2010 Recruiting

[geraldsneighbor]

Baylor seems like a pick that'd be similar to Beasley choosing K-State. The chance to run the show and not have to worry about anything else.

[wolfpackdevil]

How can you GUARANTEE that he will not go to Duke? Actually if G leaves it would be even more enticing for Wall to come to Duke IMO. Duke is still in the hunt and has a shot at landing this kid.

I just want to know why Duke fans want this kid to come to Duke?

He does not want to help a team win a national championship, or win for that matter. He is just like a Michael Beasley or Kevin Durant. He just wants to come somewhere and average as many points as possible to raise his draft stock.

Duke will not gain anything from him. I think it might actually hurt Duke, because I think they would be less of a team.

With Smith at PG next year, Duke will be great.

[quickgtp]

I just want to know why Duke fans want this kid to come to Duke?

He does not want to help a team win a national championship, or win for that matter. He is just like a Michael Beasley or Kevin Durant. He just wants to come somewhere and average as many points as possible to raise his draft stock.

Duke will not gain anything from him. I think it might actually hurt Duke, because I think they would be less of a team.

With Smith at PG next year, Duke will be great.

Have you spoken to John directly regarding this? Please don't say things like this because you act as if it is factual without verifying it. John seems to have had a tough life and is now getting his act together. He will likely be a one and done player, but Coach K and this staff could get the most out of him in one year I am sure.

[COYS]

I just want to know why Duke fans want this kid to come to Duke?

He does not want to help a team win a national championship, or win for that matter. He is just like a Michael Beasley or Kevin Durant. He just wants to come somewhere and average as many points as possible to raise his draft stock.

Duke will not gain anything from him. I think it might actually hurt Duke, because I think they would be less of a team.

With Smith at PG next year, Duke will be great.

I have to say, posts like this make no sense to me for many reasons. First of all, I don't understand why many people assume that a probable one and done player will automatically be a selfish, big-headed showboat who will hurt team chemistry. Our last final four team featured a particularly talented and team-oriented one and done by the name of Luol Deng. Our '99 team featured Corey Maggette. Those guys certainly didn't hurt our team. Derrick Rose, Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Marvin Williams . . . these guys certainly didn't hurt their respective teams. Durant and Beasley didn't hurt their teams, either. I just don't understand your point.

Secondly, I don't understand what's so wrong about a kid going to college for one year knowing that he will most likely be selected high enough in the following year's draft to make leaving school after one year the right career move. That doesn't make the guy a bad teammate or a selfish player . . . it just means he's probably really, really good. In Wall's case, it appears from many of the evaluations available on the various recruiting sites that he is more of a pure point guard who gets his team involved than Boynton, but no one complained that Boynton was too selfish to play for Duke. A point guard with Wall's ability surrounded by the talented scorers already on our roster could not possibly be a bad thing. If he's good enough to be selected in the top 10 of the 2010 draft . . . even better! That's one heck of a player.

Also, you don't have to be a starter on a team to be a high draft pick. Maggette and Marvin Williams both were high draft picks while playing complementary roles. Luol Deng was only one of many talented scorers on Duke's '04 team, and he still went high in the draft. Tourney success only helps a one and done player's draft stock. Would there have been any debate as to whether Beasley would be the number one pick if Memphis had crashed out in the second round last year? Possibly, but probably not. If Wall came to Duke and averaged 12 ppg, 6 apg in 28 minutes of action and led Duke to a title, an NBA team would snatch him up no problem as he would have demonstrated that he can run an offense, share the ball, and win high-stakes games. Even if Wall only cares about making it to the NBA after one year, it's in his best interests to make it deep into the tourney.

Finally, do you really think coach K would recruit somebody that would really be detrimental to the program? It's ridiculous to me that sometimes people determine the character of a particular player based on the school they attend and a few internet write-ups that say the kid is of questionable character . . . as if we can tell better than coach K (and for that matter, Bill Self and virtually every other major coach in college basketball) what kind of person Wall is. If I were wall and I read a post like this, I would be terribly offended and think Duke is an elitist institution full of snobs. This is truly absurd speculation. I trust the staff to determine if Wall is a good fit both as a basketball player and as a person.

