2014 Basketball Recruiting thread

[MCFinARL]

Don't see Thompson and Towe as a package deal ... they didn't know each other before arriving in Raleigh. That was before the AAU circuit and a kid from western North Carolina and a kid from Indiana would have had little opportunity to know each other. They just happened to be in the same class (along with future Orioles' pitcher Tim Stoddard).

There WAS a connection between Thompson and Tommy Burleson. They got to know each other playing high school basketball against each other. At the time, most North Carolina high schools played in the state association, based in Chapel Hill (the director, Simon Terrell's wife was Dean Smith's personal secretary). A few dozen schools belonged to the Western Association. It was a smaller group and that allowed Thompson and Burleson to get to know -- and like -- each other. They talked about playing together in college -- although they never had a package deal. Burleson was one year older and it did help State when he committed. But Eddie Biedenback still had to move heaven and earth to get DT away from UNC.

Towe was an unknown prospect from Converse, Ind. Norm Sloan learned of him from former Wolfpack star Doug Dickey. But when Sloan found out that Towe was 5-7, he refused to recruit him. His famous quote was that "It's Florida State that has the circus, not us." But Dickey persisted and got under Sloan's skin by reminding him that Sloan had ignored his tip on John Mengelt, another unknown Indiana kid who was an All-American at Auburn. If there had been recruiting class limits at the time, Sloan never would have taken Towe ... but he ended up signing seven guys in the Thompson-Towe-Stoddard class.

One ACC package deal that I know of was Jeff Lamp and Lee Raker of Virginia... Terry Holland hired their prep coach to get them. I've seen a lot of package deals fall apart ... not too many have worked out. I think there is a good chance that Jones and Okafor follow through ... not too sure about Johnson-Winslow.

PS -- Jim, you are right about Bucky having a lot of near misses. He always said that if Walton had not gone to UCLA, he would have gone to Duke ... but added that there was never any real chance that he wasn't going to UCLA. But I wouldn't count John Lucas. Neither Bucky nor Dean thought much of the Hillside star. Both made token recruiting efforts becaise he was a local star, but neither wanted him.

You are so right about Thompson and Towe, I had a mental blip--it was actually at the next level there was a sense that Thompson and Towe were a package, as Thompson signed with the Denver Nuggets of the ABA over the Atlanta Hawks of the NBA in part because they signed Towe to a 2-year contract. Thompson was the first pick in both drafts; Towe was picked by Denver in the 3d round of the ABA draft and Atlanta in the 4th round of the NBA draft. It it could be just an accident that Towe was a late round draft pick of both teams that chose Thompson with the first pick, of course, but it seems likely the teams saw giving Towe at least a shot as a help in landing Thompson.

[licc85]

http://socialhub.usatodayhss.com/soc...es-turner-blog

I don't know truly how interested he truly is in playing at Duke, but he sounds like a nice kid. Seems like he's pretty mature too. Turner AND Okafor will probably never happen, but if we don't end up getting Okafor, we could do a LOT worse than Myles Turner.

[jimsumner]

Don't see Thompson and Towe as a package deal ... they didn't know each other before arriving in Raleigh. That was before the AAU circuit and a kid from western North Carolina and a kid from Indiana would have had little opportunity to know each other. They just happened to be in the same class (along with future Orioles' pitcher Tim Stoddard).

There WAS a connection between Thompson and Tommy Burleson. They got to know each other playing high school basketball against each other. At the time, most North Carolina high schools played in the state association, based in Chapel Hill (the director, Simon Terrell's wife was Dean Smith's personal secretary). A few dozen schools belonged to the Western Association. It was a smaller group and that allowed Thompson and Burleson to get to know -- and like -- each other. They talked about playing together in college -- although they never had a package deal. Burleson was one year older and it did help State when he committed. But Eddie Biedenback still had to move heaven and earth to get DT away from UNC.

Towe was an unknown prospect from Converse, Ind. Norm Sloan learned of him from former Wolfpack star Doug Dickey. But when Sloan found out that Towe was 5-7, he refused to recruit him. His famous quote was that "It's Florida State that has the circus, not us." But Dickey persisted and got under Sloan's skin by reminding him that Sloan had ignored his tip on John Mengelt, another unknown Indiana kid who was an All-American at Auburn. If there had been recruiting class limits at the time, Sloan never would have taken Towe ... but he ended up signing seven guys in the Thompson-Towe-Stoddard class.

