2008 Men's Recruiting

[houstondukie]

What ever happened with our recruitment of him? I know he and Patrick Patterson are close friends and both probably would have already signed with Kentucky if not for the situation with Tubby Smith. Now that Tubby is out at Kentucky, I think Duke has a great shot at PP. Would J. Lucas follow him to Duke? We have the scholarships, Lucas is a great talent (McDonalds AA), and while Nolan Smith can play some point guard, he is more of a combo guard whereas Lucas is a pure point. I think Lucas would be make a great backup for Paulus next year and provide the athleticism and penetration at the point gaurd spot that we lacked this year.

[thrilainvanila]

despite what you may have heard (esp from andy katz or whichever espn analyst first said that), i understand we have never had any contact with Jai Lucas.

[wisteria]

I don't have a source to cite, but I remember reading somewhere that many people believe he would go to maryland.

[jimbonelson]

i hear oklahoma state

[Olympic Fan]

Duke has NEVER been involved with Lucas.

Jeff Capel, on the other hand, has been recruiting him hard at Oklahoma. Kentucky, Maryland (where is father played) and Oklahoma State (where his brother played) are his final four.

Don't know what difference Tubby's departure makes -- unlike PP, Lucas has never gone on record as saying that would impact his decision.

[Heelo]

My takes:

1) Florida has been the favorite for Patterson for a long time. Tubby leaving hasn't changed duke's position relative to Florida, that is, it will have to be a come-from-behind victory if duke's going to get him.


2) The duke staff is absolutely nuts to not be getting involved with Jai Lucas. As much as people around here want to think that Scheyer and Nolan Smith can play the point, at the end of the day they're simply not PG's. By all accounts, Jai is a great kid, a hard worker, and possesses extremely sound fundamentals. And as far as pedigree goes, between his father and older brother I think you can hardly ask for anything better. Is he undersized and not particularly athletic? Yes. But for a duke team that struggled to score for most of the season, and whose season could be imperiled by another injury to Greg Paulus, I think a backup point guard who is a team-oriented distributor is exactly what the doctor ordered. I know everyone has high hopes for the offensive contributions of Smith, King and Singler, but there's not a whole lot to suggest that they're going to be any more ready to contribute immediately than (or lack similar significant drawbacks as) Nelson, Scheyer and McRoberts.

Seeing as how K doesn't usually run his bench very deep, I think the risk of "wasting" a scholarship on Jai Lucas is minimal, and it is highly unlikely that his presence would scare off any future PG recruits.

[Troublemaker]

The duke staff is absolutely nuts to not be getting involved with Jai Lucas. As much as people around here want to think that Scheyer and Nolan Smith can play the point, at the end of the day they're simply not PG's.

I think the Duke coaching staff would disagree with this assessment. They're obviously very comfortable with Smith at PG. Otherwise, they would've gotten involved with more PG prospects from 2008.

But for a duke team that struggled to score for most of the season, and whose season could be imperiled by another injury to Greg Paulus, I think a backup point guard who is a team-oriented distributor is exactly what the doctor ordered. Seeing as how K doesn't usually run his bench very deep, I think the risk of "wasting" a scholarship on Jai Lucas is minimal, and it is highly unlikely that his presence would scare off any future PG recruits.

And what are the odds that Jai Lucas would like to be a backup for 2 years and then not even have a starting job guaranteed for his JR and SR seasons?

You're taking the recruitment of a player too lightly, imo. Duke shouldn't sign a player just to have a "true" backup for a couple of seasons. Does he have a chance to start eventually? Would we even want him as the starter? The makeup of the roster also has to be taken into account, as Duke is pretty well loaded with guards right now. If you sign a high school player, especially a top 50 guy, it's a HUGE commitment you're making. Unless he's got elite size and talent, that's FOUR years you're going to spend with the guy. Almost half a decade.

Bottom line is that Duke isn't recruiting Lucas probably because of some combination of (a) we think Nolan Smith is a good PG (b) Jai doesn't want to be a backup for 2 yrs and (c) Jai's not what we're looking for in a PG

[CMS2478]

I think the Duke coaching staff would disagree with this assessment. They're obviously very comfortable with Smith at PG. Otherwise, they would've gotten involved with more PG prospects from 2008.



And what are the odds that Jai Lucas would like to be a backup for 2 years and then not even have a starting job guaranteed for his JR and SR seasons?

You're taking the recruitment of a player too lightly, imo. Duke shouldn't sign a player just to have a "true" backup for a couple of seasons. Does he have a chance to start eventually? Would we even want him as the starter? The makeup of the roster also has to be taken into account, as Duke is pretty well loaded with guards right now. If you sign a high school player, especially a top 50 guy, it's a HUGE commitment you're making. Unless he's got elite size and talent, that's FOUR years you're going to spend with the guy. Almost half a decade.

