Most anticipated players of all time.

[luvdahops]

As another old guy, allow me to second Jim Summer's opinion -- it's Gene Banks and no other Duke recruit else was close.

But I would like to point out the difference that freshman basketball made ... until 1973, every recruit played freshman ball for a season before joining the varsity. That changed things. Few people followed recruiting -- they would just wait and see what they looked like on the freshman team. Art Heyman was a huge recruit --thanks to some degree to his flip-flop from UNC to Duke -- but we got to see how good he was as a freshman. David Thompson was just another recruit when he signed at N.C. State (Sonny Vaccarro, who ran the Dapper Dan All-Star Game -- the McDonald's Game of its Day -- didn't even invite him to the game). But after his first 5-6 games for the State, he was so good that Fred Schaus, who coached Jerry West at West Virginia and with the Lakers, called him one of the 10 best players in the world ... at any level. By the team he joined the varsity, Thompson was a superstar (so much so that when he had 29 points and 10 rebounds in a victory over Wake Forest in his fifth college game, the Greensboro paper labeled his performance "disappointing").

Getting to see Thompson play on TV (versus reading about him in SI and newspapers) might have been the most anticipated for me. Dr J coming to the NBA was similar. The world was just so much different then.

I was 4 years from matriculating to Duke at the time, but from everything I have heard, Jim Sumner is spot on about Gene Banks. Though I would say that Magic's arrival at Michigan State was probably comparable on a local level. Seth Davis's When March Went Mad does a great job on describing this. While Banks and Albert may have had bigger national reps, East Lansing native Magic had frequently played pick-up games against the Spartan players and dominated, so they knew what they were getting. Spurning archival and then national power Michigan (NCAA runner-up in 1976 followed by a 26-4 season) only added fuel to the fire.

[NashvilleDevil]

I just caught the tailend of the 30 for 30 on Randy Moss. I cannot believe I forgot him.

[gumbomoop]

I don't necessarily disagree with the many posters who insist that the most anticipated Duke player was Banks. But in the OP post, as opposed to title, the question refers to your most anticipated. So while Tinkerbell almost surely is the consensus pick for posters older than, say, 50, he wouldn't be every poster's personal "most anticipated."

Banks is arguably the "correct" answer to the historical question. There is no incorrect answer to the personal most anticipated, is there?

[Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15]

I echo lots of these comments but would like to add Seth Curry. I still remember so clearly hearing that he was coming to Duke. I knew very little about him, but had visions of mini-Stephen... and I was never disappointed.

[DukeandMdFan]

Gene Banks, Danny Ferry, JJ Reddick, Kyrie Irving, and Kyrie Irving's toe.

Johnny Dawkins is rightly credited with being Duke's most important recruit, but IMO the imporance of Gene Banks choosing Duke is often overlooked.

It is interesting to me that while the '79 NCAA Championship is still the most watched and arguably the most famous Finals, Duke started the season #1 and Indiana State wasn't even ranked until week 4 (at least according to this site http://www.databasesports.com/ncaab/...on=1978&week=4

Nationally, I remember reading about LeBron James when he was in the 6th grade and Damon Bailey committing to Indiana in 8th grade. I'm too young to remember Lew Alcindor even playing in college.

[Lauderdevil]

Johnny Dawkins is rightly credited with being Duke's most important recruit, but IMO the imporance of Gene Banks choosing Duke is often overlooked.

If you want to make a case for Gene Banks as the most important recruit in Duke history (in addition to most anticipated), here it is. When he arrived, Duke had just finished last in the ACC for four straight years. Added to a solid core inherited from those teams, Banks vaulted the team all the way to the national championship game in his freshman year, and a number one ranking for parts of his sophomore and junior years.

That alone was awesome. But more important was that in doing so, he also helped catapult Bill Foster, then Duke's coach, into the top tier of college coaches. That led to Foster getting a number of offers to coach at other schools, and in 1980 he accepted the South Carolina job -- because he thought South Carolina was more serious about building a long-term program than Duke was. (!)

That left an opening at head coach, which Athletic Director Tom Butters filled with the unknown Mike Krzyzewski.

You can make the case that if Gene Banks hadn't come to Duke, Bill Foster would never have built the record to generate an offer from a school more attractive than Duke. He'd have remained at Duke at least for another couple of seasons. K would have moved on to a power-conference program (he had an offer from Iowa State when he accepted the Duke job) and begun building there. And Duke might well have ended up with a series of middling coaches like we had in football for all the years before Coach Cut -- much like Wake Forest and NC State have had in basketball. There's no chance that whomever they ultimately chose to replace Foster, whenever he stepped aside, could have been remotely as successful as the winningest coach in history.

So, thanks, Tink!

[BobbyFan]

Shaun Livingston would be up there if he matriculated. 6' 7" and with passing skills that brought up inevitable Magic Johnson comparisons. He was the #2 player overall in the 2004 class, behind Dwight Howard.

