2014 Basketball Recruiting thread

[conmanlhughes]

Per Instagram again, seems Obi really enjoyed his visit to Duke. (Note: he never posted anything like this about other schools he has visited, so far) image.jpg

[devildeac]

Per Instagram again, seems Obi really enjoyed his visit to Duke. (Note: he never posted anything like this about other schools he has visited, so far) image.jpg

From the tweets at the bottom of that photo, it appears lots of people/schools want Obi. I'm wondering, could Obi wan(t) Duke, too?

[FireOgilvie]

From the tweets at the bottom of that photo, it appears lots of people/schools want Obi. I'm wondering, could Obi wan(t) Duke, too?

I think you can count Duke U. in.

As far as his game goes, he's not a skywalker, but he certainly plays with force.

[jimsumner]

I think you can count Duke U. in.

As far as his game goes, he's not a skywalker, but he certainly plays with force.

Obi is going to be a fan favorite wherever he goes, just because of his name.

BTW, I think I may have referred to him as Ebi earlier. Mea Culpa. Rule number one for a long a prosperous life? Never botch the name of someone who weighs 265 healthy pounds.

[BD80]

I think you can count Duke U. in.

As far as his game goes, he's not a skywalker, but he certainly plays with force.

Come on, its not like he's our only hope

[FireOgilvie]

Come on, its not like he's our only hope

It's too bad he can't play until fall of 2015, but with his experience, I have a feeling he'll be able to teach young Luke a thing or two.

And any other Duke wookies rookies.

Okay, I'm done now.

[MCFinARL]

Obi is going to be a fan favorite wherever he goes, just because of his name.

BTW, I think I may have referred to him as Ebi earlier. Mea Culpa. Rule number one for a long a prosperous life? Never botch the name of someone who weighs 265 healthy pounds.

Yah, you did, but we knew who you meant. As long as you get it right if he comes to Duke--because no one on DBR has EVER misspelled the name of a current or former Duke player, especially not the name of Tyler Thorton or Sheldon Williams.

And I sure hope you get the chance to get it right when Obi is playing for Duke.

[Henderson]

Rule number one for a long a prosperous life? Never botch the name of someone who weighs 265 healthy pounds.

That guy is not just enormous, but muscular too. And he's only 19. Imagine what he could be like in 18 months after continuing to hit the weight room and letting his body mature. 275 pounds of lean muscle?

[sagegrouse]

Obi is proudly displaying his picture with the most famous basketball coach on the planet. I wouldn't leap to conclusions about his transfer to Duke.

[conmanlhughes]

Obi is proudly displaying his picture with the most famous basketball coach on the planet. I wouldn't leap to conclusions about his transfer to Duke.

I think you are missing my point. I was ready to anoint Obi the greatest transfer to Duke of all time, greater than the sum of all the past transfers combined, since he will team with Luke Skywalker, err, Kennard, his fellow (w/r)ookie to help defeat Darth huckleberry hound (picture ole roy in the helmet from space balls) and his evil, very experienced in naval weaponry, minions.

I believe it is too simple to leap to conclusions of he will come to Duke.

[Troublemaker]

Twitter news. (Not sure about the reliability of the second source.)

Adam Rowe ‏@BlueDevilLair 8h #Duke will make an in-home visit with Myles Turner one last time before his announcement

Recruit Insider ‏@RecruitInsider_ 9h
Kansas had an in-home visit with Myles Turner today [Sunday]. Texas will also visit with the Turners on Monday, followed by Duke on Wednesday.

[CDu]

I think you are missing my point. I was ready to anoint Obi the greatest transfer to Duke of all time, greater than the sum of all the past transfers combined, since he will team with Luke Skywalker, err, Kennard, his fellow (w/r)ookie to help defeat Darth huckleberry hound (picture ole roy in the helmet from space balls) and his evil, very experienced in naval weaponry, minions.

I believe it is too simple to leap to conclusions of he will come to Duke.

Well, that's why you need your Jump to Conclusions mat.

