Shabazz Muhammad to UCLA

[Starter]

I think if the opportunity's there to make your college announcement on national television, it's hard to pass that up. It's exciting. Provided the recruit breaks the news -- good or bad -- to all his schools still in the running before the show airs, I think it's totally fine. (And, you know, judging from past examples, probably don't use Skype.)

I'd say this is a good example of how to do a college announcement on ESPN.

[nmduke2001]

I’ve read that Shabazz is the only NBA ready player in this class. Is he on par with players like Kobe and LeBron when they were in high school or is he more of a DeShawn Stevenson or Gerald Green talent?

[CDu]

The comment that Coach K reportedly made to Shabazz about us needing a scorer made me stop and think. He's right, we don't have a proven, reliable scorer now that Austin is gone. Seth and Ryan were our leading scorers after Austin, but neither can create their own shot and neither has been able to reliably carry the team for any length of time. Mason should get more shots this year than last, but is unlikely to be our leading scorer. Of course all of this may change, and if Shabazz doesn't come I think we'll be fine and will win a lot of games, but I do agree that he would seemingly provide that missing piece.

It is true. We have several guys capable of putting up 20+ points (Mason, Curry, Kelly, and Dawkins all did so last year). But each of those guys has limitations (mostly related to ballhandling and/or quickness) that made them very inconsistent scorers.

The counterargument to that is that we should again have lots of capable scorers. Those four above along with Cook, Murphy, and Sulaimon are all guys who should be capable of 15+ on a given night. Gbinije and Marshall could also show progress if they're ready to contribute. But we don't have that proven scorer.

Granted, Muhammad hasn't technically proven he can score at the college level. But nothing I've seen from him suggests he won't be a 15+ ppg scorer next year wherever he goes.

[muzikfrk75]

Let's not attack kids for something they haven't even done yet. And what if they go thru their whole spiel and pick Duke? Is it then perfectly fine with you all?

Exactly. Was there a lot of backlash on this site when Kyrie picked Duke on ESPN?

[superdave]

I think if the opportunity's there to make your college announcement on national television, it's hard to pass that up. It's exciting. Provided the recruit breaks the news -- good or bad -- to all his schools still in the running before the show airs, I think it's totally fine. (And, you know, judging from past examples, probably don't use Skype.)

I'd say this is a good example of how to do a college announcement on ESPN.

Exactly. Was there a lot of backlash on this site when Kyrie picked Duke on ESPN?

As long as it's short and sweet. If it takes a whole half hour, we've got issues! If I see a row of hats representing the schools lined up, my eyes will roll.

[Ichabod Drain]

As long as it's short and sweet. If it takes a whole half hour, we've got issues! If I see a row of hats representing the schools lined up, my eyes will roll.

They would have to get a really long table for Tony Parker to fit all his hats in a row.

[Bluedog]

They would have to get a really long table for Tony Parker to fit all his hats in a row.

Tony is not announcing on ESPNU tonight. Only Shabazz and Noel. Perhaps Tony will announce on TV in the future, though...who knows. But, yes, I agree that Kyrie's TV announcement was short and to the point. Not drawn out like some others. I don't blame these kids at all, though, as ESPN reaches out to them and asks if they would like to announce on their show. What 17-year-old would say "no" to ESPN? Not many. I do like guys like Matt Jones and Rasheed who simply announced on twitter though, seemingly out of nowhere. No drama involved, ha. Incidentally, from that clip, it shows Kyrie as the #2 rated PG. Who was #1? Selby? Knight?

[moonpie23]

everyone is saying we're "out"....so i'm not getting my hopes to high....would LOVE to have them pick duke, but i THINK we still field a team next season....no?

[gwlaw99]

I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on how Shabazz committing to Duke will affect the playing time of other players such as Murphy, Gbinije, Curry, Dawkins and Sulaimon. Whose minutes does he take?

[CDu]

I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on how Shabazz committing to Duke will affect the playing time of other players such as Murphy, Gbinije, Curry, Dawkins and Sulaimon. Whose minutes does he take?

He will start at SF from day 1 wherever he goes. If he comes to Duke, that would affect the minutes of Dawkins, Gbinije, and Murphy (the three most likely guys to play SF if we don't get Muhammad). I doubt it would affect the minutes of Curry or Sulaimon (who are better ballhandlers and thus will see all of their time at SG or PG/SG in Curry's case). Maybe a little bit of residual impact on Curry and Sulaimon, but the brunt of the minutes would come from the three taller wings.

[Big Pappa]

I wonder if anyone has any thoughts on how Shabazz committing to Duke will affect the playing time of other players such as Murphy, Gbinije, Curry, Dawkins and Sulaimon. Whose minutes does he take?

To be quick and brutal, he takes minutes from all of them. He would step in and immediately be the most talented player on our roster.