One ACC package deal that I know of was Jeff Lamp and Lee Raker of Virginia... Terry Holland hired their prep coach to get them. I've seen a lot of package deals fall apart ... not too many have worked out. I think there is a good chance that Jones and Okafor follow through ... not too sure about Johnson-Winslow.

PS -- Jim, you are right about Bucky having a lot of near misses. He always said that if Walton had not gone to UCLA, he would have gone to Duke ... but added that there was never any real chance that he wasn't going to UCLA. But I wouldn't count John Lucas. Neither Bucky nor Dean thought much of the Hillside star. Both made token recruiting efforts becaise he was a local star, but neither wanted him.

My recollection is that Duke recruited Lucas as a basketball/tennis combo, using Mark Myers as a lure. Myers and Lucas had been a doubles team as juniors, maybe Junior Davis Cup. Myers was I believe a year ahead of Lucas and Myers tried to recruit Lucas to Duke. Lucas told me that this almost worked.

So, we may have to agree to disagree on this one.

An addendum to the Thompson-Towe-Denver story. Former Duke player Bob Fleischer tried out for that team. He was told that he made the final cut. The next day, he received a call from Denver telling him that they had given the final spot to Towe, in order to keep DT happy.

Fleischer played a few years overseas, went to medical school and became a urologist. He was in upstate New York the last time I talked to him. But he should have had at least a cup-of-coffee in the ABA/NBA.

[77devil]

My recollection is that Duke recruited Lucas as a basketball/tennis combo, using Mark Myers as a lure. Myers and Lucas had been a doubles team as juniors, maybe Junior Davis Cup. Myers was I believe a year ahead of Lucas and Myers tried to recruit Lucas to Duke. Lucas told me that this almost worked

Recollections change and people say different things at different times. Lucas told me on the tennis court that leaving Durham and the state of NC was foremost at the time. Who knows?

[gam7]

http://socialhub.usatodayhss.com/soc...es-turner-blog

I don't know truly how interested he truly is in playing at Duke, but he sounds like a nice kid. Seems like he's pretty mature too. Turner AND Okafor will probably never happen, but if we don't end up getting Okafor, we could do a LOT worse than Myles Turner.

Agree. He seems like a really good, grounded dude. Very sincere, personable and self-aware about his game - at least that's how he comes across to me in this draft express interview. It's easy for guys to be on cruise control for these types of interviews, but he reveals a lot of interesting stuff about himself here.


http://www.draftexpress.com/article/...nterview-4305/

[roywhite]

Not specific to Duke, but kind of an interesting development in recruiting guru news:

Spurs hire Dave Telep

[johnb]

Agree. He seems like a really good, grounded dude. Very sincere, personable and self-aware about his game - at least that's how he comes across to me in this draft express interview. It's easy for guys to be on cruise control for these types of interviews, but he reveals a lot of interesting stuff about himself here.


http://www.draftexpress.com/article/...nterview-4305/

agreed. thumbs up for mr. turner...

[superdave]

A few links from the Jones-Okafor trip to Baylor this past weekend.

http://www.cbssports.com/collegebask...head-to-baylor

http://www.rantsports.com/prep-sport...medium=twitter

http://zagsblog.com/articles/jones-o...sit-is-kansas/

[Billy Dat]

http://socialhub.usatodayhss.com/soc...es-turner-blog

I don't know truly how interested he truly is in playing at Duke, but he sounds like a nice kid. Seems like he's pretty mature too. Turner AND Okafor will probably never happen, but if we don't end up getting Okafor, we could do a LOT worse than Myles Turner.

Very interesting how K spoke to Turner about how he viewed him as a one-and-done player and he started advising him on how that meant he needed to start carrying himself like a professional. I am not sure how recently he started saying things like that to the top recruits as it wasn't too long ago that his stance was a kid should mentally be prepared to stay for at least two year (e.g. "you need to 'unpack your bags').

I assume this change in approach has been an evolution caused by (A) The fact that one-and-done talent helps win titles (B) Kentucky has stolen a march on national recruiting and (C) his experience with the Team USA pros has sharply honed how to communicate and persuade top talent.

Whatever the reasons, I love seeing him continue to get better at his craft.

[BD80]

Very interesting how K spoke to Turner about how he viewed him as a one-and-done player and he started advising him on how that meant he needed to start carrying himself like a professional. I am not sure how recently he started saying things like that to the top recruits as it wasn't too long ago that his stance was a kid should mentally be prepared to stay for at least two year (e.g. "you need to 'unpack your bags').

