John Wall Recruitment

[yancem]

I apologize for not posting earlier, but it took a whole day for my account to be verified...

We broke the story about Wall visiting Baylor yesterday.

http://memphisroar.com/2009/03/break...sit-to-baylor/

I recieved word that he arrived safely today.

If anything news happens, i'll let you know.
We'll try to be quick with getting new info out regarding Wall, and we do it for free.

thanks, and best of luck. (beat those heels sunday!)

Thanks for keeping us posted. It is nice to read actual news regarding Wall instead of debating recruiting philosophies and the merits of one and dones.

[DU Band Prez 88]

Thanks for keeping us posted. It is nice to read actual news regarding Wall instead of debating recruiting philosophies and the merits of one and dones.

Does everyone realize that there have been 22 pages of postings on whether or not Duke can recruit John Wall? This is really ridiculous.

Duke has a game to play against UNC on March 8, which the team can win. Duke has an ACC tournament and an NCAA tournament to compete in, and I for one am excited about the next few weeks of college basketball and, current injuries aside, am optimistic about Duke's chances in both tournaments. Why are we even thinking about John Wall?

Duke basketball is going to be just fine for the future, regardless of whether or not John Wall matriculates at Duke and, if he does, whether or not he is a "one and one" player.

[SupaDave]

Does everyone realize that there have been 22 pages of postings on whether or not Duke can recruit John Wall? This is really ridiculous.

Duke has a game to play against UNC on March 8, which the team can win. Duke has an ACC tournament and an NCAA tournament to compete in, and I for one am excited about the next few weeks of college basketball and, current injuries aside, am optimistic about Duke's chances in both tournaments. Why are we even thinking about John Wall?

Duke basketball is going to be just fine for the future, regardless of whether or not John Wall matriculates at Duke and, if he does, whether or not he is a "one and one" player.

There's a thread for all of the topics you mentioned above. No reason why we can't discuss Wall (or Patterson & Monroe for that matter) on these boards - ad nauseum if need be...

There's a soccer thread with over 33 pages - would you like to go and tell them that isn't relevant as well?

[quickgtp]

There's a thread for all of the topics you mentioned above. No reason why we can't discuss Wall (or Patterson & Monroe for that matter) on these boards - ad nauseum if need be...

There's a soccer thread with over 33 pages - would you like to go and tell them that isn't relevant as well?

Good call, but I will say that I believe there is no chance that we get Wall. If we truly wanted him that bad we would have made a big push. Personally I think I would rather get a guy like Bledsoe anyway!

[CDu]

Does everyone realize that there have been 22 pages of postings on whether or not Duke can recruit John Wall? This is really ridiculous.

Duke has a game to play against UNC on March 8, which the team can win. Duke has an ACC tournament and an NCAA tournament to compete in, and I for one am excited about the next few weeks of college basketball and, current injuries aside, am optimistic about Duke's chances in both tournaments. Why are we even thinking about John Wall?

Duke basketball is going to be just fine for the future, regardless of whether or not John Wall matriculates at Duke and, if he does, whether or not he is a "one and one" player.

As has been pointed out, there has been much discussion of the Duke/UNC game and the upcoming ACC tournament. Probably much moreso in the last few weeks than the John Wall recruitment.

The reason that there are 22 pages of John Wall discussion is because John Wall is the #1 recruit in the country, is on Duke's radar, and has been for MONTHS! Note that this thread began back in October. Would it have made sense to talk about the UNC game back in October? Obviously not - there were other games to be played. Thus, there isn't a UNC game thread dating back to November, and thus there isn't a 22-page UNC game thread.

Wall's recruitment has significant implications on next year's team. I see nothing wrong with discussing it. I would have a problem with discussing it if it meant nobody was discussing current events. But that is not the case. One can quite easily discuss both the big games this weekend and next week AND the Wall recruiting situation.