[superdave]

Shaun Livingston would be up there if he matriculated. 6' 7" and with passing skills that brought up inevitable Magic Johnson comparisons. He was the #2 player overall in the 2004 class, behind Dwight Howard.

Imagine Shaun Livingston, JJ Redick, Luol Deng, Kris Humprhies and Shelden Williams with Daniel Ewing, Greg Paulus, Josh McRoberts and Shavlik Randolph off the bench. You could erase that 2005 Unc championship before the Ncaa gets to it.

Livingston's injuries were a shame. He never realized all the potential he had.

[jimsumner]

I've always ranked Dawkins as the third most important recruit in Duke history, with Banks No. 1 and Art Heyman No. 2. Heyman was a UNC commit who de-committed after his stepfather and Frank McGuire had a violent disagreement on a Heyman visit. Vic Bubas snagged Heyman within days of Bubas becoming head coach. Heyman jump-started Bubas' program and more than any other player was responsible for Duke moving from regional power to national power.

Of course, recruiting wasn't a spectator sport in those days and freshmen weren't even eligible for varsity competition. Coaches knew how good Heyman was but I suspect there wasn't all that much anticipation amongst the rank and file.

For me personally, I really looked forward to Mickey Mantle joining the Yankees. I was only 11 months old at the time but I knew that Joltin' Joe's time was running out.

[FerryFor50]

If the 2015 recruiting thread is to believed, the answer is either Brandon Ingram or Dennis Smith.

[Tripping William]

Shaun Livingston would be up there if he matriculated. 6' 7" and with passing skills that brought up inevitable Magic Johnson comparisons. He was the #2 player overall in the 2004 class, behind Dwight Howard.

Livingston's decision to turn pro is the reason I gave up, to this day, following recruiting with any enthusiasm. One has to draw the line somewhere between APGAR scores and when one actually dons a Duke uni. I chose the latter post-Livingston.

His injury was gruesome and very sad.

[Dukehky]

I was more excited to see Jabari Parker's first game in a Duke uniform than I have ever been for any athlete's debut in any sport. I remember hearing about him when he was in like, the 8th grade.

[pamtar]

Great thread. Duke-wise for me it's got to be Greg Paulus. Best PG in the country, turned down a football scholly to ND, kid has to be legit. And he was, until JJ left. I think the whole "Coach K says he's the starting PG no matter what" thing, and getting JJ a ring had me pumped well beyond reasonable expectations. Now that I think about it, it would be fun to see what K could do with those guys after a couple of USA golds and a handful of OaDs.

Nationally, gotta be Tiger's first tourney after sex rehab.

[JNort]

I know I already listed Kyrie but I didn't have time for my others.

Dukies: Kyrie, Rivers, Cook, MP2, Paulus, Andre, Seth and Hood.

Non Dukies: Strasburg, JR Smith, Andrew Luck, Braylon Edwards, Reggie Bush, Marcus Vick

[BD80]

...

Nationally, gotta be Tiger's first tourney after sex rehab.

You mean his appearance on COPS. Don't think he ever attended sex rehab.

[Tripping William]

If the 2015 recruiting thread is to believed, the answer is either Brandon Ingram or Dennis Smith.

You forgot Crew Ainge. ;-)

Yeah, regency bias ...

[subzero02]

Imagine Shaun Livingston, JJ Redick, Luol Deng, Kris Humprhies and Shelden Williams with Daniel Ewing, Greg Paulus, Josh McRoberts and Shavlik Randolph off the bench. You could erase that 2005 Unc championship before the Ncaa gets to it.

Livingston's injuries were a shame. He never realized all the potential he had.

It really is a shame. Livingston was on his way to becoming a legend/hall of famer. His knee injury was one of the worst I have seen in basketball.

[pamtar]

You mean his appearance on COPS. Don't think he ever attended sex rehab.

Oh yes, he rehabbed the sex. http://m.nydailynews.com/entertainme...ticle-1.458887

Sorry for the lame source. There's plenty more out there.

[pfrduke]

Imagine Shaun Livingston, JJ Redick, Luol Deng, Kris Humprhies and Shelden Williams with Daniel Ewing, Greg Paulus, Josh McRoberts and Shavlik Randolph off the bench. You could erase that 2005 Unc championship before the Ncaa gets to it.

Livingston, Redick, Deng, Humphries, Williams, Ewing, Paulus, McRoberts, Randolph is not a roster that could have existed for the 2005 championship, given that McRoberts and Paulus did not matriculate until the 2006 season. It's not a roster that could have existed at all given that Ewing graduated in 2005.

[BD80]

Livingston, Redick, Deng, Humphries, Williams, Ewing, Paulus, McRoberts, Randolph is not a roster that could have existed for the 2005 championship, given that McRoberts and Paulus did not matriculate until the 2006 season. It's not a roster that could have existed at all given that Ewing graduated in 2005.

Even still, they went to more actual classes than the 2005 "championship" team did.