[richardjackson199]

It's a big night, and no I'm not talking about the Bobcats Heats game. Unless I'm mistaken, Coach K is doing his in-home visit with Myles Turner tonight. So get your good vibes Duke shirts on.

I posted the following in another thread, but given the importance of today, I'll get it back to the top:

I replied to post:
Originally Posted by Gilby_10

"Lets look at the last two teams to start 2 small guards and have pretty good success... Well we had Louisville in 2013 with Russ Smith and Peyton Siva, they happened to be a pretty good team that cut down the nets. Then we had UConn in 2014 with Napier and Boatright, now they probably weren't the best team in the nation this year but they showed that dominate guard play can take over games. I would like to see a line-up with Cook playing off the ball because in his 3 years he has proved he cannot handle the pg duties and Jones the dominate ball handler. considering Duke will only have one senior next year it will be important that Cook have a strong season, the years Duke has had their senior captains on the floor they have been way more competitive. I think Winslow will be a huge factor off the bench mostly on the defensive end, he will bring that physicality at the SF position we have been missing since Singler"

Then I wrote:
I love the idea of starting Tyus Jones, Quinn Cook, and Rasheed Sulaimon. Myles Turner should love this idea too. Those are 3 guys who have shown their phenomenal willingness to create Sportscenter-worthy assists. They are 3 guys who can also space the floor with their shot. Okafor is going to get lots of attention in the post, meaning at Duke with those guys passing him the ball Turner would really get a chance to showcase his skillset on national TV in front of lots of NBA scouts. If Turner wants to be ready to play in the NBA after one year, he needs to not be worried about losing minutes to a guy like Amile Jefferson who is shorter, less of a rim protector, and hasn't shown the mid-range jump-shooting ability of Turner. If he can't earn minutes at the 4 vs. Amile, then he probably isn't ready to earn minutes in the NBA against an NBA starting power forward. But the truth is he is good enough to earn plenty of minutes at the 4 for Duke next year. If anything he could learn alot from Jefferson, and they could both get plenty of minutes at the 4, focusing on good defense without having to worry as much about fouling out.

This would also still leave plenty of minutes for Winslow at the 3 who is another guy Turner should love to play with. Reportedly everybody loves to play with Winslow and Tyus Jones.

I hated hearing that Duke is virtually out of it for Turner, because I really think he could be the final piece to a national championship level team next year. He possesses all the skills we need at our position of greatest need. Obviously we can't avoid freshman inexperience at this point, but good freshmen with some upper class leadership from guys like Rasheed and Quinn could win it all.

Turner could really help Duke accomplish their goals next year. Duke could really help Turner accomplish his. I'm going to hold out a glimmer of hope since Coach K has an in-home with Turner on Wed. Coach K can be the master of the in-home. I know Coach K has a much better plan than mine above for turning Turner.

[Gilby_10]

It's a big night, and no I'm not talking about the Bobcats Heats game. Unless I'm mistaken, Coach K is doing his in-home visit with Myles Turner tonight. So get your good vibes Duke shirts on.

I posted the following in another thread, but given the importance of today, I'll get it back to the top:

I replied to post:
Originally Posted by Gilby_10

"Lets look at the last two teams to start 2 small guards and have pretty good success... Well we had Louisville in 2013 with Russ Smith and Peyton Siva, they happened to be a pretty good team that cut down the nets. Then we had UConn in 2014 with Napier and Boatright, now they probably weren't the best team in the nation this year but they showed that dominate guard play can take over games. I would like to see a line-up with Cook playing off the ball because in his 3 years he has proved he cannot handle the pg duties and Jones the dominate ball handler. considering Duke will only have one senior next year it will be important that Cook have a strong season, the years Duke has had their senior captains on the floor they have been way more competitive. I think Winslow will be a huge factor off the bench mostly on the defensive end, he will bring that physicality at the SF position we have been missing since Singler"