[Starter]

Tony is not announcing on ESPNU tonight. Only Shabazz and Noel. Perhaps Tony will announce on TV in the future, though...who knows. But, yes, I agree that Kyrie's TV announcement was short and to the point. Not drawn out like some others. I don't blame these kids at all, though, as ESPN reaches out to them and asks if they would like to announce on their show. What 17-year-old would say "no" to ESPN? Not many. I do like guys like Matt Jones and Rasheed who simply announced on twitter though, seemingly out of nowhere. No drama involved, ha. Incidentally, from that clip, it shows Kyrie as the #2 rated PG. Who was #1? Selby? Knight?

It was Knight, though by the time I saw the two of them play live in high school, that was ridiculous. (And it wasn't that Knight wasn't good.) If I recall, Duke was well in it for Knight and at some point changed their focus to Kyrie, before he completely blew up and became a top 5 recruit. Correct me if I'm wrong, but at the time Duke started recruiting him, Kyrie was ranked maybe 4th or so at his position and around 20th overall. He rose meteorically when people saw him play and realized he was totally awesome.

I realize none of this has relevance to Shabazz, by the way. I just love talking about Kyrie.

[COYS]

Tony is not announcing on ESPNU tonight. Only Shabazz and Noel. Perhaps Tony will announce on TV in the future, though...who knows. But, yes, I agree that Kyrie's TV announcement was short and to the point. Not drawn out like some others. I don't blame these kids at all, though, as ESPN reaches out to them and asks if they would like to announce on their show. What 17-year-old would say "no" to ESPN? Not many. I do like guys like Matt Jones and Rasheed who simply announced on twitter though, seemingly out of nowhere. No drama involved, ha. Incidentally, from that clip, it shows Kyrie as the #2 rated PG. Who was #1? Selby? Knight?

Kyrie did his best to keep the masses in suspense leading up to his announcement, though. Personally, I don't begrudge the chance for the kids to have a little fun. Granted, I would have loved to have been in their situation in high school (talented basketball player, coveted by all major programs and destined for the NBA), but the recruitment process has got to be mind-numbingly exhausting. You literally have 50 coaches calling you all the time. You've got friends, family, and strangers weighing in. The message boards all over the internet are rife with speculation. People pick apart every single little facebook post and twitter comment you make. I do think the kids owe most coaches a certain amount of respect in terms of how they handle their ultimate decision, but I'm sure not all the coaches are even deserving of the recruit's respect, depending on how they go about recruiting the player. However, other than that, I think the kids should be able to announce however they want to announce. While the fan base of an individual team loves a blowout win for their team, the rest of the country wants to watch a good basketball game or else they tune out. Having an announcement on national TV between three highly regarded programs is not particularly outlandish and brings in more viewers than an early commitment (or blowout) would, even though there are advantages to the latter, as well. Each recruit is in a different situation and has a different personality. I've got no problem with that.

[superdave]

It was Knight, though by the time I saw the two of them play live in high school, that was ridiculous. (And it wasn't that Knight wasn't good.) If I recall, Duke was well in it for Knight and at some point changed their focus to Kyrie, before he completely blew up and became a top 5 recruit. Correct me if I'm wrong, but at the time Duke started recruiting him, Kyrie was ranked maybe 4th or so at his position and around 20th overall. He rose meteorically when people saw him play and realized he was totally awesome.

I realize none of this has relevance to Shabazz, by the way. I just love talking about Kyrie.

I recall that as well. I dont think Kyrie was considered a high-major recruit after his sophomore season in high school. He started moving up the ladder his junior year, then vaulted into the top 5 after his summer.

[Ichabod Drain]

Tony is not announcing on ESPNU tonight. Only Shabazz and Noel. Perhaps Tony will announce on TV in the future, though...who knows. But, yes, I agree that Kyrie's TV announcement was short and to the point. Not drawn out like some others. I don't blame these kids at all, though, as ESPN reaches out to them and asks if they would like to announce on their show. What 17-year-old would say "no" to ESPN? Not many. I do like guys like Matt Jones and Rasheed who simply announced on twitter though, seemingly out of nowhere. No drama involved, ha. Incidentally, from that clip, it shows Kyrie as the #2 rated PG. Who was #1? Selby? Knight?

It was merely a jab at Tony's long list of schools that is continuously fluctuating.

[jimrowe0]

Looks like they had to make some room for their new recruits at UCLA.


http://news.yahoo.com/nearly-900-wro...054640543.html

[bounce840]

I think he will ball at UCLA. But, Kentucky also has a good chance of getting Muhammad. Their recent success with recruits. However I don't care what happens. It doesn't matter to me. But, if we somehow land Muhammad then we could be a top five team next year. Muhammad is more of a slasher and a rebounding guard right.

[Ichabod Drain]

Since were picking through these kid's tweets with a fine tooth comb, here's one from Sheed.

"Heading 2 the airport.Last time I'll get 2 chill w my bros @phenom15balla @kyleAnderson5 @IsaiahAustin @tonyparker32 & @A1Laflare10 #MyDudes"

[proelitedota]

Welcome to Duke!

[grateful_duke]

So is it known that Noels AND Bazz will both go to the same school?