K, Team USA, and Recruiting Advantage

[Dopeshop]

I recall the worries about Coach K's commitment to the Olympics and its potential to hurt recruiting .

I think it's been an unqualified Coup for the Duke Program and I wanted to gather the best Examples.

My first is the 2008 picture with K ,the team ,and the gold medals around his neck.

Although ,I can't remember the exact quotes, both Kobie and Labron remarked that while , they did not go to college ,if they had ,Coach K is the coach they would have wanted to play for.

There have been any number of such items this go -round . quotes by Durant, Chris Paul ,Tyson, And a marvelous comment by Doug Collins concerning his son playing for Coach K ,Doc's son doing the same and how K separates from the other coaches (Xs and Os) by his people skills and devotion to team unity.

The exact quote would really help as well as other things that should resonate with HS stars who worship these NBA stars and what they think and say. Thanks. Dopeshop

[licc85]

THe day will come when K retires. I hope we find someone who can be even half the recruiter that he has been because sometimes you don't know what you got 'til it's gone.

Losing Coach K will be a huge loss for the program, but as far as recruiting, I think Bill Guthridge and Matt Doherty have already proven the coach almost doesn't matter when you are recruiting for one of the highest profile programs in the country. We will get recruits regardless of who is coaching. I'm more worried about what happens after we get those recruits. Nobody in this world knows how to motivate and manage a basketball team of star athletes like Mike Krzyzewski.

[COYS]

I think this is more true for big state universities like UNC. Even then, it's not like the UNC program was down and out for very long. Indiana lost a lot of their top recruits for a while, both at the end of Knight's reign and in the subsequent decade. Even the basketball crazy state of Indiana and the flagship university's history and high profile wasn't enough to bring in recruits. Landing Cody Zeller may have finally pushed Indiana back into the national profile, but it still remains to be seen if they can stay there. So while a lot of recruits will still be interested in Duke, it remains to be seen how much cache the Duke brand will carry five to ten years after K leaves. I bet it will be a little bit tougher for a private school like Duke to stay on top, which doesn't mean it's impossible, but I don't think we can assume that Duke will continue to get recruits just because it's "Duke."

[johnb]

I'm going to make a comparison to K and USA Basketball any major corporate brand, like, say Coke. ..Coach K has NEVER had anything approaching Coke's portion of the market share for the top recruits in the land.

A quick search found that Coke has a 40% market share for soda. That's big. If you look at top 30 players who also have the academic chops and interpersonal qualities to get into Duke, I'm thinking our "market share" may approach 40%. And unless we can arrange for our team to be 20-30 players big--or ramp things up so that we only need to look at the top dozen players--I'm not sure we could do much better.

[Des Esseintes]

I think this is more true for big state universities like UNC. Even then, it's not like the UNC program was down and out for very long. Indiana lost a lot of their top recruits for a while, both at the end of Knight's reign and in the subsequent decade. Even the basketball crazy state of Indiana and the flagship university's history and high profile wasn't enough to bring in recruits. Landing Cody Zeller may have finally pushed Indiana back into the national profile, but it still remains to be seen if they can stay there. So while a lot of recruits will still be interested in Duke, it remains to be seen how much cache the Duke brand will carry five to ten years after K leaves. I bet it will be a little bit tougher for a private school like Duke to stay on top, which doesn't mean it's impossible, but I don't think we can assume that Duke will continue to get recruits just because it's "Duke."

Well said. Let's keep in mind the following, however: Knight was running a fairly mediocre program for over half a decade before his ouster; Mike Davis was an interim hire who turned out to be incompetent; Kelvin Sampson put the program in a ditch with major sanctions. There was some success in Bloomington over the past fifteen years, but there was also a lot of scuffling. Yet, now out from under NCAA probation, Indiana is again an excellent job and a place where Tom Crean can reel in prime talent. I think a couple of bad hires in a row can damage a program, but a good hire can bring it roaring back to the top. (Whether Crean is a good hire probably remains open for debate, of course.)

