Class of 2011 and 2012

[NYC Duke Fan]

I saw on ESPNU basketball recruiting page that Florida has a committment from an Austin Rivers from the class of 2011 and that Kentucky has a committment from a Michael Avery from the class of 2012.

That seems crazy to be recruiting so far in advance. Am I crazy ?

[loran16]

You're not crazy. And kids from that far in advance have been known to either disappoint the schools by not being as good as projected or to basically decommit and commit somewhere else if they increase their prospect status as they play though high school.

2012 especially is not trustworthy, though 2011 probably is. Still, don't look for Duke to recruit like this any time soon.

[skitelz]

I agree....maybe not on Rivers, but definitely on Avery. But I am pretty sure that coaches can't start recruiting until during the sophomore year now. Don't quote me on that.

[BD80]

I agree....maybe not on Rivers, but definitely on Avery. But I am pretty sure that coaches can't start recruiting until during the sophomore year now. Don't quote me on that.

There is no enforceable prohibition, but the association of coaches has spoken:


the NABC put out a statement frowning on the commitments of those who haven’t yet started their sophomore year of high school (which was aimed at Gillispie),

http://community.foxsports.com/blogs/goodmanonfox/2008/10/01/NABC_GOES_AFTER_GILLISPIE_AGAIN

Note that this only speaks to commitments and not the act of recruiting.

[dukeballer2294]

I agree with this especially on Avery. i am from LA and have played against and will play against him the next four years. When I played against him he was the best player on the court. But he wasn't light years ahead of every1. I think he would be d-1 potential but not kentucky as a freshman potential.

[watzone]

I saw on ESPNU basketball recruiting page that Florida has a committment from an Austin Rivers from the class of 2011 and that Kentucky has a committment from a Michael Avery from the class of 2012.

That seems crazy to be recruiting so far in advance. Am I crazy ?

There are few coaches that wouldn't love to have Rivers. He's got an amazing skills package for his age. Of course his Dad, Doc was a pretty good player too.

[Bluedog]

Coach K has explicitly stated that he would "never" recruit somebody that early (i.e. freshman or sophomore year). When it was pointed out that DeMarcus committed at the end of his sophomore year, Coach K said something like, well he had completed 2 academic years, so they knew he could handle the academics at Duke. He has said that even if a player was good enough from a basketball standpoint, you can't tell that early if they are ready for Duke academically. Obviously, other schools don't share that concern. Also, commitments this early don't mean that much as the player can always back out. Taylor King committed to UCLA his freshman year as I recall....I know Scheyer was offered a scholarship by Marquette in 8th grade.

[NYC Duke Fan]

There are few coaches that wouldn't love to have Rivers. He's got an amazing skills package for his age. Of course his Dad, Doc was a pretty good player too.

I did not know that Austin was Doc's son. I guess that Doc and Billy Donovan have some sort of relationship going back, and that he wanted his son to play for Billy.

If I am not mistaken, and I could be, didn't Bill Walton want his son to play for Lute ?