Then I wrote:
I love the idea of starting Tyus Jones, Quinn Cook, and Rasheed Sulaimon. Myles Turner should love this idea too. Those are 3 guys who have shown their phenomenal willingness to create Sportscenter-worthy assists. They are 3 guys who can also space the floor with their shot. Okafor is going to get lots of attention in the post, meaning at Duke with those guys passing him the ball Turner would really get a chance to showcase his skillset on national TV in front of lots of NBA scouts. If Turner wants to be ready to play in the NBA after one year, he needs to not be worried about losing minutes to a guy like Amile Jefferson who is shorter, less of a rim protector, and hasn't shown the mid-range jump-shooting ability of Turner. If he can't earn minutes at the 4 vs. Amile, then he probably isn't ready to earn minutes in the NBA against an NBA starting power forward. But the truth is he is good enough to earn plenty of minutes at the 4 for Duke next year. If anything he could learn alot from Jefferson, and they could both get plenty of minutes at the 4, focusing on good defense without having to worry as much about fouling out.

This would also still leave plenty of minutes for Winslow at the 3 who is another guy Turner should love to play with. Reportedly everybody loves to play with Winslow and Tyus Jones.

I hated hearing that Duke is virtually out of it for Turner, because I really think he could be the final piece to a national championship level team next year. He possesses all the skills we need at our position of greatest need. Obviously we can't avoid freshman inexperience at this point, but good freshmen with some upper class leadership from guys like Rasheed and Quinn could win it all.

Turner could really help Duke accomplish their goals next year. Duke could really help Turner accomplish his. I'm going to hold out a glimmer of hope since Coach K has an in-home with Turner on Wed. Coach K can be the master of the in-home. I know Coach K has a much better plan than mine above for turning Turner.

One thing that I have really noticed about this incoming class as an overall group is how well spoken they are for high school age kids. But getting back to Duke... I know this has been said before but imagine a line-up with Jones, Cook, Sulaimon, Turner, Okafor, with Jefferson, Plumlee, Winslow, Jones off the bench. Probably the most talented team since the 1999 team. I really do see Turner fitting in well with this team, way better than Jabari would have fit in, i just didn't see him fitting that well with Okafor in the middle. They finally got their true point Guard they have been searching for since Duhon. With Sheed and Quinn bringing the leadership (hopefully) that they need from upperclassmen

[Dr. Rosenrosen]

I hated hearing that Duke is virtually out of it for Turner, because I really think he could be the final piece to a national championship level team next year. He possesses all the skills we need at our position of greatest need. Obviously we can't avoid freshman inexperience at this point, but good freshmen with some upper class leadership from guys like Rasheed and Quinn could win it all.

Turner himself dispelled the myth that he had narrowed his list further. To what are you referring in saying that we are virtually out of it?

[lotusland]

It's a big night, and no I'm not talking about the Bobcats Heats game. Unless I'm mistaken, Coach K is doing his in-home visit with Myles Turner tonight. So get your good vibes Duke shirts on.

I posted the following in another thread, but given the importance of today, I'll get it back to the top:

I replied to post:
Originally Posted by Gilby_10

"Lets look at the last two teams to start 2 small guards and have pretty good success... Well we had Louisville in 2013 with Russ Smith and Peyton Siva, they happened to be a pretty good team that cut down the nets. Then we had UConn in 2014 with Napier and Boatright, now they probably weren't the best team in the nation this year but they showed that dominate guard play can take over games. I would like to see a line-up with Cook playing off the ball because in his 3 years he has proved he cannot handle the pg duties and Jones the dominate ball handler. considering Duke will only have one senior next year it will be important that Cook have a strong season, the years Duke has had their senior captains on the floor they have been way more competitive. I think Winslow will be a huge factor off the bench mostly on the defensive end, he will bring that physicality at the SF position we have been missing since Singler"

