Austin Rivers

[ChicagoCrazy84]

This is an exciting time. All of this talk with Austin Rivers is crazy! I love it! I hate to get my hopes up while it is so early, but when you have all these All Americans talking so positively of us, you can't help but think what could be. UNC has to be shaking in their boots! I think it's only a matter of time before Rivers decommits. Let's have a good in home with Roscoe tomorrow and keep it rolling!

In regards to the sudden shift, I don't know if it was so much the players that didn't feel like coming here, I do think it is Coach K and his staff more so that has changed their thinking on all of this and who they approach. Remember, these kids all know eachother from AAU, Nationals, summer camps and you know they have to play some kind of influence in eachother's decision. All it takes is one good kid to get the ball rolling. In our case, I think it was clutch for Coach K to grab someone like Andre Dawkins so early.

[rotogod00]

its great to be excited about the possiblities of players duke could have...im going to be excited once they commit to play at duke!

yeah, this

[ice-9]

I feel giddy and excited about the recent news too but...

...we should all take a deep breath and calm down.

We're in the top 2 for three exciting prospects in Kyrie, Barnes and Rivers. And possibly Roscoe, Beal and MP3 too.

HOWEVER.

For the class of 2010, we've currenly only secured Hairson and Thornton, none of whom are in the top 30. So until we get some commitments like our ugly stepsisters at UNC have done, we should temper our expectatons and wait for the chips to fall where they may.

[Greg_Newton]

Well, commitments aren't everything. Also included in the link from a few posts down (http://www.highschoolhoop.com/recrui...s-loving-duke/) is a little update on Austin's situation.

Rivers contacted us today and told us, ”I’m gonna stay committed to Florida, but I’m gonna let Duke officially start to recruit me. Because I like Duke a lot.

This is getting more and more confusing, but keeps sounding better and better for Duke...

[houstondukie]

Well, commitments aren't everything. Also included in the link from a few posts down (http://www.highschoolhoop.com/recrui...s-loving-duke/) is a little update on Austin's situation.



This is getting more and more confusing, but keeps sounding better and better for Duke...

"One big thing is that I want to see who commits where so I can see who I’ll be playing with. That will weigh heavy.”

Maybe he's just waiting to see what happens with Kyrie Irving?

[ChicagoCrazy84]

Very confusing, so what this update means to me is, he'll see how everything plays out. I like that Coach K and the staff can put on the "full court press" because they obviously have a lot to offer. The way I see it, why would he let them recruit him if he was still 100% committed to Florida? That just wouldn't make sense, you might as well de-commit becasue it's esentially the same thing. I think that whatever happens with Irving and Barnes will be important in Rivers decision. Whew, seems like a lot of news and updates in the last 24 hours.

[jesus_hurley]

Something else to consider is by not de-committing and just allowing FL and Duke recruit him it cuts back on the number of calls, texts, letters he would receive if he officially put himself back in play.

[ice-9]

It makes a difference, because if Rivers does end up going to Florida after de-committing, it looks ridiculous. I.e. you decommit, shop around, and then commit again.

But if you maintain that you're committed while looking around and end up there, you can always say you never really changed your mind.

[ChicagoCrazy84]

Something else to consider is by not de-committing and just allowing FL and Duke recruit him it cuts back on the number of calls, texts, letters he would receive if he officially put himself back in play.

This is true.

[ACCBBallFan]

Something else to consider is by not de-committing and just allowing FL and Duke recruit him it cuts back on the number of calls, texts, letters he would receive if he officially put himself back in play.

Good point, like having a spam blocker.

It makes a difference, because if Rivers does end up going to Florida after de-committing, it looks ridiculous. I.e. you decommit, shop around, and then commit again.

But if you maintain that you're committed while looking around and end up there, you can always say you never really changed your mind.

Agree with this hedging his bets strategy too. and that was before he talks to Doc and his HS coach, who will helpAustin think through the pros and cons and ramifications.

[slower]

UNC has to be shaking in their boots!

Considering their recent recruiting hauls and tournament success, not very likely. I don't think anything Duke basketball has done lately has UNC "shaking in their boots". Ten years ago, maybe. But, at least since Roy arrived, they have had the upper hand.

Now if Irving and Barnes commit and/or Duke has some major (NCAA) tournament success, THEN getting commitments from Rivers and others may once again cause our actions and successes to engender "shaking in their boots".

[rotogod00]

Well, commitments aren't everything. Also included in the link from a few posts down (http://www.highschoolhoop.com/recrui...s-loving-duke/) is a little update on Austin's situation.



This is getting more and more confusing, but keeps sounding better and better for Duke...

Please remember this if things don't go our way with Barnes/Irving/Rivers.

[NSDukeFan]

Considering their recent recruiting hauls and tournament success, not very likely. I don't think anything Duke basketball has done lately has UNC "shaking in their boots". Ten years ago, maybe. But, at least since Roy arrived, they have had the upper hand.

Now if Irving and Barnes commit and/or Duke has some major (NCAA) tournament success, THEN getting commitments from Rivers and others may once again cause our actions and successes to engender "shaking in their boots".

I agree that it is very unlikely that UNC (at least the staff and players, who knows about the fans) is shaking in their boots at the prospects of Duke signing a couple of players. They have one of the top recruiting classes for 2010 already locked up, are likely in the top 3 for Mr. Barnes and already have one of the top recruits for 2011.

Things appear to be going well for Duke at this point, but again being in the top 2 or 3 or 5 gives us a great chance of getting some guys but, as some posters have alluded to, "I'll be happy when they put on a Duke uniform."