[Cell-R]

As much fun as it is to speculate and argue about John Wall's recruitment and future, I am fairly certain that we already have a thread devoted ENTIRELY to this discussion. See link below:

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/...ad.php?t=12233

[CameronCrazy'11]

No one has any clue where John Wall is going, and anyone who says otherwise is just guessing randomly.

[jv001]

Don't forget Josh Smith in 2010. We are still in it for him. Barnes is the key to 2010 and we have a good shot at him. Go Duke!

[AtlDuke72]

I have to say, posts like this make no sense to me for many reasons. First of all, I don't understand why many people assume that a probable one and done player will automatically be a selfish, big-headed showboat who will hurt team chemistry. Our last final four team featured a particularly talented and team-oriented one and done by the name of Luol Deng. Our '99 team featured Corey Maggette. Those guys certainly didn't hurt our team. Derrick Rose, Greg Oden, Mike Conley, Marvin Williams . . . these guys certainly didn't hurt their respective teams. Durant and Beasley didn't hurt their teams, either. I just don't understand your point.

Secondly, I don't understand what's so wrong about a kid going to college for one year knowing that he will most likely be selected high enough in the following year's draft to make leaving school after one year the right career move. That doesn't make the guy a bad teammate or a selfish player . . . it just means he's probably really, really good. In Wall's case, it appears from many of the evaluations available on the various recruiting sites that he is more of a pure point guard who gets his team involved than Boynton, but no one complained that Boynton was too selfish to play for Duke. A point guard with Wall's ability surrounded by the talented scorers already on our roster could not possibly be a bad thing. If he's good enough to be selected in the top 10 of the 2010 draft . . . even better! That's one heck of a player.

Also, you don't have to be a starter on a team to be a high draft pick. Maggette and Marvin Williams both were high draft picks while playing complementary roles. Luol Deng was only one of many talented scorers on Duke's '04 team, and he still went high in the draft. Tourney success only helps a one and done player's draft stock. Would there have been any debate as to whether Beasley would be the number one pick if Memphis had crashed out in the second round last year? Possibly, but probably not. If Wall came to Duke and averaged 12 ppg, 6 apg in 28 minutes of action and led Duke to a title, an NBA team would snatch him up no problem as he would have demonstrated that he can run an offense, share the ball, and win high-stakes games. Even if Wall only cares about making it to the NBA after one year, it's in his best interests to make it deep into the tourney.

Finally, do you really think coach K would recruit somebody that would really be detrimental to the program? It's ridiculous to me that sometimes people determine the character of a particular player based on the school they attend and a few internet write-ups that say the kid is of questionable character . . . as if we can tell better than coach K (and for that matter, Bill Self and virtually every other major coach in college basketball) what kind of person Wall is. If I were wall and I read a post like this, I would be terribly offended and think Duke is an elitist institution full of snobs. This is truly absurd speculation. I trust the staff to determine if Wall is a good fit both as a basketball player and as a person.

This is one of the best posts in a long, long time. Well said!

[ChicagoCrazy84]

I don't know why the staff didn't look into this kid earlier. I watched a couple YouTube videos on John Wall, and I just have to say, MY GOD!! He is right up there with Maggette and Henderson in terms of pure athleticism to come through Duke. It looks like his skills are beyond those of Henderson when he was younger too. I don't care of he would be a one and done player, I would LOVE, absolutely LOVE having John Wall on my favorite team. I would be so giddy if I was Coach K knowing I have a backcourt of Scheyer, Smith, Wall, and Williams (assuming Henderson declares for the NBA). They need to offer a scholly and soon to this guy!
One question to anyone who might know the answer, why does it seem that Memphis throws themselves at every top prospect available? For the 2009 class, they already have 4 commitments and are in the mix for guys like DeMarcus Cousins, John Wall, Lance Stephenson, and Latavious Williams. What is it with the love affair all of a sudden for Memphis? Not only that, how many scholarships do they have available for '09?

[COYS]

Just thought I might suggest that the posts about Wall be moved to the Wall thread as I think they may have been mistakenly moved to the 2010 Recruiting thread . . . especially since Wall is a 2009 recruit.