Then I wrote:
I love the idea of starting Tyus Jones, Quinn Cook, and Rasheed Sulaimon. Myles Turner should love this idea too. Those are 3 guys who have shown their phenomenal willingness to create Sportscenter-worthy assists. They are 3 guys who can also space the floor with their shot. Okafor is going to get lots of attention in the post, meaning at Duke with those guys passing him the ball Turner would really get a chance to showcase his skillset on national TV in front of lots of NBA scouts. If Turner wants to be ready to play in the NBA after one year, he needs to not be worried about losing minutes to a guy like Amile Jefferson who is shorter, less of a rim protector, and hasn't shown the mid-range jump-shooting ability of Turner. If he can't earn minutes at the 4 vs. Amile, then he probably isn't ready to earn minutes in the NBA against an NBA starting power forward. But the truth is he is good enough to earn plenty of minutes at the 4 for Duke next year. If anything he could learn alot from Jefferson, and they could both get plenty of minutes at the 4, focusing on good defense without having to worry as much about fouling out.

This would also still leave plenty of minutes for Winslow at the 3 who is another guy Turner should love to play with. Reportedly everybody loves to play with Winslow and Tyus Jones.

I hated hearing that Duke is virtually out of it for Turner, because I really think he could be the final piece to a national championship level team next year. He possesses all the skills we need at our position of greatest need. Obviously we can't avoid freshman inexperience at this point, but good freshmen with some upper class leadership from guys like Rasheed and Quinn could win it all.

Turner could really help Duke accomplish their goals next year. Duke could really help Turner accomplish his. I'm going to hold out a glimmer of hope since Coach K has an in-home with Turner on Wed. Coach K can be the master of the in-home. I know Coach K has a much better plan than mine above for turning Turner.

You can blame me for bad vibes if Turner doesn't pick Duke. I don't want another one and done guy next year. I think we are set at 4-5 with Okafor, Jefferson and MP3. I want Semi to finish his career at Duke and make a splash. I've enjoyed all the OAD players at Duke but I'm getting tired of the revolving door. I don't think it makes for very enjoyable basketball either. UK finally got it going at the end of the year but it wasn't great basketball just 5 physically superior guys on the court together. I'll be all in for Turner if he comes but I won't mind if he picks KU either.

[gumbomoop]

You can blame me for bad vibes if Turner doesn't pick Duke. I don't want another one and done guy next year. I think we are set at 4-5 with Okafor, Jefferson and MP3. I want Semi to finish his career at Duke and make a splash.

I've half a mind [full stop ...] to agree with LL. I prefer s/he take most of the if-blame, but enough of this anti-OAD feeling has crept halfway into my half-mind that I'd accept 20% of the if-blame, in part because I've a full mind to support the Semi-sentiment.

But I will say that I was terribly impressed with Myles Turner the young man during an in-game interview during the JBC. Really lovely fellow, well-spoken, sensible; just really liked him. A fine addition to the campus, not just the bball team, I'd think. So reduce my if-blame to 10%, and ban LL for a month or so, if.

[FireOgilvie]

You can blame me for bad vibes if Turner doesn't pick Duke. I don't want another one and done guy next year. I think we are set at 4-5 with Okafor, Jefferson and MP3. I want Semi to finish his career at Duke and make a splash. I've enjoyed all the OAD players at Duke but I'm getting tired of the revolving door. I don't think it makes for very enjoyable basketball either. UK finally got it going at the end of the year but it wasn't great basketball just 5 physically superior guys on the court together. I'll be all in for Turner if he comes but I won't mind if he picks KU either.

I agree that I'd rather have guys that are going to stay for multiple years. Hopefully the NBA rules change that.

If he's good enough this year, Semi is going to play whether Turner is on the team or not. I would be very happy to see him play a lot of minutes at the 3, but he would be playing totally out of position as a PF. He's a wing player. He's also only 6'6". I think the coaching staff must agree with me since we've gone after multiple power forwards this year and unfortunately haven't landed any.

This past year was maybe the most frustrating Duke basketball season ever for me and not because of OADs or inexperienced players. But, it was obvious from the beginning that we were at a huge disadvantage due to the composition of our roster and the lack of big men. Honestly, I never want to see anything like that again where we just don't have bodies on the roster. It's not fun for our guys to be forced to play out of position either. Let guys earn their minutes and if someone wants to transfer, so be it. I don't like it, but it's just reality. Okafor, Turner, and Amile could still average 26 minutes a game each across C and PF. If Marshall plays well enough to earn some of those minutes, then that's fantastic. The rest of the guys can fight it out for the last 3 positions.

