So apparently Diamond Stone just named his top 5 on twitter and Duke is in it along with Maryland, Wisonsin, Ok State, and UConn. I was under the impression we had moved on from him or vice versa (but i have no inside information). My expert guess would be him and Newman to UConn together.
Tommy, awesome articles on DBR over the past two days.
You're a great part of the community and why we are here. Just wanted to give you some props on the boards again.
Would love to get an overall Duke update similar to the ACC update. Who's left in 2015 and targets for 2016 etc. (Do you take requests? Can you play Stairway?)
You the man.
-Skitzle
Thanks Skitzle. Really appreciate it.
Without writing a whole article on it, the bottom line I think on 2015 is that there is a whole lotta focus on Brandon Ingram, the versatile, skilled, long, and quiet 6'8" kid from Kinston. Of course it's good to be in Diamond Stone's final five, but while I hope to be wrong, I'd be surprised if we land him. I think the other 2015's we've been involved with at various points in the past are not going to happen. But a class of (Obi), Jeter, Kennard, and Ingram would be extremely high quality.
As for the 2016's, the list I posted here in the 2016 thread I think is still pretty accurate. But I would draw a line between the first five listed -- those being Maker, Tatum, Giles, Smith, and Battle (in no particular order) -- and the rest, with those top five being the guys getting most of the attention. And add to those five California forward TJ Leaf, who also has an offer.
I’ve been reading the Marquette board (muscoop) since Wojo signed. with MU An interesting a poster who seems to be connected, factual, and knowledgeable (I think of him as “Tommy Lite”) stated Wally Ellenson has talent and will challenge for minutes next year. It was not a move purely to influence Henry.. Maybe there will be an E1 & E2 (Not baseball terms) on Wojo‘s future roster. Nice!
I don't have any insights regarding Henry Ellenson's inclinations, but it seems as though a lot of recruits list a local school as in the final mix, then go elsewhere. I'd be surprised and pleased if Ellenson chose Marquette, but it seems a long shot to me. In a world of all-info-all-the-time, good players don't need to join marquee programs to prepare for the NBA, but they tend to do so if they can. Marquette isn't chopped liver, so maybe that'll work for him, especially with his brother there. But I'd wager no. I hope I'm wrong.
You may very we'll be right about Henry Ellenson going elsewhere but I don't think Marquette is still on his list as a shout out to the locals. Henry is from Rice Lake in NW Wisconsin. If he wanted to keep a local school on his list it would be Wisconsin or maybe Minnesota. Most rural northern Wisconsinites care very little about Marquette, a small private school in Milwaukee. Kind of like most rural North Carolinians and Duke.
Coach K on Kyle Singler - "What position does he play? ... He plays winner."
"Duke is never the underdog" - Quinn Cook
As he said he would do at the end of August, Brandon Ingram cut his list today. To the surprise of nobody, Duke and UNC made the cut. The others: Kentucky, NC State, Kansas, and UCLA.
On another note, I had a tidbit in my Recruiting Update the other day about the very fast start made on the recruiting trail by Auburn Coach Bruce Pearl when his "show cause" penalty period expired last weekend. He signed four quality players within a couple of days. Well, make it five, as today he landed 6'2" New Williams, a 4-star out of Santa Monica. Santa Monica, CA to Auburn, AL. Don't see a lot of guys making that transition. Pearl seems like he's gonna force people to sit up and take notice, and fast.
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
Why are you wasting time here when you could be wasting it by listening to the latest episode of the DBR Podcast?
DeCourcey, never one to go out of his way to lavish praise on Duke, has a story on the Sporting News site listing his top 25 for the 2015 class based on summer observations. He's got Chase Jeter at #4 and Luke Kennard at #11.
And Sean Miller continues to impress at Arizona, with 3 of the top 25, and likely to add either Ivan Rabb or Stephen Zimmerman to that.
Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body. It calls attention to an unhealthy state of things. - Winston Churchill
President of the "Nolan Smith Should Have His Jersey in The Rafters" Club