I assume this change in approach has been an evolution caused by (A) The fact that one-and-done talent helps win titles (B) Kentucky has stolen a march on national recruiting and (C) his experience with the Team USA pros has sharply honed how to communicate and persuade top talent.

Whatever the reasons, I love seeing him continue to get better at his craft.

(D) No change. He is speaking honestly to a kid about his future, whether or not that includes Duke. The reality is that players like Turner should be prepared for the option to turn pro after a year. That does not exclude also preparing to "unpack" for a couple of years.

[Dev11]

(D) No change. He is speaking honestly to a kid about his future, whether or not that includes Duke. The reality is that players like Turner should be prepared for the option to turn pro after a year. That does not exclude also preparing to "unpack" for a couple of years.

Also consider that perhaps this sort of thing was going on years ago, but players didn't feel as comfortable talking about it. Now, it's common for All-American level high school players to talk openly during recruiting about their NBA prospects, and how their college decision may affect that. I'd be surprised if NBA potential never came up when Coach K visited Jason Williams in high school.

[Billy Dat]

(D) No change. He is speaking honestly to a kid about his future, whether or not that includes Duke. The reality is that players like Turner should be prepared for the option to turn pro after a year. That does not exclude also preparing to "unpack" for a couple of years.

I don't know, I bet as recently as a few years ago, when talking to one-and-done type recruits, he wasn't telling them that they were likely to be one-and-done. I think he's evolved his stance in the face of an overwhelming tide.

[dcar1985]

2014 rising PF Reid Travis just picked up an offer from Duke and is looking into setting up an official visit.

Travis is an AAU teammate and friend of Tyus Jones. Anybody in the know have any insight on whether this might be a good sign for us in regards to Tyus/Jahlil? Or bad sign when it comes to landing maybe Looney or Winslow?

[superdave]

2014 rising PF Reid Travis just picked up an offer from Duke and is looking into setting up an official visit.

Travis is an AAU teammate and friend of Tyus Jones. Anybody in the know have any insight on whether this might be a good sign for us in regards to Tyus/Jahlil? Or bad sign when it comes to landing maybe Looney or Winslow?

Some links and tweets on Mr. Travis

http://future150.com/hs/basketball-n...r-showing-3809

Jeff Borzello ‏@jeffborzello 10h
Well well well. RT @RyanJamesMN: Reid Travis just told me Duke has offered him a scholarship and he's looking into setting an official trip.

Dave Telep ‏@DaveTelep 21 Aug
Telep's T-10. Had fun w/topics from the summer. Reid Travis wins 1st Motor Award (trophy to be named after him)

Rob Dauster ‏@RobDauster 15 Aug
Report: Top 50 recruit Reid Travis quits football to focus on hoops http://wp.me/p1aWjM-1YeV

Chad Lykins ‏@CLykinsBlog 5 Aug
Who has had one of the more impressive summer outings? 2014 PF Reid Travis. http://247sports.com/Player/Reid-Tra...stitution=2887 …

Jason Jordan ‏@JayJayUSATODAY 3 Aug
Congrats to @Reid_Travis_22 on winning our #ChefOfTheWeek award for his dominant showing at Super Showcase. READ: http://socialhub.usatodayhss.com/social-hub/blogs/item/571-jasons-weekly-awards …

[FerryFor50]

2014 rising PF Reid Travis just picked up an offer from Duke and is looking into setting up an official visit.

Travis is an AAU teammate and friend of Tyus Jones. Anybody in the know have any insight on whether this might be a good sign for us in regards to Tyus/Jahlil? Or bad sign when it comes to landing maybe Looney or Winslow?

I think he's a great fit. He's not super athletic (in the jumpy/fast sense), but is strong and can shoot. Reminds me of Kevin Love a bit...

You need the guys who will do the dirty work.

[Henderson]

I don't know, I bet as recently as a few years ago, when talking to one-and-done type recruits, he wasn't telling them that they were likely to be one-and-done. I think he's evolved his stance in the face of an overwhelming tide.

In the past, K has been critical of the NBA draft-eligibility rules that promote the one-and-done phenomenon as being bad for college basketball. I think he's signaling to top recruits that he's not going to allow his systemic criticism of the NBA rule (which is more a criticism that these kids should be able to go directly to the NBA out of high school than a criticism of their leaving early) impede the progress of young men to the NBA on a timetable that makes sense to them. Other coaches (Cal?) may be telling these guys that K doesn't believe in one-and-done and will, therefore, fail to showcase a talented freshman. K may be offering reassurance he didn't have cause to offer in the past. That's not a change in his approach, which has always been to support whatever path makes the most sense for the player and his family. Rather, it's just a reassurance that he understands that in today's environment, going one-and-done is the smart move, and he's going to help any player succeed.

