I read somewhere this this family's rationale is that if he commits early enough, the program he commits to will have time to recruit "around" him, essentially custom-crafting a team to complement his capabilities to maximize the chance of winning a championship in his single year of college. Not sure that rationale holds too much water, but that's what I've read.
Well, that is interesting and logical in theory--but it reflects a pretty high level of confidence that the coach will perceive you (or your son, if the parents are promoting this idea) as the centerpiece of his future program--which, again, is assuming that nothing will change, except for the better, over the course of 2 1/2 years.
I probably read the same article as dukedoc, and a clarification may help sort things out. His family's verbiage does suggest a one-and-done outlook with a desire to win the championship "that year." Furthermore, they talk about building the program with other players as below:
However, it is his AAU coach who states “You can build a program around him. If he’s coming to your school, you build a program around him.”“One, it’s the benefit for the University to get prepared to build a good program for that year to win an NCAA championship, so it benefits the school, it benefits him because he can focus on what he has to do to get to the next level and become a better player when he reaches that level in college,” she said. “It’s a great thing. You don’t want to wait until the last year to decide where you want to go and then they don’t have the other athletes in place to make it a winning season for that university at the time.”
EDIT: Also relevant to the topic are Zagsblog's entries suggesting that he may reclassify to enter college a year early
He is a 17 year old sophomore. He is gonna reclassify so figure he is a junior. Geez. I was 17 when I graduated HS.
I saw Mickey Mitchell at the Beach Ball Tournament last year in Myrtle Beach.
There was a plethora of talent here, including Julius Randell and Shabazz.
No one...absolutely no one was more impressive than Mickey Mitchell...and he was just a freshman!
The kid can shoot, handle, rebound, and is a terrific passer! I was blown away by the kid. It looked to me he could step on a college court and be an immediate star!
Just a complete player and polished!
My first thoughts were: Duke has to get this kid!
K was there and saw him. So was Roy.
I don't know anything about the Towns kid but I would find it hard to believe he is better than Mickey Mitchell.
A name to keep an eye on for Duke in this class - PF Ben Simmons. Dave Telep says he could be "the best sophomore in America" and that "Duke is somewhat of a dream school" for him. From Australia and plays at Montverde Academy.
Kid looks very solid at 6'8" and in the tenth grade.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPwETYV90lM
Already trying to think of nicknames for the down under kid...