Some of the issues we have faced in the past are long players can give Duke trouble. DeAndre appears to have the pure abilities to be a game changer on both ends of the floor. I am wondering if this offer is to help fill the PF hole that could exist if we miss in the 2012 class on a big.
So I dont know if this was mentioned earlier, but his scout site seems to have a bunch of articles linked that suggest that he was going to enroll a semester early wherever he went... obviously he has not, but does anyone know anything about this?
He originally committed to Texas then decommitted. Then he apparently was all set to enroll at Kansas. Then for whatever reason decided not to go to Kansas. Duke then got involved and around the same time period Kentucky withdrew their offer. A friend of mine at Kansas told me everyone thought it was a done deal to Kansas about a month ago. Everyone was shocked he was not on campus. So it really has been an odd recruitment for this young man.
Kansas had no free scholarships this year, having given one to a walk on at the start of the year. So, had Daniels elected to enroll, he would have paid out of state tuition on his own for the spring, gone through financial aid, etc.
Kansas is still recruiting him. Kansas's problem is that it's hard to know who all will be there next year. The Morris twins and Selby (and possibly Robinson) may leave early, and they may not (Selby's done little to justify it, but that's not always telling). Of course, Duke has Gbinije and plenty of guard/wing depth coming in and back, so you wouldn't think Daniels would be worried about Kansas's limited roster possibilities, but who knows.
Also, for the tin-foil hat crowd, KU is taking on Christian Garrett as a walk-on, Daniels's roommate/teammate/best friend at IMG. He's actually on the KU bench now in street clothes.
Article from late January, before Duke entered the picture: http://www2.kusports.com/news/2011/f...rett-settling/
<Insert Ronnie Chalmers/Ed Manning/Mike Lee joke here>“I lived with him throughout the year and I’ve known him four years. He’s like family, like a brother,” Garrett said. “There were a lot of schools I was looking at he wasn’t looking at. We’ve always wanted to go to the same school. We said we’d do what’s best for each other. The only thing I can tell him is that there’s nothing like this place. I think he knows that. I think it’s just going to be him making the right decision (for himself).”
Duke has had lots and lots of "long" players, however vague the term is. It's a bit disingenuous, imo, to lament the longs who have hurt Duke without acknowledging that Duke has had a lot more longs who have hurt opponents.
Any of our insiders know anything?
ESPN insider had this to say yesterday, interesting to say the least.
We recently noted that while DeAndre Daniels was a previous target for Kansas, Texas, Oregon and possibly Minnesota, it would appear that Duke is currently leading the pack to secure the forward's services. Assistant coach Nate James viewed Daniels on the court and Jerry Meyer of Rivals reports that the Blue Devils seem to have distanced themselves from the pack.
Since Duke will lose some key frontcourt players in 2012 (Kyle Singler, possibly Mason Plumlee), the addition of Daniels, a very talented offensive player, could be prove to be a nice counter to the firepower the backcourt will possess.
It will be interesting to see how Daniels' recruitment progresses. We were sure he was sold on Kansas but that seems to have quickly petered out.
I think this kid is perfect for taking over Singler's role as the versatile forward. I especially like that he is a post-grad. I think that maturity level could make his transition to college a lot easier.
Seth Curry, Austin Rivers, DeAndre Jordan, Ryan Kelly, Miles Plumlee would be a nasty team.