[Bob Green]

Josh Smith posted an extraordinary stat line on Friday night: 43 points, 20 boards, and seven blocked shots. Here is a full game recap from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/preps/398271_kwood31.html

[Devilsfan]

After being in Joel last Weds. and watching our guard play, I really hope Wall comes to Duke!

[should_be_working]

Please forgive me for my lack of recruiting knowledge, but I visit this site often and also look at rivals and scout.com, but I have know idea when to expect or look for when guys commit. Are there certain periods when a recruit is more likely to give a verbal than other times, or is it just based solely on the individual recruit to decide when he chooses a school? And when are "hot" recruiting periods for college coaches - as in when can they recruit - i'm assuming there are dead periods when they can't contact recruits or go to their games (ie the collins incident). I'm new to all this, I would usually just not wonder about recruiting until the season began and i would see what freshman coach K would brought in. But now I'm very interested in the future and who we are going after, unfortunetly I just don't understand how it all works as far as when to expect news and such.

On a related note, when might we expect our recruits in furture classes to choose a school, like Wall, Smith, Barnes, Knight, etc...

Thanks for the help.

[Hancock 4 Duke]

I am a little tired of hearing about Wall. I mean, he is considering 5-6 other schools, and for Duke he only has a low interest. We haven't even offered him yet. Can someone tell me the chances we'll actually get this guy.

[SupaDave]

I am a little tired of hearing about Wall. I mean, he is considering 5-6 other schools, and for Duke he only has a low interest. We haven't even offered him yet. Can someone tell me the chances we'll actually get this guy.

No - noone can actually tell you our chances but HIM. Which is the same for all recruits. Even when we have STRONG interest there's been plenty of recruits who have gone elsewhere.

[SupaDave]

I just want to know why Duke fans want this kid to come to Duke?

He does not want to help a team win a national championship, or win for that matter. He is just like a Michael Beasley or Kevin Durant. He just wants to come somewhere and average as many points as possible to raise his draft stock.

Duke will not gain anything from him. I think it might actually hurt Duke, because I think they would be less of a team.

With Smith at PG next year, Duke will be great.

Texas retired Durant's jersey. Something tells me that they don't feel too screwed.

Beasley helped to revive a dormant school. K. State has to do whatever they can to compete with KANSAS. There was plenty of happiness surrounding Beasley last year.

And just WHY would you be mad at Wall for wanting to get a lot of minutes to get a chance to prove himself on a number of levels. I'm sure you do everything possible on your own job to enhance your resume - why can't he?

And lastly - have you SEEN this guy play? EVERYBODY wants him on their team...

[Indoor66]

And lastly - have you SEEN this guy play? EVERYBODY wants him on their team...

I am curious how many have actually seen him play. Have you?

Many seem to evaluate players on the basis of writeups and highlight videos and these are hardly a real basis to evaluate players.

I will trust the coaching staff to evaluate players and offer schollys.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

I am curious how many have actually seen him play. Have you?

Many seem to evaluate players on the basis of writeups and highlight videos and these are hardly a real basis to evaluate players.

I will trust the coaching staff to evaluate players and offer schollys.

Well, even if they are just highlights, you can get a sense of their skill set. For example, highlight clips of Brian Zoubek when he was in high school showed nothing in terms of skill set. They (his teammates) would just throw passes over the defender and he would lay it up. You could watch it and get the sense that his skill set was not that polished. This is not the case with Wall as most highlights are coming from camps where he is playing against great competition. The stuff you see is truly amazing. It at the very least shows he has incredible potential as a professional.

[SupaDave]

I am curious how many have actually seen him play. Have you?

Many seem to evaluate players on the basis of writeups and highlight videos and these are hardly a real basis to evaluate players.

I will trust the coaching staff to evaluate players and offer schollys.

He's no fluke buddy. There's a reason coaches are trying to make eye contact with this kid...

[Indoor66]

He's no fluke buddy. There's a reason coaches are trying to make eye contact with this kid...

No doubt and I also remember when E Williams was to be the second coming. How did that work out?