John Wall Recruitment

[BlueintheFace]

1000th Reply !!!!! I feel special.

Come to Duke John Wall... or don't. At least you provide an interesting topic for debate.

[COYS]

I just do not think there is anyway that we will land Wall now, with UNC going after a championship, a Duke team that can not get past the Sweet 16. With Henderson's' status not looking to well, why would he want to come here? I think we may be looking at the same type of Duke teams for the next 5 or 6 years. There is nothing on earth that is going to stop Roy's ability to recruit. We have a coach with three Championships, and a Gold medal, and we still can not get the top players that we need. What frustrates me the most is that we seem to get better each year, but never as good as our Rival down the road. IF wall goes there it will be the same way. I wish there was some remedy to fix all of this. I just want to be able to compete with them again, I just hope that Duke does not fade off into oblivion over the next 10 years, something like what happened to St. Johns, but with so much venom being directed our way from the media, how are we ever suppose to land the top kids. If you were 18 and you knew that you were going to ridiculed and harassed by the media, and other teams fans, would you really want to go here? This is one of the worst days for me as a Duke fan, and now more than likely we are going to have to listen to every person in NC talk about how great their team is, Roy will have his 2nd and could possible have his third very very soon. Maybe MSU will play the games of their lives, but some reason teams always pull up lame against UNC after they just took down a big team

This is a completely over the top post, in my opinion. Honestly, UNC fans were singing this tune just five years ago when Duke was in the FF after their star-studded team underachieved again and Duke was supposedly bringing in Livingston to join Deng, Shelden, Redick, Ewing and co. You haven't even let Mason or Kelly play a game and yet you already give UNC's recruits the nod as being better (who would you rather have now, Hansbrough or McRoberts? The answer now is way different than it was in 2005). You also have already given them Wall for next year's crop. Even if UNC lands Wall, it's not the end of the world for Duke. 2010 is shaping up to be great, as we'll get to add Curry to the '09 class plus bring in Dawkins, Thornton, and Hairston plus we're up near the top of Barnes' list. If we stage a coup and grab a Brandon Knight, our fortunes in the rivalry can turn around, instantly. If 2010 and 2011 are strong classes, we're back to supremacy. It all comes in waves and it ebbs and flows. I'm not really sure how the fate of Wall relegates us to second best on Tobacco Road for five years.

[tommy]

Nbadraft.net has it as a definite that Tyreke Evans will leave Memphis and enter the draft, including hiring an agent. I doubt Wall would have been so interested in Memphis w/o Calipari, but if he was, at least this past season's starting point guard won't be there.

FWIW, UCLA's Jrue Holiday will also test the waters per nbadraft.net. Got to be kidding me on that one -- unlike Evans, he was utterly mediocre as a freshman ,doing nothing to suggest that he's anywhere near ready.

[Faison1]

I just do not think there is anyway that we will land Wall now, with UNC going after a championship, a Duke team that can not get past the Sweet 16. With Henderson's' status not looking to well, why would he want to come here? I think we may be looking at the same type of Duke teams for the next 5 or 6 years. There is nothing on earth that is going to stop Roy's ability to recruit. We have a coach with three Championships, and a Gold medal, and we still can not get the top players that we need. What frustrates me the most is that we seem to get better each year, but never as good as our Rival down the road. IF wall goes there it will be the same way. I wish there was some remedy to fix all of this. I just want to be able to compete with them again, I just hope that Duke does not fade off into oblivion over the next 10 years, something like what happened to St. Johns, but with so much venom being directed our way from the media, how are we ever suppose to land the top kids. If you were 18 and you knew that you were going to ridiculed and harassed by the media, and other teams fans, would you really want to go here? This is one of the worst days for me as a Duke fan, and now more than likely we are going to have to listen to every person in NC talk about how great their team is, Roy will have his 2nd and could possible have his third very very soon. Maybe MSU will play the games of their lives, but some reason teams always pull up lame against UNC after they just took down a big team

Let me begin by saying, I understand your pain, and I too am a bit worried about the Wall situation. But the majority of your post is utter nonsense. Are you seriously worried that K is going to let the love of his life drift into mediocrity? Has John Wall called you to say he's going to UNC? You rank this day as one of the worst days as a Duke fan....comparing it to the championship loss to Louisville in '86, or the finals loss to UConn in '99, not to mention the semifinal loss to UConn in '04, or even the LSU loss in '05?

I haven't even mentioned the other bitter defeats to conference rivals, or ACC tourney games. THOSE are bad days to be Duke Fans. Not a debate over recruiting. And that's all this is. We have the chance to land a really good kid. But we've had lots of chances. And probably missed quite a few, but you didn't know about it because before a few years ago, DBR boards didn't exist or weren't widely followed. Anyway, have faith and place trust in K. He will find a way to win. He always has. He's brought us 28 years of amazing basketball with amazing kids....admirable kids. Give him the benefit of the doubt.

