Harrison Barnes recruiting thread

[eightyearoldsdude]

“I think they’re planning to get him,” Leslie said of Barnes. “I think he’s going to go there. I think if they don’t get Harrison, they’ll be back on me.”

Huh? This quote kind of goes full circle, annnnd we're back to where were were 15 min ago. No one knows, no one will until Friday...

I think this is face-saving. Leslie has repeatedly bragged to the press about UNC's interest in him, yet word from insiders seems to be that we are not recruiting him, have not been recruiting him for several months, and will not recruit him no matter what Barnes decides. (Which not only disappoints Leslie, but me too, as I think he's a superfreaky talent with mental baggage no worse than Sheed or Shad.)

[cbnaylor]

Are you kidding me, this is really a story? CJ has just the amount of cred as the homeless guy standing on the street!

[Bluedevil114]

It depends what he means by "a meltdown." If he means leading an angry mob with flames and pitchforks to UNC's campus to start burning their buildings, then I can see his insight on this. Buuuuut, if he means crying uncontrollably and taking a few days off of work to deal with my emotions, then I would simply say, no!

I really almost choked on my lunch when reading this. Hilarious!! Only because I was thinking the same thing....

[DevilHorns]

I hate to be a downer, but that Leslie article stung me. I really hope he's full of it.

[Greg_Newton]

I hate to be a downer, but that Leslie article stung me. I really hope he's full of it.

At this point I'll admit I get a little jumpy with every little ridiculous rumor, but this didn't worry me one bit. He obviously has no inside info, that's just speculation by someone less informed and rational than many who are speculating Duke, and his judgment of the situation is clearly clouded by his own ego.

Next rumor!

[TxBluedevil]

I hate to be a downer, but that Leslie article stung me. I really hope he's full of it.

1 minute he says UNC is getting HB, the next it's well but if they don't get him... I too think Leslie is trying to make UNC's not recruiting him HB's fault instead of bc UNC just stopped. Bc apparently they stopped recruiting him a while back. We had someone post on here a day or 2 ago (somewhere on pg 84-85 I think) saying we said the same thing about Roscoe Smith, that we stoppedrecruiting him bc of our expectation to get HB. But honestly I think it's KU v. Duke not UNC v. Duke, the good thing is no matter who we're up against apparently we're the favorite, the bad thing is the word of us (or anyone for that matter) being the favorite has not come from HB himself. I am very hopeful I am just nervous lol.

Also does anyone find the fact that HB got in a private workout at KU instead of hanging out with the team a little troubling to KU's chances? It makes me feel like he didn't gel with everyone as well while he was there, maybe this is just wishful thinking.

[Tim1515]

I said this on another thread.

Barnes made the comment about UK that they, "recruit everyone". Roy recruits everyone also...but he's smart enough to realize Barnes wants to be the only target and he's getting the word out.

I am worried about UNC...i've always thought it would be Duke until recently and comments like that don't help.

The thing that sticks with me is why did K go watch Roscoe? Roscoe knows the deal...everyone knows the deal...K wants Barnes and if he misses they'll go after Roscoe. We also know that Barnes is a great kid. Wouldn't you assume he would let K know as soon as he knew if he was going somewhere else so that K could pursue Smith?

Anyway i hope i'm wrong

[TxBluedevil]

I thought Leslie was more of a 4 not a 3 so why would recruiting/not recruiting Leslie effect Barnes bc HB is a primary 3 and an NBA 3/2 probably? Unless they only have 1 scholarship left..

[airowe]

I said this on another thread.

Barnes made the comment about UK that they, "recruit everyone". Roy recruits everyone also...but he's smart enough to realize Barnes wants to be the only target and he's getting the word out.

Except Roy doesn't need to nor is he getting the word out. I'm sure he told Barnes that himself in the 48 hours he was on campus and in the many plane trips, emails, phone calls, texts, love letters slipped into suit pockets, etc.

I am worried about UNC...i've always thought it would be Duke until recently and comments like that don't help.

If Harrison Barnes hasn't told anyone, he certainly hasn't told Carolina. Every school feels confident they are getting Barnes. Some more so than others. But, this really doesn't matter much. Carolina stopped recruiting Leslie about 2 months ago. This is not new news.

The thing that sticks with me is why did K go watch Roscoe? Roscoe knows the deal...everyone knows the deal...K wants Barnes and if he misses they'll go after Roscoe.

Why wouldn't he go watch Roscoe? He's a 30-45 minute drive down the street and he's on Duke's radar. He was being proactive. We should laud K for this, not question him.

[moonpie23]

--Jason "lets try to avoid a meltdown if he picks UNC, ok people?" Evans

I'm sure we'll all be fine

[TxBluedevil]

I said this on another thread.

Barnes made the comment about UK that they, "recruit everyone". Roy recruits everyone also...but he's smart enough to realize Barnes wants to be the only target and he's getting the word out.

I am worried about UNC...i've always thought it would be Duke until recently and comments like that don't help.

