Let's Make a List

[Jumbo]

My thread, my rules. I was hesitant to start another tread dedicated to anything related to recruiting. But I want data. So here's what we're going to do. Jim Sumner and Al Featherston gave us a good start, but we can do better. I want to come up with as comprehensive a list as possible of K's recruiting misses. For fun, we'll start with the high school class of 1988, since those guys were juniors during K's first Final Four team, and thus would have been the first group to have been influenced by it.

The task as simple -- colaboratively, let's come up with as many names (and class years) as possible. I don't want opinions, debate, arguments, whining, etc. I want data. If a name on there doesn't belong (for instance, I can't remember if Duke went after Gooden and Chenowith or not), let us know. But I want to create a list that could then be linked in other threads going forward. My hunch is that this will provide a great deal of perspective going forward. Let's make this a colaborative effort and see how far it takes us. Here are some names to start:

Edit: If you find more guys, please try to find links, too.

Bryant Stith '88
Adam Keefe '88
Jerrod Mustaf '88
Darrick Martin '88
Mitchell Butler '89
Eric Montross '90
Pat Sullivan '90
Alan Henderson '91
Chris Webber '91
Richard Keene '92
Jerry Stackhouse '93
Randy Livingston '93
Keith Booth '93
Andrae Patterson '94
Adonal Foyle '94
Jerry Gee '95
Vince Carter '95
Shareef Abdur-Rahim '95
Willie Dersch '96
Shaheen Holloway '96
Jason Collier '96
Baron Davis '97
Eric Chenowith '97?
Dane Fife '99
Brett Nelson '99
Nick Collison '99
Drew Gooden '99
Danny Miller '99
Jared Jeffries '00
T.J. Cummings '00
Ousmane Cisse '01
David Harrison '01
Rick Rickert '01
David Lee '01
Ndudi Ebi '03
Alexander Kaun '04
Jon Brockman '05
Geoff McDermott '05
Brandan Wright '06
Thaddeus Young '06
Eric Gordon '07
Gary Johnson '07
Blake Griffin '07
Patrick Patterson '07
Greg Monroe '08
Erik Murphy '09

[CDu]

Weren't we interested in Jason Capel ('98)?

[Jumbo]

I thought about Capel when I went through some RSCI stuff. I don't remember whether Duke actually offered him. Can anyone confirm/deny?

[CDu]

Also:

Mike Miller (UF)
Kris Humphries (UM)

[hondoheel]

Matt Bonner?
Reeves Nelson?

[CDu]

I thought about Capel when I went through some RSCI stuff. I don't remember whether Duke actually offered him. Can anyone confirm/deny?

You'll need to clarify: there have surely been guys we were interested in who committed elsewhere before we made an offer, right?

[hurleyfor3]

Chris Mullin, if you care about pre-1988
I swear we went after Joachim Noah

[ugadevil]

Does Shaun Livingston count?

[Jumbo]

Also:

Mike Miller (UF)
Kris Humphries (UM)

I'm not counting Humphries because Duke "did" land him. Then we let him out of his LOI. Different case. I didn't think Duke was after Miller. Link?

[Jumbo]

Matt Bonner?
Reeves Nelson?

I don't recall Duke going after Matt Bonner. And did Nelson ever get an offer? It would be helpful if you guys would provide links.

[Jumbo]

You'll need to clarify: there have surely been guys we were interested in who committed elsewhere before we made an offer, right?

That's a good point. Do you think we should limit it to guys Duke has actually offered? I do (especially when we start comparing it to the current guys who are upsetting people).

[Jumbo]

Chris Mullin, if you care about pre-1988
I swear we went after Joachim Noah

We're keeping it to post-1988. I don't think Duke ever got that far in the hunt for Joakim Noah (I'm almost positive he didn't get an offer), but I could be wrong. Please provide a link if you can.

[Jumbo]

Does Shaun Livingston count?

Nope. Duke landed him. He just opted for the NBA in the end. We're purely talking about kids who picked other schools over a Duke offer.

[dcarp23]

According to the archives search on Rivals, Duke made an offer to:

David Noel ('02)
Leon Powe ('03)
Mike Williams ('04)
Micah Downs ('05)
Martellus Bennett ('05)
Uche Echefu ('05)
Eric Gordon ('07)

[Jumbo]

According to the archives search on Rivals, Duke made an offer to:

David Noel ('02)
Leon Powe ('03)
Mike Williams ('04)
Micah Downs ('05)
Martellus Bennett ('05)
Uche Echefu ('05)
Eric Gordon ('07)

I don't trust Rivals 100%. Gordon DEFINITELY got an offer -- I'm adding him to the master list now. I remember Bennett being chased for football/basketball, but I don't remember K actually offering him. It would have been a football scholarship anyway, so it's hard to count him. I thought Echefu was mostly just talk, and that it came down to FSU/UNC. I don't remember a Duke offer. Again, I could be wrong. I'm 90% sure Duke never offered Noel. The rest of the guys don't ring a bell with Duke, either. Can we get confirmation from someone else on those guys?

[Jumbo]

I'm pretty sure Duke offered Jason Gardner. Can anyone confirm?

[pfrduke]

I don't trust Rivals 100%. Gordon DEFINITELY got an offer -- I'm adding him to the master list now. I remember Bennett being chased for football/basketball, but I don't remember K actually offering him. It would have been a football scholarship anyway, so it's hard to count him. I thought Echefu was mostly just talk, and that it came down to FSU/UNC. I don't remember a Duke offer. Again, I could be wrong. I'm 90% sure Duke never offered Noel. The rest of the guys don't ring a bell with Duke, either. Can we get confirmation from someone else on those guys?

I recall that Duke at least had interest in Echefu - don't know if he was offered. Never heard any mention of interest in Mike Williams, Leon Powe, or Noel. Micah Downs may have come up briefly, but I think we were out early if we were ever even involved.

[CDu]

I'm not counting Humphries because Duke "did" land him. Then we let him out of his LOI. Different case. I didn't think Duke was after Miller. Link?

I'd call Humphries a miss, personally. We recruited him. He ultimately decided he wanted to be somewhere else. In the interim, he had decided to come here. But he didn't and instead played for another college. But, your list, your rules, I guess.

As for Miller, I don't have any links, and I'm not entirely sure how I'd go about that from so long ago (the internet was a different animal back then). I do believe that he did make an official visit when I was in school, though. I seem to remember it when I went to a game.

[Jumbo]

I'd call Humphries a miss, personally. We recruited him. He ultimately decided he wanted to be somewhere else. In the interim, he had decided to come here. But he didn't and instead played for another college. But, your list, your rules, I guess.

As for Miller, I don't have any links, and I'm not entirely sure how I'd go about that from so long ago (the internet was a different animal back then). I do believe that he did make an official visit when I was in school, though. I seem to remember it when I went to a game.

When were you in school? I'll do some digging. Sure you're not confusing him with David Lee, Brett Nelson, or any of the other guys who chose Florida?

[Jumbo]

Does anyone remember if Duke offered Earnest Shelton?