And congrats to everyone for getting 1000 posts!!!

[_Gary]

THOSE are bad days to be Duke Fans. Not a debate over recruiting.

I agree that neither yesterday, today or even tomorrow (when UNC undoubtedly will win another title) are bad days to be Duke fans. However, should Wall for some crazy reason sign with the Holes - that will rank as a very, very, very bad day to be a Duke fan. And while I think DBFan has overstated how dire the situation is, he hasn't overstated it by that much. We are getting our butts outrecruited right now by ole Roy. That's just flat out plain and obvious. Coach K has made a huge play for a kid he believes can immeditately put us right back in the title hunt next year. If Williams comes in at the last second and gets Wall to sign with him, it tells me he's head and shoulders above us in terms of recruiting and it will set off red warning lights in my mind. Just saying...

[Newton_14]

The Chronicle had a chat with JP Giglio regarding Duke recruiting and Wall

http://sports.chronicleblogs.com/200...nos-jp-giglio/

I think his argument that K actively avoided one-and-done players for a short period of time is questionable.

There is little to no truth/fact in JP's responses. He even admitted he was not up to speed on the details of each Duke recruit. He states that Duke only recruited Monroe and Patterson because of the early round NCAA exit's in 06 and 07. That is simply not true. Most all of his other assessments are off base as well. He even suggested we lost out on Brandon Wright because "maybe K insisted that if he committed he would have to play two seasons".

I think it would be a good idea if JP sat down with Mark Watson and got the facts regarding Duke recruiting in this decade. Maybe then he could write an informed article.

[jv001]

I agree that neither yesterday, today or even tomorrow (when UNC undoubtedly will win another title) are bad days to be Duke fans. However, should Wall for some crazy reason sign with the Holes - that will rank as a very, very, very bad day to be a Duke fan. And while I think DBFan has overstated how dire the situation is, he hasn't overstated it by that much. We are getting our butts outrecruited right now by ole Roy. That's just flat out plain and obvious. Coach K has made a huge play for a kid he believes can immeditately put us right back in the title hunt next year. If Williams comes in at the last second and gets Wall to sign with him, it tells me he's head and shoulders above us in terms of recruiting and it will set off red warning lights in my mind. Just saying...

Sometimes it's hard to argue with numbers and facts. Go Duke!

[Faison1]

I agree that neither yesterday, today or even tomorrow (when UNC undoubtedly will win another title) are bad days to be Duke fans. However, should Wall for some crazy reason sign with the Holes - that will rank as a very, very, very bad day to be a Duke fan. And while I think DBFan has overstated how dire the situation is, he hasn't overstated it by that much. We are getting our butts outrecruited right now by ole Roy. That's just flat out plain and obvious. Coach K has made a huge play for a kid he believes can immeditately put us right back in the title hunt next year. If Williams comes in at the last second and gets Wall to sign with him, it tells me he's head and shoulders above us in terms of recruiting and it will set off red warning lights in my mind. Just saying...

I agree with you. It is no fun watching Carolina continue to recruit big man after big man, and guard after guard, while we seem to be getting more denials from top 10 recruits than LOI's. I'm not sure any of us know the reasons behind this change in momentum since about 2004-2005. But I think we'll get it back in the next couple of years. (However, during Dean's years, K admitted he couldn't recruit against him....UNC just has some serious advantages, as long as they have a good coach....and they obviously have a great coach now.)

And my apologies to DBFan....I was a bit too harsh. I just don't think the world is ending, and I certainly don't think Duke will be behind Carolina much longer. I would love to see Wall in a Duke Uni, and it would cause much grief if he ended up in Chapel Hell. But I still think we'll be good with or withour him next year....

[Devilsfan]

We certainly can out coach them. That's a given. Now let's out recruit them!

[Icarus09]

Here's a question. If Gerald declared and got an agent today, would anybody's opinion about getting John Wall change?

I think this is a thought worth exploring. But I don't think it would. And, as the desperation seems to be steadily growing on this board, I don't think it will change for the better, especially because Gerald declaring seems to be close to certainty. If anything, we're going to feel that getting Wall is more important because we're going to need to fill an even bigger offensive void than just the PG slot. Some points are going to disappear. While I do think that we'll get points from other places if Henderson leaves, we're going to need serious contributions from our incoming freshmen. Scheyer and Nolan will get better, but I don't think we can be certain that Nolan will be able to contribute as a PG. And, I don't think we can afford to burden Scheyer any more than we have. Wall would definitely ease the sting of Henderson leaving. While I think Bledsoe is more of a long-term answer, I don't think we can dispute the fact that Wall would probably compensate better next year for the loss of Henderson than Bledsoe could, not just from a positional perspective but also in terms of points.

