MBB: July Recruiting In-Game Thread

[JasonEvans]

DeLaurier also got a viewing today:

Andrew Slater ‏@ASlater247 2h2 hours ago
Texas, Duke, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, UNC & Princeton among the schools for @javelin_22 of @teamloadedaau 4 star w/ a 32 ACT #adidasuprising

Will be interesting to see who wins between DeLaurier and Gabriel for the Duke offer.

DeLaurier has a 32 ACT? That's very impressive. That is a "get into Duke without needing basketball as a hook" kind of score. no wonder Princeton is checking up on him. I wonder why Tommy and Harvard are not in the mix too.

-Jason "32 ACT is like a low-mid 1400s on the SAT" Evans

[conmanlhughes]

DeLaurier has a 32 ACT? That's very impressive. That is a "get into Duke without needing basketball as a hook" kind of score. no wonder Princeton is checking up on him. I wonder why Tommy and Harvard are not in the mix too.

-Jason "32 ACT is like a low-mid 1400s on the SAT" Evans

Might want to check your scale there. 32 ACT is like a 2000+ SAT score.

[Des Esseintes]

Might want to check your scale there. 32 ACT is like a 2000+ SAT score.

He is referring to the test's former 1600 point scale. The Writing section was not always party of the SAT, and its inclusion added 800 points.

[conmanlhughes]

He is referring to the test's former 1600 point scale. The Writing section was not always party of the SAT, and its inclusion added 800 points.

I know. But the test Delaurier has taken is the 2400 scale one. Might be confusing considering 1400 is below average now adays.

Yet, the test will be moving back to the old scale in 2017... So theres that...

[Troublemaker]

Will be interesting to see who wins between DeLaurier and Gabriel for the Duke offer.

Interestingly, these two are actually going to go head to head today in the Adidas tournament final, if I'm reading the bracket correctly. The final will be televised on ESPNU at 6pm ET. (I won't be watching, but some of you may be interested.) The staff may be there, but I could definitely see them catching an early flight from Vegas home instead of sticking around, if they feel they've seen enough to make a decision on which guy to offer.

[BD80]

Interestingly, these two are actually going to go head to head today in the Adidas tournament final, if I'm reading the bracket correctly. The final will be televised on ESPNU at 6pm ET. (I won't be watching, but some of you may be interested.) The staff may be there, but I could definitely see them catching an early flight from Vegas home instead of sticking around, if they feel they've seen enough to make a decision on which guy to offer.

Or they might just hang out in Vegas for a couple of weeks until the Team USA workouts. (I'm sure much of the staff will be back on campus to monitor this years' Duke squad).

Coach K might have a pretty sweet suite if there is an extended stay.

I wonder if he dropped the Team USA gathering into his texts to the current targets? ("So stoked! Blake and Melo confirmed they'll be coming to camp here in Vegas, along with 4/5 of the starting line-up of the World Champion Warriors.")

[Troublemaker]

Interestingly, these two are actually going to go head to head today in the Adidas tournament final, if I'm reading the bracket correctly. The final will be televised on ESPNU at 6pm ET.

Looking at the box score, Gabriel had the better performance, and DeLaurier won the game.

Upthread, I expressed a preference for DeLaurier, which was based on youtube scouting. But, after digging into the stats at this Adidas tournament, I'll change my preference to Gabriel.

Stats: During this event, Gabriel was more productive and showed better skill than DeLaurier, who I think is the more fluid athlete but can't measure up in outside shooting and free throw shooting. Gabriel also looks to be the better shotblocker, which makes him a great fit to be a stretch-4 for Duke or any college, really. Kentucky offered Gabriel, so they see a major talent.

Note: Adidas' site makes a mistake when calculating shooting percentages, so it's better to just look at the raw makes and misses.

[BD80]

Looking at the box score, Gabriel had the better performance, and DeLaurier won the game.

Upthread, I expressed a preference for DeLaurier, which was based on youtube scouting. But, after digging into the stats at this Adidas tournament, I'll change my preference to Gabriel.

Stats: During this event, Gabriel was more productive and showed better skill than DeLaurier, who I think is the more fluid athlete but can't measure up in outside shooting and free throw shooting. Gabriel also looks to be the better shotblocker, which makes him a great fit to be a stretch-4 for Duke or any college, really. Kentucky offered Gabriel, so they see a major talent.