[richardjackson199]

Turner himself dispelled the myth that he had narrowed his list further. To what are you referring in saying that we are virtually out of it?

Olympic Fan can speak for himself, but in another thread a few days ago he said that we are very VERY unlikely to land Turner (or something to that effect). When a few posters on this site assert something like that (Airowe, Watzone, Jim Sumner, Olympic Fan, Tommy, etc.) they're being kind enough to share free inside information with us. I've been here long enough to know they're right. Even if they don't always turn out to be 100% right, they're acting on correct information which occasionally changes. That is more than I can say for Chad Ford who tweets out so much crap, he seems to be wrong more often than right. So I trust Duke was behind in the Turner sweepstakes going into this week. But with Coach K doing an in-home, there is a chance Turner reconsiders and picks Duke. If he really thinks about who he'll be playing with and what it can do for his goals, I think he will give us serious consideration.

Responding to some other posts, I respect your position, and I respectfully disagree.
Having Turner next year would only help Duke, even if he's OAD. After Jabari, Rodney, and Murphy left, we have plenty of room. We aren't recruiting anybody else in 2014 class. So if he's OAD, we'll have as many spots for 2015 class if we get him as if we don't get him. Turner is 7 feet tall, a rim-protector, and already has a nice face-the-basket game with range. Players like that can really make the difference for a team - think Gorgui Deng or Anthony Davis. He could split minutes at the 4 with Jefferson, giving us depth to avoid being super-susceptible to foul trouble on Amile and Jahlil. Or what if one of our bigs gets hurt? This is not a freak occurrence - it happens all the time. Look how many bigs Kentucky and UNC will have next year. Would you really want to play against Cliff Alexander, Turner, Oubre, and Perry Ellis? I'd rather have Turner on my side.

I hope Semi has a great year. I don't know anything about him since he never played last year. And last year we had tremendous need at the 4 spot. Even when Jabari and Rodney fouled out at Syracuse, our coaches chose to guard Grant in OT with Dawkins rather than give Semi some burn. So I have to conclude for some reason Semi wasn't ready to contribute. I don't know, I wasn't at Duke practices. If we get Turner, that should motivate Semi to work harder on his game this offseason. If he's ready to contribute, he'll earn minutes. If he's unlikely to play at all, he could redshirt and continue to develop until his game catches up with his athleticism and potential.

Come on to Duke Myles Turner. I think he could be the missing piece to winning it all next year. That's enough for me.

[Kedsy]

If he's good enough this year, Semi is going to play whether Turner is on the team or not. I would be very happy to see him play a lot of minutes at the 3, but he would be playing totally out of position as a PF. He's a wing player. He's also only 6'6".

First of all, Duke lists Semi as 6'7", 230, which with his muscular build (and amazing hops) is plenty big for a college PF. Despite his shooting range, to me Semi looks like a college 4 to me and I suspect he'd be a little out of position as a 3. In fact, I'd go so far as to say I think there's virtually no chance Semi plays significant minutes at SF this season; pretty much his only chance for non-garbage time minutes is at PF.

More importantly, to say that Semi's playing time would be the same "whether Turner is on the team or not" doesn't seem realistic to me. We all know Coach K is only going to play 7 or maybe 8 guys in close games after January 1. IF Myles Turner comes to Duke, you'd have to assume that Tyus, Quinn, Rasheed, Myles, and Jahlil would be well ahead of Semi in the rotation, leaving him to battle Amile, Marshall, Justise, and Matt for the remaining two or three spots. I think definitely two and probably three of those guys (maybe all four) should be ahead of him. But if we don't land Myles Turner, and we go 8 deep then all Semi has to do is either beat out Matt and/or prove to be a more viable PF option than Justise. And thus to me it seems clear he'd have a much easier path to minutes without Turner in the fold.