[MAG0297]

I think that Duke has been out recruited the last couple of years, but I feel that the Team USA involvement has had a lot to do with this. I have been discouraged the last couple of seasons because we have had a great overall talent level but we were just missing two pieces to the puzzle. Missing out on John Wall would hurt that much more if he went to UNC, but I can't see Duke going the way of St. Johns. I think Duke is going to be a better team next year even if G goes (really hope he stays) and if we miss on Wall. I was HIGHLY encouraged by the way K went after Curry and was also impressed that he went after Wall knowing that we really need a point guard. For me the future is bright! It can only be a good thing to have NBA players like Kobe praising your coach and to have somebody like Dell Curry say that your facilities are on par with the best in the NBA, lets give these sentiments time to develop. Kelly and Plumlee2 are the types that are going to stick around for a couple of years and develop into really good players; add to this what is already a really good 2010 class (could potentially get a lot better) and I would say that Duke is heading in the right direction. We may not win a NC next year, but I would say we will definitely be contending in the next 2 or 3 seasons IMO.

[DBFAN]

I do apologize for seeming so doom and gloom last nigh, it was just tough watching the Tar Heels play another team that did not show up, the Gerald Henderson rumors, and the Wall rumors were just a lot to take in at once last night. Lets hope that we get a bit of Good Luck over the next couple of weeks

Go Duke

[UrinalCake]

These things definitely go in cycles. I was a freshman in 1995 and at the time UNC was so dominant that the only thought when we played them was whether or not we'd be run off the floor before halftime. By 1999 the pendulum had swung back in our favor. It doesn't happen overnight, but it will happen, even though it's hard to see that when things aren't going so well.

Also, is it possible we're overvaluing Wall a little bit simply because he's the top unsigned prospect? This kind of thing seems to happen every year. Is it really realistic to think that he will lead us to a national championship as a freshman point guard? Maybe it's not and I'm just speaking out of ignorance, but I just feel like there's been a swell of emotions on this board that has gotten a little out of control and maybe we're getting caught up in wanting what we don't have. Then again maybe he really is that good.

[rotogod00]

These things definitely go in cycles. I was a freshman in 1995 and at the time UNC was so dominant that the only thought when we played them was whether or not we'd be run off the floor before halftime. By 1999 the pendulum had swung back in our favor. It doesn't happen overnight, but it will happen, even though it's hard to see that when things aren't going so well.

Also, is it possible we're overvaluing Wall a little bit simply because he's the top unsigned prospect? This kind of thing seems to happen every year. Is it really realistic to think that he will lead us to a national championship as a freshman point guard? Maybe it's not and I'm just speaking out of ignorance, but I just feel like there's been a swell of emotions on this board that has gotten a little out of control and maybe we're getting caught up in wanting what we don't have. Then again maybe he really is that good.

it's not often a PG is the #1 prospect in a class...he's THAT good

[eddiehaskell]

UNC just has some serious advantages, as long as they have a good coach....and they obviously have a great coach now.)

I think most young people grow up in awe of UNC players - past and present. It's been said before, but the UNC program has "street cred." Guys like Battier, Brand, Laettner, Redick and Boozer are seemingly good people, but I'm not sure they're the type of players/people most recruits grow up idolizing. Would things be different if these players went to UNC? I don't know. As a recruit, imagine having Michael Jordan wanting to meet with you about playing for his alma mater.

[geraldsneighbor]

I think most young people grow up in awe of UNC players - past and present. It's been said before, but the UNC program has "street cred." Guys like Battier, Brand, Laettner, Redick and Boozer are seemingly good people, but I'm not sure they're the type of players/people most recruits grow up idolizing. Would things be different if these players went to UNC? I don't know. As a recruit, imagine having Michael Jordan wanting to meet with you about playing for his alma mater.

I'm pretty sure that is a recruiting violation...

[eddiehaskell]

I'm pretty sure that is a recruiting violation...

I'm sure there are ways of getting around that.

Didn't Jordan go to Shav's high school wearing a Shav-country t-shirt?

[Edouble]

I'm sure there are ways of getting around that.

Didn't Jordan go to Shav's high school wearing a Shav-country t-shirt?

No, it was just a picture that D'oh sent to Shave, IIRC.

[Icarus09]

I'm sure there are ways of getting around that.

Didn't Jordan go to Shav's high school wearing a Shav-country t-shirt?

From wikipedia:
"UNC coach Matt Doherty sent Randolph a picture of six-time NBA champion and former UNC standout Michael Jordan wearing one of the popular “Shav Country” shirts made at Randolph’s high school."

[eddiehaskell]

From wikipedia:
"UNC coach Matt Doherty sent Randolph a picture of six-time NBA champion and former UNC standout Michael Jordan wearing one of the popular “Shav Country” shirts made at Randolph’s high school."

Pretty influential when Jordan lets it be known that he wants you to play for his alma mater. I can't say that having a Battier do something similar would carry the same weight with most recruits.