[COYS]

In the past, K has been critical of the NBA draft-eligibility rules that promote the one-and-done phenomenon as being bad for college basketball. I think he's signaling to top recruits that he's not going to allow his systemic criticism of the NBA rule (which is more a criticism that these kids should be able to go directly to the NBA out of high school than a criticism of their leaving early) impede the progress of young men to the NBA on a timetable that makes sense to them. Other coaches (Cal?) may be telling these guys that K doesn't believe in one-and-done and will, therefore, fail to showcase a talented freshman. K may be offering reassurance he didn't have cause to offer in the past. That's not a change in his approach, which has always been to support whatever path makes the most sense for the player and his family. Rather, it's just a reassurance that he understands that in today's environment, going one-and-done is the smart move, and he's going to help any player succeed.

I agree with this. I searched for the quote and couldn't find it, but I believe when K went to watch Dwight Howard play in Atlanta while Dwight was still in high school, he remarked that Dwight should be going straight to the NBA. Obviously, this was before the one-year rule and Dwight did indeed go straight to the pro's, but I think it shows that Coach K's number one priority has always been honest and fair assessment. He doesn't promise playing time to anyone although he's willing to speak honestly about a player's chances of being featured in the rotation. He doesn't blow smoke about a player's ability to be one and done if that player is not yet at that level. However, he's also willing to provide a roadmap so that those players can reach their highest level (Lance Thomas is a great example of this, in my opinion).

He's even willing to heap praise on someone if he truly believes they are deserving. He recognized Kyrie as a particularly special talent even before he arrived on campus.

Also, I'm not sure why anyone would think that Coach K shies away from featuring one and done's. Duke's entire was reconstructed to suit Kyrie even though Nolan and Kyle were coming back for their senior seasons after winning a championship. Austin was given huge amounts of freedom right from the get-go. There were some tough-love moments, but he was our highest usage player that season by far. I guess those are our only one and done's in the one and done era, thus far (Jabari may or may not add to that list), but in both cases, the star freshman were given huge roles right out of the gates.

[Li_Duke]

2014 rising PF Reid Travis just picked up an offer from Duke and is looking into setting up an official visit.

Travis is an AAU teammate and friend of Tyus Jones. Anybody in the know have any insight on whether this might be a good sign for us in regards to Tyus/Jahlil? Or bad sign when it comes to landing maybe Looney or Winslow?

I like his fit for us. I see him as a 4-year player who:
1) early in his career, can be the perfect energy big off the bench or an occasional starter when K wants to send a message about playing harder to the usual starter
2) later in his career can be a solid starting big.

A big with Tyler Thornton's personality or a (hopefully better) Josh Hairston replacement.

[Henderson]

Some links and tweets on Mr. Travis

http://future150.com/hs/basketball-n...r-showing-3809

Given that Duke has offered him, I'll bet Reid Travis knows the difference between "affect" and "effect" even if the author of this story, Eric Hampford, does not.

[-bdbd]

Some links and tweets on Mr. Travis

http://future150.com/hs/basketball-n...r-showing-3809

Jeff Borzello ‏@jeffborzello 10h
Well well well. RT @RyanJamesMN: Reid Travis just told me Duke has offered him a scholarship and he's looking into setting an official trip.

Dave Telep ‏@DaveTelep 21 Aug
Telep's T-10. Had fun w/topics from the summer. Reid Travis wins 1st Motor Award (trophy to be named after him)

Rob Dauster ‏@RobDauster 15 Aug
Report: Top 50 recruit Reid Travis quits football to focus on hoops http://wp.me/p1aWjM-1YeV

Chad Lykins ‏@CLykinsBlog 5 Aug
Who has had one of the more impressive summer outings? 2014 PF Reid Travis. http://247sports.com/Player/Reid-Tra...stitution=2887 …

Jason Jordan ‏@JayJayUSATODAY 3 Aug
Congrats to @Reid_Travis_22 on winning our #ChefOfTheWeek award for his dominant showing at Super Showcase. READ: http://socialhub.usatodayhss.com/social-hub/blogs/item/571-jasons-weekly-awards …

The part that I think I like the most is the "Motor Award." That sort of energy, enthusiasm is contagious on a team. And he feels a need. AND this offer probably also helps us with our #1 PG target, since they are AAU teammates. I like this offer.