John Wall Recruitment

[mr. synellinden]

Just in case anyone posts a comment on that story (and subsequently becomes the new "last post"), I'll clarify it here. The last comment is by someone with a username of Brian Clifton which says:



The username also links to a twitter, apparently Clifton's: http://twitter.com/officiald1sprts

Now this is on the Chronicle's Web version of the story:

UPDATE: After a spirited discussion in the comments section of this post, a message from a user named “Brian Clifton,” alluding to Wall’s advisor who was cited in the post, was posted with a link to Clifton’s official Twitter page. However, after speaking with Clifton on the phone moments ago, it is clear that the post in fact was not written by Clifton himself. The Chronicle Sports Blog apologizes for any confusion this might have caused.

Coming to ABC this fall, from the creators of Grey's Anatomy, a new primetime drama called Pursuing John Wall ...

[El_Diablo]

Now this is on the Chronicle's Web version of the story:

UPDATE: After a spirited discussion in the comments section of this post, a message from a user named “Brian Clifton,” alluding to Wall’s advisor who was cited in the post, was posted with a link to Clifton’s official Twitter page. However, after speaking with Clifton on the phone moments ago, it is clear that the post in fact was not written by Clifton himself. The Chronicle Sports Blog apologizes for any confusion this might have caused.

Coming to ABC this fall, from the creators of Grey's Anatomy, a new primetime drama called Pursuing John Wall ...

Wow. Ridiculous.

[miramar]

Coming to ABC this fall, from the creators of Grey's Anatomy, a new primetime drama called Pursuing John Wall ...

Actually, when this is all over I think that we will need a basketball version of Willis Morris's "The Courting of Marcus Dupree."

That's a really good book, BTW, even for people who don't like sports. Unfortunately, it seems that recruiting has become even worse since the book was written.

[JasonEvans]

Actually, when this is all over I think that we will need a basketball version of Willis Morris's "The Courting of Marcus Dupree."

That's a really good book, BTW, even for people who don't like sports. Unfortunately, it seems that recruiting has become even worse since the book was written.

Former Georgia Tech head football coach Pepper Rodgers wrote a book (fiction) on recruiting that was pretty good. I read it when I was in college. It was called 4th and Long Gone and the center of the book was a recruiting battle between two state schools over a superstar running back. It was obvious to me that the book was about the recruiting of Herschel Walker, who had been at Georgia only a couple years earlier.

It has been 20+ years since I read 4th and Long Gone, but I recall it being a pretty good page-turner.

For a bit of a look at college basketball recruiting-- I seem to recall a fair amount of recruiting stuff Feinstein's "A Season on the Brink."

--Jason "wow, I have not read A Season on the Brink in decades... need to pick that up again soon" Evans

[mo.st.dukie]

Now this is on the Chronicle's Web version of the story:

UPDATE: After a spirited discussion in the comments section of this post, a message from a user named “Brian Clifton,” alluding to Wall’s advisor who was cited in the post, was posted with a link to Clifton’s official Twitter page. However, after speaking with Clifton on the phone moments ago, it is clear that the post in fact was not written by Clifton himself. The Chronicle Sports Blog apologizes for any confusion this might have caused.

Coming to ABC this fall, from the creators of Grey's Anatomy, a new primetime drama called Pursuing John Wall ...

Which is exactly why you can't get too excited or depressed about something you read on the internet because many times the information will be false.

[stickdog]

SLAM's "Sources" Say Wall Committed to UK Tonight

Please no "I'm glad" posts, at least not yet. This is, after all, SLAM ONLINE.

[FireOgilvie]

I had heard a lot of talk lately that he was going to commit to UK soon, so I'm not surprised by this. Too bad. It would have been a huge "upset" if Duke had actually landed him, especially since he was leaning towards Memphis initially. At least we were in it until the end. Wall and Clifton had a lot of good things to say about Duke and Coach K, which also only helps the recruiting perception. The one thing that bothers me is that we still have only 3 guards next year. Not ideal.

I wouldn't be surprised if Clifton comes out and denies the commitment, but I don't think he's going anywhere else.

[micah75]

Five minutes since this scoop broke and the board hasn't melted down yet?

