Harrison Barnes will attend Duke, stay for 2 years, win 1 national championship, go pro as a high draft choice, but earn his Duke degree within 5 years of matriculating.

one thing about duke is that with 4 classes per semester rather than 5, it's shouldn't be as much of a pain to graduate early or finish the degree later as it would be at other schools. if barnes took 2 summer classes per session before his freshman and sophomore years (not hard to imagine), he would have 24 classes done by the end of his sophomore year. and i'm sure the K center is a much more desirable place to do your offseason workouts and studying than anything other schools can offer their returning players

i think what's different about the barnes recruitment is that duke fans aren't just excited about the possibility of winning a championship with him. barnes is so cut out to be a duke legend. perfect fit at duke, perfect timing, perfect fit on the '10-'11 team. i really don't know if there's a fan base out there that would appreciate him the way ours would, which definitely couldn't be said about some other recent targets who found their fit elsewhere.

[Kedsy]

This would be great. I would love to have a successful NBA player spending summers on Campus finishing up class work.

"Hey, recruit x, thanks for dropping by campus for an unofficial visit. Great to have you. Let's go look at our gorgous practice facility. Hey what do you know, some of our current players are playing pickup. Oh sure, Harrison Barnes, NBA all star, plays here a lot during the summer. He is finishing up his degree. He was only here for a year, but we had a great season, and we really supported his decision to leave early. He was ready for the league, and all we ask is that a player stay until he is ready, which we really help our players achieve. Playing against that guy helps out too. Barnes is a freak. Did you see that dunk against the Lakers last year? Crazy. You know, we see a lot Harrison in you, recruit X."

Yeah. I could live with 1 year of him on campus and the 4-5 summers of him finishing up his degree.

I have to agree. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this hypothetical scenario. (Although personally I see him staying in college for two years.)

[gumbomoop]

Fearless forecast:

Harrison Barnes will attend Duke, stay for 2 years, win 1 national championship, go pro as a high draft choice, but earn his Duke degree within 5 years of matriculating.

Well, if HB stays 2 years, that would mean 2 NCs. And for Duke, that would mean 3 FFs in a row.

[houstondukie]

First, that first paragraph is ludicrous. Is the file clerk at a hospital a Doctor? Is the secretary at Goldman an Investment Banker? Is a secretary at a law firm a Lawyer? No. Of course not. None of those institutions could function without those secretaries. In my original post I did not denigrate the importance of the secretary in an educational institution. I simply said she is not a educator. She does not stand up in front of students and give lectures, write up lesson plans, make up and grade tests, and write out essay questions and then grade them. Those are the tasks of an educator. Said educator could not function without the support of an able secretarial staff. But the secretary is not an educator. My parents are both teachers, so I am confident in saying this.

You sound like one of those people who consider teachers to be completely unimportant by equating them with the secretarial pool.

As for the second paragraph, I did no such thing. I am not wishing him gone before he gets here. I am simply being realistic. Of last year's freshman class, one of the weakest in several years, 1/2 are already in the pros. Yet, people are talking about Barnes by comparing him to Hill and Battier. Yes, he seems to share many of the same qualities as those legends. But a better comparison might be Luol Deng. A star player whose sojurn at whatever school he chooses will be short. Getting 2 years out of Barnes would be a gift from heavan. He almost certainly is not a 4 year player, but that is how a lot of people seem to be considering him.

Look, recruits today are smart, and fairly media savvy. Durant spent his entire frosh year extolling the virtues of college life. He loved the game, the campus, his classes, his class mates, his team mate, and all the fluttering tweety birds in the sky. Most of UT's fans started talking about his soph year. Then he declared for the pros at his first opportunity, as he intended all the while. He played the game correctly. Until I see that Barnes is different, I will work on the belief that an athletic 2/3 with developed basketball skills will not be on campus very long.