[3rd Dukie]

And how many times do you need to say that on this board? You aren't going to change Coach K's mind if he is interested in the kid. And saying it over and over and over does not add to the board. All it does add is negativity toward a potential recruit.

If Coach K wants him, I'll cheer for him while he is in a Duke uniform. Depending on what he does and how he acts while he is at Duke, I'll have to see if I will root for him at the next level. I root for Luol, I don't root for Josh. I don't say negative things about any Blue Devil. Except Lefty. And Rick Waggoner. And Feinstein. And ...

It sounds like John Wall may be a really good kid, and is in the process of turning his life around. He may come and stay for 2 or 3 years. Nobody knows yet.

While I don't seem to have a strong conviction on this subject, I think this post best reflects my own thinking. Perhaps I am an incurable optimist, although I have never been called that, but who knows what a 19 year old kid might do after being exposed to a classy program for only one year? Stranger things have happened. There have been some very compelling arguments on both sides of this topic on this forum.

[throatybeard]

I've seen some form of this comment about 143 times: "if Wall is a one-year type of guy, then I just don't want him at Duke at all."

I'll tell you when I learned my lesson about taking that position. I said it about Carlos Boozer. We all know how that turned out. Since then I've managed to keep my mouth shut, at least in this one way.

I trust Mike Krzyzewski and his people to get player personnel. They're working on infinitely more information than anyone on this board.

[Greg_Newton]

Wall's recruitment has significant implications on next year's team. I see nothing wrong with discussing it. I would have a problem with discussing it if it meant nobody was discussing current events. But that is not the case. One can quite easily discuss both the big games this weekend and next week AND the Wall recruiting situation.

Good point... if you don't want to talk about recruiting, you can always just not click on the thread! IMHO, the more I hear of Wall's prospects and the more I see of Bledsoe, I'd almost just rather get Bledsoe. The way he plays reminds of Wall a little bit, albeit without QUITE the same level of freak athleticism and length. However, he looks like he plays within himself and has great pure PG instincts, perhaps more so than Wall, and from what I hear he has a great attitude and is almost reverent of Duke. Don't get me wrong - I would love to have an undeniable NBA-caliber athlete on the roster (Wall) and I don't think his being a one-and-done would be an issue given that we have a highly touted PG coming in the year after, but it's starting to sound less and less feasible.

I will be extremely happy if we land either guy though, for reasons already stated by others regarding our guard depth and lack of a true PG... and also because I think it's important for Nolan Smith's development. I realllly hope that in the long run, we let Nolan get back to the wing and just turn him loose. He was an electrifying, explosive scorer in HS, and I think he could really strive as a slasher here. He's been great sport filling in at PG, but if you watch how he moves when he's trying to be the quarterback, he's much less effective than when he's an energy guy on the wing. He's very deliberate with the ball, almost hunched over, he doesn't really look to attack the lane, and he isn't great at delivering passes right when they need to be delivered (i.e. just as a player pops open off a screen, rather than several seconds later). I only point this out because I believe if he eventually gets back on the wing with his old attack-the-rim mentality, he can regain some of his confidence and swagger and become an elite player on this level.

Plus, just think about how much fun to watch a team would be with Scheyer and Bledsoe/Wall splitting time at the point, Henderson (hopefully!), Elliott and Nolan slashing from the wings, Singler/LT/Ryan Kelly filling the lanes and creating mismatches at forward, and the MPs running trailer at the 5... sounds like a recipe for the type of run-and-gun, blow people out Duke team we haven't seen for a few years! Fingers crossed. Oh, and GTHC.

[-jk]

I've seen some form of this comment about 143 times: "if Wall is a one-year type of guy, then I just don't want him at Duke at all."

I'll tell you when I learned my lesson about taking that position. I said it about Carlos Boozer. We all know how that turned out. Since then I've managed to keep my mouth shut, at least in this one way.

I trust Mike Krzyzewski and his people to get player personnel. They're working on infinitely more information than anyone on this board.