Well snap. Are there any other PGs out there we can get before the season starts? Is it too late? Jeepers. I'm bummed.

[JasonEvans]

Whew-- thank goodness he is not going to Miami!!

--Jason " " Evans

[arnie]

The Wall commitment to KY is being broadcast by Raleigh radio this morning.

[MIKESJ73]

http://kentucky.rivals.com/content.asp?cid=947244

Rivals now reporting it. Oh well, I guess Bledsoe will need to start praying that Meeks doesn't return.

[NYDukie]

If this is actually the case that Wall is UK bound, can any of us really be that surprised? I understand there are about 2500 posts on this but I can't really say that I'm totally disappointed, assuming this is this real deal! If not, as I live in the NYC area and don't get any Carolina news, I do hope he miraculously winds up at Duke still.

As I mentioned above, I'm not surprised because he has always been a Calipari lean and as most recruits do, they commit the majority of the time to the COACH and not the school. And lastly, I don't feel totally used like that guy who takes out a girl to a real nice dinner and club, only that she went out with you only to have that really good dinner and get into that club, similar to how I felt when Patterson and Monroe seemed to be all over Duke at the party only to leave with UK and GU, respectively.

Ahhh, on to the 2010 PG recruits, come on down BRANDON KNIGHT and KYRIE IRVING (spellcheck) and be the ones who direct the best talent in place to a championship!!!

[ice-9]

"Duke is a great program and is in a great situation next year, but desperately needs a point guard," said Clifton. "Miami has good players and desperately needs a point guard. Kentucky not only has a point guard in Liggins, who was recruited to be a point guard, but they have Bledsoe coming in who some people say is a comparable player to John.

"It's not like John is a guy who wants to take two or three years to figure it out and get things together. He needs to hit the ground running in short order. But John said to me, 'When I came to your program, I wasn't the guy. I had to listen to you and turned it around. It doesn't matter to me who is there.'

"I believe in John Wall as a person, forget basketball. If he believes in the situation, then I trust him and respect him. If he believes he can do it, that's all I need to hear."

Sounds like Clifton pushed hard for us, but it also sounds like Wall really wants to go to Kentucky. Good luck to the young man, I hope him success there!

[JasonEvans]

Folks-- it is my fault for starting it but I would urge everyone to refrain from extensive discussions of the makeup of next year's team in this thread.

Lets leave this thread to discussions about John Wall only.

I, for one, will not be at all sad to see this thread slowly work its way to the bottom of this page and then fade into cyber-nothingness.

--Jason "I know there are some mods who are all in favor of just locking this puppy at this point-- but we will wait for the time being" Evans

[Crisker]

Link: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...cky/index.html

[miramar]

I wish Wall the best. He has probably found the best fit for a quick jump to the NBA.

[Dukefan4Life]

Well I woke up this morning turned on the tv and there on ESPN it said John wall commits to UK! well i can only say i knew it all along but im glad all of the hype and waiting is over!

[DevilCastDownfromDurham]

Good luck, John. I know you'll be successful at UK next season and with whatever team is lucky enough to draft you. Throw a triple-double up against UNC next season for us.

[KyDevilinIL]

Good. It's over.

Back to reality.

We can be pretty decent next season without him, although UK might have the potential to be scary good by the end of the year.

[CameronBornAndBred]

I'm not unhappy about this at all. I said a few times in the Wall thread that I wasn't thrilled about us recruiting him do to his stated one and done position. Now we won't have to justify landing him. Several will say that K wanted him, and fought hard for him, so I should agree with K. I didn't on that choice, I don't on plenty of issues.
As far as Wall himself goes, and Ky, it will be interesting to see how he and they do next year. How will Bledsoe handle it? Best of luck to him.

One other thing, I am dreading the backlash of K losing this recruit. While I am happy that we didn't get him, I am not looking forward to all the posts about how K "has lost his touch". I don't buy that either. We have an honorable program with tough academics. It's a hard sell, I am grateful that he does the amazing job that he does year after year given the inherent restrictions. It also makes me prouder of the teams that we put on the floor. If we had landed Wall, I'm not sure I could have felt that way.