2016 Basketball Recruiting Thread

[conmanlhughes]

Highly, highly unlikely Duke would get both. For all practical purposes, I believe they are mutually exclusive.

Personally, I would prefer Smith Jr. And Tyus Battle rather than both Smith Jr. And Thornton. I feel that Smith Jr. Has more long-term potential and Kyrie-esque skills.

[superdave]

http://zagsblog.com/articles/tyus-ba...-duke-up-next/

Battle and the list of names at Kentuckys Madness event.

[FerryFor50]

Honest question...

At what point does it become a detriment to your recruiting to have Drake appear at the events?

[wilko]

Honest question...

At what point does it become a detriment to your recruiting to have Drake appear at the events?

When he starts pulling more females than Cal budgeted for hosting recruits.

[Des Esseintes]

Honest question...

At what point does it become a detriment to your recruiting to have Drake appear at the events?

I will never understand how such a limp, embarrassing, feelingsy rapper became so popular, particularly with athletes.

[AncientPsychicT]

As many of you know, top Duke target and top 5 2016 recruit Harry Giles badly injured his knee a little over a year ago and had to sit out a year.

Well, he's back. And he has a mixtape of some highlights since his return. It's nothing too special -- it's a mixtape, so you're going to get what you'd expect, i.e. a lot of dunks and flashy highlights -- but I thought it nice to see him back in action.

A couple of observations:
- He does not appear to have lost any explosiveness or quickness due to the injury
- For a 6'10" big man, his handle is quite good (at least against the competition)

[johnb]

As many of you know, top Duke target and top 5 2016 recruit Harry Giles badly injured his knee a little over a year ago and had to sit out a year.

Well, he's back. And he has a mixtape of some highlights since his return. It's nothing too special -- it's a mixtape, so you're going to get what you'd expect, i.e. a lot of dunks and flashy highlights -- but I thought it nice to see him back in action.

A couple of observations:
- He does not appear to have lost any explosiveness or quickness due to the injury
- For a 6'10" big man, his handle is quite good (at least against the competition)

Two thirds of the way through this video, Giles comments on his recruiting, that he's kinda close to knowing, to getting locked in, before meandering back to keeping his options open. All things considered, I'd say we're in good shape with him--and he'd be awesome to watch with a Duke uniform on.

http://usatodayhss.com/2014/harry-gi...pchat-and-more

[JPtheGame]

Quite a few reasons to love Jahlil Okafor, here's one more. During CTC Jahlil asked Giles, point blank, "whatcha waiting for?" The kid's a closer. Giles posted the story on his twitter feed.

[JPtheGame]

TJ Leaf
http://zagsblog.com/articles/2016-fo...y/#more-124228

Any thoughts here? I'll be honest in that I haven't seen much (internet only) about Leaf and Duke but he lists Duke on his final 6.
The profile makes sense (stretch 4, multiple positions) but I watch recruiting as close as I can (The first step is admitting you have a problem...) and i just dont see s strong connection.

[ChillinDuke]

TJ Leaf
http://zagsblog.com/articles/2016-fo...y/#more-124228

Any thoughts here? I'll be honest in that I haven't seen much (internet only) about Leaf and Duke but he lists Duke on his final 6.
The profile makes sense (stretch 4, multiple positions) but I watch recruiting as close as I can (The first step is admitting you have a problem...) and i just dont see s strong connection.

Crystal Ball says Arizona.

Don't think Duke was overly involved here. Haven't heard much about him.

- Chillin

[jimsumner]

Crystal Ball says Arizona.

Don't think Duke was overly involved here. Haven't heard much about him.

- Chillin

Duke was very involved with Leaf for a time. But he canceled a scheduled visit to Duke for CTC.

The word on the street is he doesn't see himself co-existing with Giles. Read into that what you will.

I think Leaf is on a back burner at best.

[tommy]

Yeah, Coach K and a couple of the assistants were out to visit Leaf in Southern California just a month ago. They were very interested in him. But when Leaf canceled for CTC, the handwriting was on the wall. This one ain't happening.

Somehow, we will have to soldier on.

[JPtheGame]

Duke was very involved with Leaf for a time. But he canceled a scheduled visit to Duke for CTC.

The word on the street is he doesn't see himself co-existing with Giles. Read into that what you will.

I can live with that.

[AncientPsychicT]

Duke was very involved with Leaf for a time. But he canceled a scheduled visit to Duke for CTC.

The word on the street is he doesn't see himself co-existing with Giles. Read into that what you will.

I think Leaf is on a back burner at best.

I agree with the staff then, I'd rather have Giles.

[Duvall]

A Leaf in the desert?

T.J. Leaf, a 6-foot-10 power forward out of El Cajon (Calif.) Foothills Christian, informed Scout that he has given a verbal commitment to Arizona, giving them the highest rated pledge in the 2016 class.

[Ichabod Drain]

The whole coaching staff watched Harry Giles last night. Apparently Roy and Hubert Davis were there as well with Theo Pinson who played high school ball with Giles. They are going all out for him.

[superdave]

The whole coaching staff watched Harry Giles last night. Apparently Roy and Hubert Davis were there as well with Theo Pinson who played high school ball with Giles. They are going all out for him.

From this Zagsblog article -

"Kansas, Wake Forest, UNC and Duke are the only schools to offer the trio of Tatum, Harry Giles and Dennis Smith Jr., That group has discussed a big package deal."

[Ichabod Drain]

From this Zagsblog article -

"Kansas, Wake Forest, UNC and Duke are the only schools to offer the trio of Tatum, Harry Giles and Dennis Smith Jr., That group has discussed a big package deal."

Zags provides a lot of good recruiting info but he also asks these young kids a lot of leading questions. I don't think these kids come out and say package deal or anything like that. Zags asks them about what it would be like to play with each other in college or similar questions, then he shapes his narrative around their answers to a certain degree.

[CarmenWallaceWade]

Per a Clint Jackson tweet this morning:

"@clintjackson1: New article posted on http://t.co/0Awh1NjIzg on 2016 PG Derryck Thornton. The Devils are surging and will visit him this weekend."

[DavidBenAkiva]

I've just begun reading through this discussion board and was trying to wrap my head around the potential team and targets for 2016.

Projected Team:

• Guards: Matt Jones (Sr), Grayson Allen (Jr), Tyus Jones (Jr, unlikely on the team), and Luke Kennard (So)
• Forwards: Semi Ojeleye (Sr), Justise Winslow (Jr, unlikely on the team), and Chase Jeter (So)
• Post/Center: Sean Obi (R-Jr)

So that's 8 potential scholarship players and 6 likely. It's also possible Brandon Ingram might be a sophomore forward on the team (are we recruiting anyone else in 2015?).

I see (sans Tyus Jones and Justise Winslow) Matt Jones, Chase Jeter, and Sean Obi as leading candidates for starting positions from that group. We clearly have a lot of open scholarships to hand out. It looks like we're going heavy after the following guys:

• Guards: Dennis Smith, Jr., Derryck Thornton, and Tyus Battle
• Forwards: Jayson Tatum and Harry Giles

I'm not suggesting that we will haul in all five. Heck, getting Smith, Tatum, and Giles would easily be the best recruiting haul that year. I'm just wondering about others. Who else are we targeting?