As to what has caused this massive positive turnaround for Duke recruiting? I wonder if the largest factor might be that these things go in cycles. If you run a great program at a great university with great facilities, great fans, are one of the best coaches in the country, a great leader of men, coach of the Olympic team, send many players to successful careers, have a 25 year track record second to none, can almost guarantee you will be in the tournament every year and be nationally competitive, there will be some periods when lots of the top ranked 16-18 year old kids will be interested in your program at once. Unfortunately, there are some periods when, for whatever reason, the top-ranked high school players will not be academically inclined, find another school trendier, or will pick other schools for some other reason and Duke will have to settle for top 10 recruiting classes.

[Ultrarunner]

As to what has caused this massive positive turnaround for Duke recruiting? I wonder if the largest factor might be that these things go in cycles. If you run a great program at a great university with great facilities, great fans, are one of the best coaches in the country, a great leader of men, coach of the Olympic team, send many players to successful careers, have a 25 year track record second to none, can almost guarantee you will be in the tournament every year and be nationally competitive, there will be some periods when lots of the top ranked 16-18 year old kids will be interested in your program at once. Unfortunately, there are some periods when, for whatever reason, the top-ranked high school players will not be academically inclined, find another school trendier, or will pick other schools for some other reason and Duke will have to settle for top 10 recruiting classes.

What interests me is the sudden profusion (okay, it's only two) of sons of NBA players with interest. It can be presumed that these gentlemen stay in touch with friends attached to the NBA (or still are active in some capacity). Do the experiences of the US Olympic Team members influence the dads to recommend Duke for their sons for seasoning to the league? The dads will have the base to appreciate the skills improvement that comes from working with the Duke staff and players.

[mr. synellinden]

We got our Kavorka back.

(And Nate James and Chris Carrawell are new, too.)

Others have referenced this, but this is the most encouraging, exciting piece of the Austin Rivers comments to me (and something that also comes across in Irving's comments about Duke:

With Duke you’ve got the tradition, the history, you play on TV every game and it’s Duke basketball who wouldn’t want to play there.

I had been getting the feeling the last couple of years that Duke was starting to be seen by elite recruits as an undesirable, or uncool place to play. Whether it was all the media backlash and fan hatred, or a combination of factors, I had the feeling the players didn't want to come to Duke and be subject to all that negativity.

But now we are hearing what all us fans have felt all along - the school, the education, the campus, the tradition, the hall of fame, gold medal and three time national championship winning coach, the family atmosphere, playing on TV every game, a chance to win a NC every year, the weather, the premier conference, ... who wouldn't want to play at Duke? There's plenty of space in the rafters for more retired jerseys and national championship banners. Come to Duke and help fill that space.

I like what I'm hearing.

[InSpades]

As to what has caused this massive positive turnaround for Duke recruiting? I wonder if the largest factor might be that these things go in cycles.

I would go a step further on the whole "cycles" thing. For Duke specifically (and maybe a few other schools) I think that possibly having a "down year" or 2 will actually help recruiting. Duke has missed out on some point guard recruits in the past few years and along comes a kid like Kyrie Irving and he's bound to think "I can step in and start at point guard and play on national TV every week? How can I pass that up!". From there it can somewhat have a domino effect. If you get 1 big recruit then you might get another who wants to play with him. There's a certain allure to being the team that brings a program back to dominance. Hopefully Duke is on the upswing. I think it's just a great thing that a "down year" at Duke is an ACC championship and a Sweet 16 appearance.

[miramar]

I can see why Rivers would be interested in Florida since he lives near the school, but knowing both universities, I can also see why he would be impressed by his visit to Duke. The UF campus is nice, much better than FSU for example, but it can't compare to Duke, Cameron, etc.

It sounds like Dad is subtly trying to get his son to expand his horizons, which sounds like a good strategy no matter where he ends up.

Now that I think of it, Duke and UF have probably had more "sons of" than any other programs, so both schools seem to make sense.

[BlueintheFace]

I can see why Rivers would be interested in Florida since he lives near the school, but knowing both universities, I can also see why he would be impressed by his visit to Duke. The UF campus is nice, much better than FSU for example, but it can't compare to Duke, Cameron, etc.

It sounds like Dad is subtly trying to get his son to expand his horizons, which sounds like a good strategy no matter where he ends up.

Now that I think of it, Duke and UF have probably had more "sons of" than any other programs, so both schools seem to make sense.

I'd toss in georgetown too...

[smklin]

There were actually two Austin Rivers articles on that link site

http://www.highschoolhoop.com/recrui...ruiting-world/

"When asked if he had a timetable for a decision, Rivers said, “I don’t know to be honest. I just want to be able to relax and I’m just concentrating on Florida and Duke. I could possibly get it over with right away. I could possibly say that Florida is the place for me or I could say that I want to go to Duke. One big thing is that I want to see who commits where so I can see who I’ll be playing with. That will weigh heavy.”"

http://www.highschoolhoop.com/recrui...s-loving-duke/

I can't help but think that so much rides on which way Irving decides to go. If he commits early (ie- this weekend) then i think that could lead to a LOT of great recruits for Duke down the road.

[jimsumner]

"Now that I think of it, Duke and UF have probably had more "sons of" than any other programs"

Danny Ferry
Quin Snyder
Clay Buckley
Bobby Hurley
Thomas Hill
Grant Hill
Chris Collins
Jeff Capel
Mike Dunleavy
Shavlik Randolph (grandson)
Lee Melchionni
Gerald Henderson
Kyle Singer
Nolan Smith


And that doesn't include players like Robert Brickey, Crawford Palmer, Billy McCaffrey, Andre Buckner, even Greg Paulus who had brothers play big-time sports. Don't know what we do with the Plumlee brothers.

Have I left out anybody?