There you go again. Injecting a rational opinion into a recruiting thread.

-jk

[dgoore97]

Anybody heard anything after the weekend?

[dgoore97]

just adding this from the rivals front page, wonder if it means K is not optimistic:

"The Duke coaching staff has been very active on the recruiting front for the class of 2009 as of late. With John Wall still serving as the primary target, Mike Krzyzewski and his staff realize landing the nation's No. 1 rated prospect will be a difficult task. Consequently, they have kept their eyes on the other top two uncommitted point guards in the class - Eric Bledsoe and Darius Smith."

[quickgtp]

Scout.com has a premium article stating which school John Wall has as number 1, and that an announcement date will be coming soon. A friend of mine is saying that it is Baylor, but he didn't send me the information. Can anyone verify this on the scout site?

IMO, we are wasting our time with this kid. I have a strong feeling he will end up at Baylor and something certainly doesn't sound right there. We need to offer Bledsoe ASAP. He is a legit PG and can really help the Duke team next year!

[BD80]

... IMO, we are wasting our time with this kid. ... We need to offer Bledsoe ASAP. ...

Who we? What time has the coaching staff invested? Perhaps you have wasted time posting about "this kid." You could stop.

What information do you have that the staff is in any way altering its pursuit of Bledsoe due to Wall?

I enjoy the prospect of John coming to Duke. I also enjoy the prospect of Eric coming.

I recommend you sit back and enjoy. Unless you want to be one that gets to say: "I told you we shouldn't have wasted our time." I think posters like that are often ignored.

[yancem]

Scout.com has a premium article stating which school John Wall has as number 1, and that an announcement date will be coming soon. A friend of mine is saying that it is Baylor, but he didn't send me the information. Can anyone verify this on the scout site?

IMO, we are wasting our time with this kid. I have a strong feeling he will end up at Baylor and something certainly doesn't sound right there. We need to offer Bledsoe ASAP. He is a legit PG and can really help the Duke team next year!

Umm, Bledsoe hasn't qualified academically yet, so chances of him playing for Duke at this point aren't any better than Wall. Why not let the coaches corry about how they manage their recruiting schedule!

[Greg_Newton]

What information do you have that the staff is in any way altering its pursuit of Bledsoe due to Wall?

I would love to see John Wall at Duke, but I also think that was a fair point to raise. I doubt that Bledsoe is completely naive to the connection between his lack of an offer from Duke and our continued pursuit of Wall (unless his academic issues really are the ONLY obstacle, which I would be somewhat skeptical of), and it is entirely possible that the situation could negatively affect our prospects with Bledsoe if it drags on too long. My view is that it would be very, very good to get Wall, very good to get Bledsoe, and very bad to get neither.

That said, who knows what is really going on with either of them. For all we know, Wall is about to commit to Duke and Bledsoe is about to fail his last semester and it's a moot point.

[shoutingncu]

http://www.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/e...71764/13972710

[dukeballer2294]

haha ^^^ well i guess were on to... Erik Bledsoe!

[gotham devil]

That said, who knows what is really going on with either of them. For all we know, Wall is about to commit to Duke and Bledsoe is about to fail his last semester and it's a moot point.

Newton,

When did Beckwith and Clifton allow Wall to meet with Coach Krzyzewski and formally receive an offer?

[Greg_Newton]

Gotham - you're right, I suppose that would be way too much to ask of them. My point was mainly that we really have no idea what goes on behind the scenes... as evidenced by that link.

I swear, Memphis shouldn't be eligible for the NCAA tournament next year, as they really in no way resemble a true college basketball program. It reminds me of one of those shady little HS "prep academies" whose roster changes throughout the year and happens to have an AAU coach for a principal - just somewhere to coast through for a year and promote yourself until you move to the next level. I suppose it's a smart career move for some kids within the current system, but man...

[BlueintheFace]

Hit the books Erik