The best programs go dormant; they don't wither. Look at UCLA. Though public, UCLA functions in many ways like a private institution. It enjoys limited funding, and its facilities are often suboptimal. Yet Jim Harrick, Steve Lavin, and Ben Howland--not one of them, with the possible exception of Howland, top-shelf--have all been able to attract major talent to the school. I suspect that the brand K has built will prove similarly lasting, despite its private status.

[Pghdukie]

Who will be the first recruit that hops on board now that K has again established the highest level of excellence ?

[licc85]

Who will be the first recruit that hops on board now that K has again established the highest level of excellence ?

My money's on Jabari

[BleedsP287]

Coach K could get every recruit out there, but he'd still only play 7 guys, and come post season we'd be too tired to win anyway. (humor alert)

[OldPhiKap]

Coach K could get every recruit out there, but he'd still only play 7 guys, and come post season we'd be too tired to win anyway. (humor alert)

And, of course, none of them would be big men.

[Indoor66]

And, of course, none of them would be big men.

Or coached by a REAL big man coach.

[OldPhiKap]

Or coached by a REAL big man coach.

Yeah, you could see this problem with the Olympic team. No big men, no real big man coach. Result? We almost lost a game or two. Tired of waiting for tough defense and attacking perimeter players to bail us out over and over and over.

[NSDukeFan]

Yeah, you could see this problem with the Olympic team. No big men, no real big man coach. Result? We almost lost a game or two. Tired of waiting for tough defense and attacking perimeter players to bail us out over and over and over.

And they took too many threes.

[davekay1971]

Front page article on how UNC and State fans cheer for K every 4 years is almost comical, or shows just how far out of whack the IC crowd is. Most of the Tarheel fans I know have done their best to ignore the Olympic Men's Basketball team for the last 2 Olympics, and are running the predictable party line "K's not doing anything. Anyone could win with that team. He's just doing it for endorsements." IC even has a remarkably petty, ignorant, and nasty thread on the subject (even by IC's already low standards). I'm not suprised that more professional people like Montross (who does a very nice job on the Carolina basketball network) are able to acknowledge and appreciate K's accomplishments with the national team, but I think article is really underestimating the jealousy and ignorance of the typical Carolina fan.

[jimsumner]

And they took too many threes.

Didn't use the bench, either.

[Indoor66]

Didn't use the bench, either.

Need a big man coach. Heck, they need big men.

[MChambers]

Need a big man coach. Heck, they need big men.

Stubbornly stuck to a man to man defense, rather than playing a zone.

[MarkD83]

Front page article on how UNC and State fans cheer for K every 4 years is almost comical, or shows just how far out of whack the IC crowd is. Most of the Tarheel fans I know have done their best to ignore the Olympic Men's Basketball team for the last 2 Olympics, and are running the predictable party line "K's not doing anything. Anyone could win with that team. He's just doing it for endorsements." IC even has a remarkably petty, ignorant, and nasty thread on the subject (even by IC's already low standards). I'm not suprised that more professional people like Montross (who does a very nice job on the Carolina basketball network) are able to acknowledge and appreciate K's accomplishments with the national team, but I think article is really underestimating the jealousy and ignorance of the typical Carolina fan.

Has it been pointed out to IC that the previous USA head coaches both of whom have a UNC background failed miserably at international events with NBA players?

[rasputin]

Has it been pointed out to IC that the previous USA head coaches both of whom have a UNC background failed miserably at international events with NBA players?

This post springs from a mistaken premise--that logic has anything to do with what gets on IC.

[MarkD83]

This post springs from a mistaken premise--that logic has anything to do with what gets on IC.

You are correct. What was I thinking. I guess I didn't take enough independent study courses. If I did I might better understand IC.

[OldPhiKap]

Has it been pointed out to IC that the previous USA head coaches both of whom have a UNC background failed miserably at international events with NBA players?

Well, the Helms Committee held a vote and declared that the USA won gold that year. So they're not sure what the problem is.