The thing that sticks with me is why did K go watch Roscoe? Roscoe knows the deal...everyone knows the deal...K wants Barnes and if he misses they'll go after Roscoe. We also know that Barnes is a great kid. Wouldn't you assume he would let K know as soon as he knew if he was going somewhere else so that K could pursue Smith?

Anyway i hope i'm wrong

maybe he wasn't going to recruit him, from what I heard K didn't really have to go out of his way to meet up and watch him. Maybe he went to tell him good luck with Uconn or Gtown bc we were no longer pursuing him. It is very possible, not everything is as bad as it seems, have faith in K, I think he's going to get this/something done to better our program.

[El_Diablo]

I thought Leslie was more of a 4 not a 3 so why would recruiting/not recruiting Leslie effect Barnes bc HB is a primary 3 and an NBA 3/2 probably? Unless they only have 1 scholarship left..

Yes, UNC already has 13 scholarships tied up in 2011-12 if everyone stays. If Davis leaves early, then UNC will have an extra scholarship, which is presumably being held open for HB. If Davis and Henson leave early, then UNC could have another scholarship available for CJ Leslie, but they might want to save it for the 2011 class.

[El_Diablo]

I love the claim that Roy is "only recruiting Harrison" though. First, he is already at the scholarship limit for 2011--so recruiting two 2010 players at this stage would be overkill (a la Calipari). Second, he already locked up another player at Harrison's position for 2010 (Reggie Bullock). How is that showing some sort of commitment to Harrison??? It's only fortuitous that Bullock already committed--otherwise Roy would still be all over him too.

[Mike Corey]

I hate to be a downer, but that Leslie article stung me. I really hope he's full of it.

UNC dropped Leslie months ago. The article's misleading.

[airowe]

I love the claim that Roy is "only recruiting Harrison" though. First, he is already at the scholarship limit for 2011--so recruiting two 2010 players at this stage would be overkill (a la Calipari). Second, he already locked up another player at Harrison's position for 2010 (Reggie Bullock). How is that showing some sort of commitment to Harrison??? It's only fortuitous that Bullock already committed--otherwise Roy would still be all over him too.

Not to mention all of the recruits present at the Alumni game for Harrison's OV. If he was only recruiting Harrison why invite so many guys to Carolina for that weekend.

Duke, Iowa State, and UCLA are the only schools till left that devoted all their time and energy to Barnes during his visit...

[drksuh]

The university who gets Harrison Barnes will be most fortunate indeed. He is a super kid, who is very academically oriented, polished, and polite, and keeps his business very discrete sans rumor and innuendo and drama- and he just happens to be a high level basketball player who seems destined for an excellent college basketball experience and a long professional career.

Duke University or UNC appear likely as the two front runners but this classy kid has tipped off no one and appears to have seriously considered all six finalists thoughtfully and carefully. The fact that he changed his spring signing plan to November soon after the UNC Alumni game visit bodes well for the Tar Heels. The fact that he keeps referring to the Duke Blue Devils with "we" and "us" bodes well for Duke.

The bottom line is that this CIA capable holder of secrets is one of the few who know which hat he will wear on Friday. Even Coach K and Roy Williams probably are not sure which hat he will wear on Friday. Everything else then, is pure speculation.

Kudos to Harrison Barnes, one of the classiest recruits we have or will ever see.

[uh_no]

so you're saying he'll keep the knowledge of which cap he'll wear...close to his vest?

[Bob Green]

True but this does remind me of Patrick Patterson. Everyone thought we were getting Patterson until Billy came in and took him away.

I don't see much of a comparison between Barnes and Patterson. Duke got involved with Patterson pretty late in the game and never was regarded as the favorite to sign him.

Jimsumner,

I'm talking in regards to the type of blow that Duke faced when he didn't sign. It hurt. We were counting on him coming in to fill the void down low.

I believe you are overestimating Duke's position with Patterson. As Jim stated, Duke was never regarded as the favorite. I doubt the staff was "counting on him coming" to Duke.

[BlueintheFace]

so you're saying he'll keep the knowledge of which cap he'll wear...close to his vest?

what if his announcement is actually made WITH A VEST... let that sink in to your mind a bit.... yah

[BlueintheFace]

We haven't had a battle for the #1 recruit (especially against UNC) in a looooooong time. K and the staff invested a lot of time and energy in to this recruitment and it is obviously a pretty important one to a lot of people. Naturally, tensions are high and people are a little on edge.

We are all cautiously optimistic, but there is always the chance that Friday turns out to be a bit depressing for the staff and the fans. Frankly, I can see things turning ugly around here real fast if people don't have some perspective. For this reason, I propose a pledge, win or lose, to set the appropriate tone on the board:

I PLEDGE TO ONLY SPEAK POSITIVELY ABOUT THE COACHING STAFF, HARRISON BARNES, AND THE DIRECTION OF THE PROGRAM FOR THE NEXT 72 HOURS.

Who will join me?