Bottom line is that Duke isn't recruiting Lucas probably because of some combination of (a) we think Nolan Smith is a good PG (b) Jai doesn't want to be a backup for 2 yrs and (c) Jai's not what we're looking for in a PG

He wouldn't start over Paulus, so it doesn't make sense for us to recruit him or him to come to Duke. But do you really think Nolan Smith will be a point guard. Most everything I've heard about him is that he is a shooting guard. In fact I asked the question on here one time if anybody thought he would play some point next year and people responded as though I was the most ignorant basketball fan in the world. I have seen King and Singler play, but only one game of Smith on tv and I know he is not the PG for Oak Hill. So, Troublemaker do you think he will run some point at Duke? (Behind Paulus of course).

[Troublemaker]

Yes, I think Nolan will be the main PG backup in '08 and '09. He will then be the PG starter in '10 and '11 and groom a 2009 PG recruit who backs up Nolan both years. I know Nolan has the handle and a nice looking shot. He could be an Avery-type PG for us.

[CMS2478]

Yes, I think Nolan will be the main PG backup in '08 and '09. He will then be the PG starter in '10 and '11 and groom a 2009 PG recruit who backs up Nolan both years. I know Nolan has the handle and a nice looking shot. He could be an Avery-type PG for us.

Because he could become that quick PG, that can penetrate and cause havoc for the other team, that we have been missing.

[Troublemaker]

Yeah, I can't wait to see him play. You don't have to hope I'm right, you just have to hope the coaching staff is right. See, I think the assumption that the coaches are knowingly going without a second PG (to Paulus) is wrong. I think they believe Nolan is a PG and can backup there the next two years and be the man there in '10 and '11. Remember, Nolan was the PG on his AAU squad, so they have seen him in action there.

[DukeVol]

Now that the 2007 recruiting class is decided (with the exception of PP's big decision), I wanted to get people's thoughts on 2008.

I read that we have received high interest from Greg Monroe, Drew Gordon, and Travis Releford. GM and DG are both PFs and TR is a SG. Who else are we actively pursuing? If all three want to sign and barring transfers or early entries, will we have the schollies available?

Your Thoughts?

[DukeVol]

Quick bump on a topic that might cheer us up. There is hope.

[Channing]

Assuming no attrition to the NBA, for 2008 Duke will have the following players on scholarship:

Paulus - Sr
McClure - Sr
Pocius - Sr
Zoubek - Jr
Henderson - Jr
Thomas - Jr
Scheyer - Jr
King - Soph
Singler - Soph
Smith - Soph

That leaves three scholarships available for the class of 2008 (two if PP comes to Durham). From what has been said, everyone would be very very happy if one of those went to Greg Monroe. I am not sure who we would ideally get for the other one. The other players on Duke's radar are SG Travis Releford, C Samardo Samuels, and PF Drew Gordon.

For 2009, the next true PG we appear to be recruiting is Lesley McDonald - as was stated in another thread.

I dont know anything about any of these guys except that they are all highly rated - maybe someone more in the know can break it down, or you can always go to Watzone's blog as he always has the inside dish on recruiting.

ps - Ohio State already has 4 5-star players locked up for the class of 2008 . . . talk about reloading.

[Bud]

I thought I would give some information for the 2008 recruiting class, I have no inside information but I do no some I follow recruiting very close. Monroe is are top target we are his dream school and I believe in the end we will get him, it is between us and LSU, and KU. Gordan is are next big target he likes us a lot but if we land PP, I don't think we get him, but if we don;t land PP I think we get Gordan. You also mentioned Releford we have cooled on him many believe he is a KU lean, I don;t think we get him. We have also cooled on Samuels he will end up at UNC, or Conn. We are recruiting J'covan Brown a 6'3 gaurd from TX but this will be a tuff battle with the longhorns. A few other names two remember are Darius Miller a 6'6 Foward from KY. Also Michael Dunigan A 6'9 Center.

[Troublemaker]

fyi, Leslie McDonald is more of a combo guard than a true point guard.

[jimsumner]

Monroe is the highest priority. Gordon maybe, depending on what Patterson does.

I don't think Duke has much interest at this time in either Releford or Brown. Miller is a possibility and I suspect some new names will be added this spring/summer. Still, Duke doesn't have a lot of schollies so don't look for a big class; 3 max

[Troublemaker]

I doubt Duke is recruiting J'Covan Brown, considering he had to transfer schools after failing out.

http://www.panews.com/portarthur/loc...226214558.html

[pamtar]

Just a side note, Ty Walker from my neck of the woods in Wilmington, NC has committed to Wake. He was leaning heavily to UNCucks but obviously changed his mind. Thank god, he's extremely underated and will definitely make an impact as a freshman.

[kydevil]

Hopefully we go for Darius Miller, He would be the perfect 3 for our system... he can flat out play.