Note: Adidas' site makes a mistake when calculating shooting percentages, so it's better to just look at the raw makes and misses.

One must also consider what the growth potential of the recruit will be over the next couple of years. Gabriel seems to be trending upward.

[JasonEvans]

I know. But the test Delaurier has taken is the 2400 scale one. Might be confusing considering 1400 is below average now adays.

Yet, the test will be moving back to the old scale in 2017... So theres that...

For everyone over the age of 28, the 1600 scale is what we know. That is why I compared his ACT to the 1600 scale. There is so much dissatisfaction about the Writing section of the SAT (soon to be gone in the next year) that even my college freshman son, who took the SAT and ACT multiple times the past 18 months, often only speaks about scores in terms of the 1600 scale. Many schools say they do not look at the writing score.

I'm bummed the writing even exists as my son got an 800 on his math and a 700 on his verbal, but his writing score was a fairly poor 600. Still, he got into his first choice (Haverford, Duke was his second choice) so it is all good.

-Jason "back on point, Delaurier's ACT score is truly impressive" Evans

[ice-9]

For everyone over the age of 28, the 1600 scale is what we know. That is why I compared his ACT to the 1600 scale. There is so much dissatisfaction about the Writing section of the SAT (soon to be gone in the next year) that even my college freshman son, who took the SAT and ACT multiple times the past 18 months, often only speaks about scores in terms of the 1600 scale. Many schools say they do not look at the writing score.

I'm bummed the writing even exists as my son got an 800 on his math and a 700 on his verbal, but his writing score was a fairly poor 600. Still, he got into his first choice (Haverford, Duke was his second choice) so it is all good.

-Jason "back on point, Delaurier's ACT score is truly impressive" Evans

Congrats to you and your son! Getting into Duke or similar top school is an amazing accomplishment. I interview kids in my area for Duke and am floored by how mature and polished they are these days. I don't think I would've gotten in.

[Dev11]

I'm bummed the writing even exists as my son got an 800 on his math and a 700 on his verbal, but his writing score was a fairly poor 600. Still, he got into his first choice (Haverford, Duke was his second choice) so it is all good.

-Jason "back on point, Delaurier's ACT score is truly impressive" Evans

This is peak parent humble brag. Bravo, Evans and son.

[Troublemaker]

This is peak parent humble brag. Bravo, Evans and son.

LOL.

The genius was in how Jason set it up with his post the day before. He knew that the accuracy-obsessed EKB could not possibly allow the following signature to go without comment:

-Jason "32 ACT is like a low-mid 1400s on the SAT" Evans

Thus, his setup post ensured his follow-up reply where he could slip in the news about his son.

Tremendous humblebrag. I was wondering what Jason was doing posting in this thread, and now I know.

I suppose had his son gotten into Oxford, his setup post would've been something like:

Rumour has it that Duke is interested in 6'10" (208 cm) big man Wenyen Gabriel. With his great defence and improving offence, Gabriel is showing that he is a 5-star calibre prospect.

- Jason "A good analogue to Gabriel might be Luol Deng" Evans

All kidding aside, congrats Jason!

[Troublemaker]

Welp, with the news that Duke has offered Wenyen, that's a wrap for this thread.

I'd say it's been a pretty eventful July. We saw the coaches criss-crossing the country to appear at recruited players' games and also to scout new players for new offers. We got a commitment from Jayson Tatum, which is huge, and we were able to put two more offers out there to 2016 PF Wenyen Gabriel and 2017 WF DJ Harvey. Most importantly, we got news that Duke is the hottest program in recruiting right now.

With July done, Coach K and the staff will spend August multi-tasking. Coach needs to prepare for the USA minicamp, and at the same time, he and the staff and the captains will need to acclimate the freshmen to Duke basketball, as much as the NCAA will allow them to be worked with before the season starts.

The next recruiting period will begin around mid-September and last into November for the early signing period. That's when they can hold in-home visits and visits at the high school. I'll probably twitter-stalk the coaches then as well. In the meantime, I think only on-campus visits are allowed right now.

Here's the Wenyen tweet to wrap up this thread:

WenyenGabriel™ ‏@WenyenGabriel 2h2 hours ago
Just received an offer from Duke! Blessed to have so many people in my life believe in me!