Duke 2010 - greatest recruiting class of all time?

[houstondukie]

Duke is going hard at some of the top players in the class of 2010 and could possibly land the greatest recruiting class ever. Coach K's position with team USA has drawn criticism, being viewed by some as being a distraction from Duke, but I think it is helping us tremendously with recruits.

Duke already got a committement from Andre Dawkins, and is very close to getting one from his close friend Joshua Hairston. Brandon Knight has always been interested in Duke, and from his comments, I think he commits to us once we offer, especially if we land Kenny Boynton. It's too early to tell about Barnes and Smith. It will be a challenge to convince both players to leave home (Barnes-Iowa, Smith-Washington) but Smith has said that it won't play a big factor and spoke very highly of Coach K and Duke. Barnes is a great student like Knight and would fit perfectly in Duke's system.

Possible recruiting class:

PG Brandon Knight - 5 star (Rivals #8)
SG Andre Dawkins - 5 star (Rivals #12) - committed
SF Harrison Barnes - 5 star (Rivals #6)
PF Joshua Hairston - 5 star (Rivals #15)
C Josh Smith - 5 star (Rivals #4)

That's 1/3 of the top 15 players. Add Kenny Boynton, Mason Plumnee, Elliot Williams, Kyle Singler, and Nolan Smith to that team and watch out.

It's too early to predict, but that won't stop me from dreaming/praying/hoping. What's exciting is that I think we have a great shot to land all of these players. Keep your fingers crossed.

[jimsumner]

I know it's July and everything and Lord knows I don't want another thread on why Kyle Singler should play the 3 or who's going to start at point. . .

But, still - way premature. I suspect we can revisit this when and if Duke has more than one actual committment from this class.

My opinion, of course.

[CameronBornAndBred]

Agree with Jim there, waaaaaay to early. And possible commits don't count.

[Wander]

I know it's July and everything and Lord knows I don't want another thread on why Kyle Singler should play the 3 or who's going to start at point. . .

Not mutually exclusive. I vote Singler for starting point guard.

[mgtr]

I have wondered ever since his name came up, is Josh Hairston any relation to Happy Hairston, former NBA player of some renown?

[speedevil]

Duke is going hard at some of the top players in the class of 2010 and could possibly land the greatest recruiting class ever. Coach K's position with team USA has drawn criticism, being viewed by some as being a distraction from Duke, but I think it is helping us tremendously with recruits.

Duke already got a committement from Andre Dawkins, and is very close to getting one from his close friend Joshua Hairston. Brandon Knight has always been interested in Duke, and from his comments, I think he commits to us once we offer, especially if we land Kenny Boynton. It's too early to tell about Barnes and Smith. It will be a challenge to convince both players to leave home (Barnes-Iowa, Smith-Washington) but Smith has said that it won't play a big factor and spoke very highly of Coach K and Duke. Barnes is a great student like Knight and would fit perfectly in Duke's system.

Possible recruiting class:

PG Brandon Knight - 5 star (Rivals #8)
SG Andre Dawkins - 5 star (Rivals #12) - committed
SF Harrison Barnes - 5 star (Rivals #6)
PF Joshua Hairston - 5 star (Rivals #15)
C Josh Smith - 5 star (Rivals #4)

That's 1/3 of the top 15 players. Add Kenny Boynton, Mason Plumnee, Elliot Williams, Kyle Singler, and Nolan Smith to that team and watch out.

It's too early to predict, but that won't stop me from dreaming/praying/hoping. What's exciting is that I think we have a great shot to land all of these players. Keep your fingers crossed.

thats a great prospect list with 1 recruit

i like jason williams, mike dunleavy, carlos boozer, casey sanders, nick horvath class.
especially they all committed to duke, when brand, maggette, burgess, avery, battier was still around.

[devildeac]

Wow, and think about how much teeth-gnashing we will have about transfers with all those young men on our roster and who is going to play which "position" and for how many minutes...

[tecumseh]

Duke is going hard at some of the top players in the class of 2010 and could possibly land the greatest recruiting class ever. Coach K's position with team USA has drawn criticism, being viewed by some as being a distraction from Duke, but I think it is helping us tremendously with recruits.

Duke already got a committement from Andre Dawkins, and is very close to getting one from his close friend Joshua Hairston. Brandon Knight has always been interested in Duke, and from his comments, I think he commits to us once we offer, especially if we land Kenny Boynton. It's too early to tell about Barnes and Smith. It will be a challenge to convince both players to leave home (Barnes-Iowa, Smith-Washington) but Smith has said that it won't play a big factor and spoke very highly of Coach K and Duke. Barnes is a great student like Knight and would fit perfectly in Duke's system.

Possible recruiting class:

PG Brandon Knight - 5 star (Rivals #8)
SG Andre Dawkins - 5 star (Rivals #12) - committed
SF Harrison Barnes - 5 star (Rivals #6)
PF Joshua Hairston - 5 star (Rivals #15)
C Josh Smith - 5 star (Rivals #4)

That's 1/3 of the top 15 players. Add Kenny Boynton, Mason Plumnee, Elliot Williams, Kyle Singler, and Nolan Smith to that team and watch out.

It's too early to predict, but that won't stop me from dreaming/praying/hoping. What's exciting is that I think we have a great shot to land all of these players. Keep your fingers crossed.

That would actually be Iowa State for Barnes and he is from Ames which is a pretty small town and home to Iowa State, very much a college town so there is tremendous pressure on this kid to stay local. The upside for Duke is that Iowa State has not been very good in recent years. Also it is kind of like a Chapel Hill kid choosing Duke so I doubt this kid ends up at Iowa. A smart kid will realize that the pressure never ends and local fans are never satisfied, if he has a great freshman year or sophomore or junior there is always the pressure not to turn pro.