K is already putting a press on Quincy Miller from the 2011 class, in a somewhat obvious (I would think) gesture that he doesn't expect to have Barnes on campus all that long. Right now, they play the same position, SF.

I would love to have Barnes, but so would every other program in the country. We have had success with his alleged type before, but so have other schools. Battier and Hill were special. It does no one any favors to try and ascribe their personalites and traits to any HS senior. Battier and Hill weren't the Saints we remember them to be as HS seniors. It took 4 years at Duke to get there. I really don't think that Barnes will spend anywhere near that amount of time in college, especially given his family's radically different financial situtation compared with Hill and Battier.

I put it to the board at large. If we get Barnes, which is a strong possibility, how long do you really expect him to be at Duke?

Very good points, but I still think Barnes stays for at least 3 years and graduates. You can give me a list of 100 players who said they cared about education, etc and then decided to leave early, and I wouldn't change my prediction on Barnes. All I can say is that he is an extremely unique recruit.

[Greg_Newton]

First, that first paragraph is ludicrous. Is the file clerk at a hospital a Doctor? Is the secretary at Goldman an Investment Banker? Is a secretary at a law firm a Lawyer? No. Of course not. None of those institutions could function without those secretaries. In my original post I did not denigrate the importance of the secretary in an educational institution. I simply said she is not a educator. She does not stand up in front of students and give lectures, write up lesson plans, make up and grade tests, and write out essay questions and then grade them. Those are the tasks of an educator. Said educator could not function without the support of an able secretarial staff. But the secretary is not an educator. My parents are both teachers, so I am confident in saying this.

You sound like one of those people who consider teachers to be completely unimportant by equating them with the secretarial pool.

Wha... what are you doing? Who cares? Why would you ever say something about a recruit's mother that could even possibly be perceived as negative on a public Duke message board? Did you not read the Xavier/CJ Henry article posted YESTERDAY where the father explicitly stated they were having second thoughts about KU after they saw fans questioning on their family on message boards?

I realize that your intent was not to do this and that you were trying to faciliate discussion, but there is no reason to be focusing on any fears or potential negatives in this thread. There is a very good chance Harrison will check up on this discussion of him at some point (I know I would), and if there is a .0001% chance we could minutely sway his feelings toward Duke one way or the either, we absolutely need to to represent our instution well and avoid ANY potential damaging comments in this thread.

I realize you have a very negative and cynical outlook on Duke's future from reading your other posts in other threads, and that's okay. You make your points well enough. But please, please, please, keep your comments in threads about specific recruits positive. As for the defining his mom's job, speculating that he'll be a one-and-one when he has implied otherwise... can we please just drop it? It can only hurt Duke.

[SG24]

Barnes is a key recruit that Duke needs to land, some say he is the best in the country. Here is a video that was posted on Highschoolhoop.com that is a definite must see!!!! Check it out Harrison Barnes doin work.

http://www.highschoolhoop.com/video/...es-doing-work/

[Greg_Newton]

Doesn't look like there'll be any real news regarding Harrison's plans anytime soon... http://www.gocyclones.com/news.php?ID=1669.

"I'll make my decision when [my thread on DBR outpaces the John Wall thread]," Barnes said .

Well, sounds like it's time for us to kick it into gear...

[vango]

I didn't see where he said that but either way that is funny.

I'll lend a hand...

#279. Mr. Barnes, come to Duke.

[yancem]

Doesn't look like there'll be any real news regarding Harrison's plans anytime soon... http://www.gocyclones.com/news.php?ID=1669.

Well, sounds like it's time for us to kick it into gear...

I didn't see the quote in the article you linked but if he did indeed say that, then we know a couple of things;

1) The kid has a good sense of humor
2) He is perusing the DBR message boards so we need to keep everything positive.
3)He is perusing the DBR message boards which has to mean Duke is at or near the top of his list
4) The sooner we crank up the posts on this thread the sooner he will make a decision So keep those post a coming!!!!!!!