[houstondukie]

That would actually be Iowa State for Barnes and he is from Ames which is a pretty small town and home to Iowa State, very much a college town so there is tremendous pressure on this kid to stay local. The upside for Duke is that Iowa State has not been very good in recent years. Also it is kind of like a Chapel Hill kid choosing Duke so I doubt this kid ends up at Iowa. A smart kid will realize that the pressure never ends and local fans are never satisfied, if he has a great freshman year or sophomore or junior there is always the pressure not to turn pro.

Sorry for the confusion, but I meant Iowa the state is home for Barnes, and was not suggesting that he is considering the University of Iowa.

[houstondukie]

In the world of recruiting nowadays, it's never too early to think about this stuff.

Joshua Hairston could very possibly committ any day now, and has said he will definately decide by the end of summer. I've read reports that Brandon Knight has narrowed his list to 3 schools (elsehwere, I've read 5 schools) and could also decide sooner rather than later (especially if Boynton picks Duke at the end of the summer).

Barnes and Smith, I agree, is very, very soon to predict.

But I still don't buy the "It's too soon to talk about" argument, especially since we have a very good shot of landing Hairston and Knight by the end of the summmer.

[dkbaseball]

Whatever happened to Tyler Thornton? Sounds a bit better than mere lagniappe in this class.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

I know it's July and everything and Lord knows I don't want another thread on why Kyle Singler should play the 3 or who's going to start at point. . .

But, still - way premature. I suspect we can revisit this when and if Duke has more than one actual committment from this class.

My opinion, of course.

I agree about this being way too early to make such a prediction! Until the guys arrive on campus and actually play against other teams, such speculation is an ethereal exercise.

[dukeballer2294]

I love to dream too, but there is no guarentee all these players will live up to their hype. We could have a Josh Mcroberts/Shavlik Randolph kid who were both highly touted but role players at best. Imo dreaming is fun but u cant say 1 of the best classes until they commit and play together. And even if they do I think Dukes class of Wiliams, Dunlevy, and Boozer and Michigan's Fab 5 would be tough to top.

[Dukie4Life]

I'm not sure commenting on a class that has yet to step foot on campus is as easy as saying the best class EVER. I tend to think that the Battier class followed by Dunleavy classes were pretty fantastic. I'm more apt to commenting on a class after I see who is still around when they are freshman!

I will however admit I'm pretty excited to see them play in Cameron!

[roywhite]

The class of 2010 sounds promising but let's remember they haven't even started their junior year in high school yet.

[yancem]

The class of 2010 sounds promising but let's remember they haven't even started their junior year in high school yet.

Let's also not forget that '09 was supposed to be a banner recruiting year and so far we only have one recruit and it is looking like we will most likely sign one more before all is said and done (and there aren't any guarantees of that).

[SupaDave]

Let's also not forget that '09 was supposed to be a banner recruiting year and so far we only have one recruit and it is looking like we will most likely sign one more before all is said and done (and there aren't any guarantees of that).

2009 will be a wonderful year...

[jimsumner]

"I'm not sure commenting on a class that has yet to step foot on campus is as easy as saying the best class EVER"

It's not the that this dream class hasn't set foot on campus yet. It's that this dream class isn't even close to existing.

Duke has ONE committment from the class of '10. One. At least one other prospect is supposed to be a strong Duke lean but, in the immortal words of the bard, it ain't over till it's over. Probably doesn't mean squat in recruiting.

North Carolina, Kentucky, Kansas, UCLA, other schools could have fantasies of what would happen if every top target they've offered ended up signing. UCLA class of '10 best ever? But that class doesn't exist yet, either.

Nobody--certainly not me--is saying don't talk about or think about or salivate about recruiting or recruits. But to equate offers with committments is way, way premature. Maybe K can pull it off. He's pulled off bumper recruiting classes before. But there's a lot of work to do and I think we're getting way ahead of ourselves here.

[Classof06]

I love to dream too, but there is no guarentee all these players will live up to their hype. We could have a Josh Mcroberts/Shavlik Randolph kid who were both highly touted but role players at best. Imo dreaming is fun but u cant say 1 of the best classes until they commit and play together. And even if they do I think Dukes class of Wiliams, Dunlevy, and Boozer and Michigan's Fab 5 would be tough to top.

The 2002 class with Redick, Williams, Randolph, Dockery and Thompson was supposed to be a can't miss class as well. If Shelden wasn't falsely accused of rape, that's 5 McDonald All-Americans. While you can never discredit a recruiting class that has 2 players with retired jerseys, that class didn't crack the Sweet 16 without Luol Deng. Thompson and Randolph were early departures and Dockery was a blue chip recruit who ended up being a role player (not that there's anything wrong with that). Placing expectations on recruiting classes is like predicting which college QBs will succeed in the NFL. There's no way to know ahead of time, you just have to see what happens. Plus, this class doesn't even exist yet.

But as I said in another thread, I love the aggressiveness Krzyzewski is showing with the '09 and '10 classes. He doesn't seem to be wasting any time at all. Everytime I come to the DBR board, I see another "__________ offered" thread, which I love to see. Hopefully we can land these kids and put this thing in overdrive.

[BobbyFan]

What determines the "greatness" of a recruiting class? Is it their collective rankings before they ever play a game or the success they enjoy while in college? Either way, I'd say we have had our share of great ones that won't be easy to top.