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?

[gw67]

Don't have any links but wasn't Duke after Anthony Robertson (Florida) and Scott Hazelton (UConn)?

gw67

[Jumbo]

Don't have any links but wasn't Duke after Anthony Robertson (Florida) and Scott Hazelton (UConn)?

gw67

Duke chose Dockery over Roberson, so that's not a miss. I've been trying to search for info on Hazelton to determine whether he got an offer.

[CDu]

According to this, Duke was after Bonner:

http://books.google.com/books?id=HeFYNC_hai8C&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=duke+%22mike+miller%22+basketball+recruit&source=web&ots=fShwsX5dxr&sig=TkmWnrO6Dlj42IFw17Yw039SCQ8

Don't know about whether he got an offer from Duke though.

To be honest, I'm not sure how best to find something like that out. Especially for older players (pre-2000). There weren't nearly as many websites around back in the 90s, so unless you go to the microfiche you're not going to be able to know for sure about the older guys.

[Jumbo]

According to this, Duke was after Bonner:

http://books.google.com/books?id=HeFYNC_hai8C&pg=PA100&lpg=PA100&dq=duke+%22mike+miller%22+basketball+recruit&source=web&ots=fShwsX5dxr&sig=TkmWnrO6Dlj42IFw17Yw039SCQ8

Don't know about whether he got an offer from Duke though.

To be honest, I'm not sure how best to find something like that out. Especially for older players (pre-2000). There weren't nearly as many websites around back in the 90s, so unless you go to the microfiche you're not going to be able to know for sure about the older guys.

I'm hoping Jim Sumner and a couple of other posters can help with some of this. Jim already reminded me of T.J. Cummings, who I added to the list.

I'm not quite ready to add Bonner just yet.

[wilko]

If I recall, he was offered a Duke FOOTBALL scholly, but turned it down for a UNC BBall scolly. I believe he wanted a Duke BBall offer but it never came so he took what was on the table.

Nothing to substantiate that link wise... Just my cousin (a cheeleader) who Attened Southern High School with him.

[SilkyJ]

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 members of the high school graduating class of 1988 were sophs during K's 1st final four team.

-that guy

[Jumbo]

The members of the high school graduating class of 1988 were sophs during K's 1st final four team.

-that guy

And so they were. D'oh. Whatever, we're still starting with 1988. ;)

[Jumbo]

If I recall, he was offered a Duke FOOTBALL scholly, but turned it down for a UNC BBall scolly. I believe he wanted a Duke BBall offer but it never came so he took what was on the table.

Nothing to substantiate that link wise... Just my cousin (a cheeleader) who Attened Southern High School with him.

That sounds more like it. There's no way Noel was offered a hoops scholarship by Duke.

[Coballs]

I think Lewis Clinch may also belong on this list.

[Coballs]

Danny Miller as well.

[Coballs]

...and Montross and unfortunately Stackhouse as well. I remember all too well from my freshman year the pain I felt when Carolina signed Stack, won the NC, and then signed Rasheed Wallace several days after.

[dkbaseball]

Montross in '90. Pat Sullivan in '90. Stackhouse and Randy Livingston in '93 (Keene was '92). My recollection on Adam Keefe is that K did a "first one to commit gets the scholarship" with Keefe and Crawford Palmer, and Palmer took it. I'm thinking we went after Dante Calabria, but not sure. Shareef Abdur Rahim. Maybe Don McLean in '88.

[Jumbo]

...and Montross and unfortunately Stackhouse as well. I remember all too well from my freshman year the pain I felt when Carolina signed Stack, won the NC, and then signed Rasheed Wallace several days after.

Are you sure about Montross? I found several articles dating back before he signed and his final three were UNC, Indiana and Michigan. A story from Sept. of 1989 indicates that his final 6 were UNC, Indiana, Michigan, Notre Dame, Purdue and Duke. Does that mean Duke offered?

Stack definitely had an offer -- I'm adding him to the list.

[yancem]

Don't have any links but wasn't Duke after Anthony Robertson (Florida) and Scott Hazelton (UConn)?

gw67

I think that Anthony Robertson was after Duke not the other way around. If I remember correctly he wasn't very much of a team player so K went after Dockery instead.

[Coballs]

Montross in '90. Pat Sullivan in '90. Stackhouse and Randy Livingston in '93 (Keene was '92). My recollection on Adam Keefe is that K did a "first one to commit gets the scholarship" with Keefe and Crawford Palmer, and Palmer took it. I'm thinking we went after Dante Calabria, but not sure. Shareef Abdur Rahim. Maybe Don McLean in '88.

Oh no, not Sullivan!

[dkbaseball]

Are you sure about Montross? I found several articles dating back before he signed and his final three were UNC, Indiana and Michigan. A story from Sept. of 1989 indicates that his final 6 were UNC, Indiana, Michigan, Notre Dame, Purdue and Duke. Does that mean Duke offered?

Stack definitely had an offer -- I'm adding him to the list.

Oh yeah. Duke went hard after him. We may be expunging him from memory since there was some ugly quote about him not caring for the preppy atmosphere at Duke.

[Jumbo]

Montross in '90. Pat Sullivan in '90. Stackhouse and Randy Livingston in '93 (Keene was '92). My recollection on Adam Keefe is that K did a "first one to commit gets the scholarship" with Keefe and Crawford Palmer, and Palmer took it. I'm thinking we went after Dante Calabria, but not sure. Shareef Abdur Rahim. Maybe Don McLean in '88.

Montross is dicey. As I mentioned before, Duke didn't make his final three. I'd love to know if we actually offered. I'm inclined to put him on the list, but would like to wait a little longer. I've added Stackhouse. I can't find ANYTHING linking Pat Sullivan to Duke. We need more backup for that one. Good call on Livingston. I'll add him to the list. I can't find any mention of Calabria. Good call on Abdur-Rahim as well (can you believe I'd forgotten the whole mess where everyone expected him to go to Georgia Tech?). I don't think McLean goes on the list.

Also, in another article it says D.C. McQueen chose Cal over B.C., Duke and Howard. Is that accurate?

[mr. synellinden]

Ben Gordon: http://bearcatnews.com/recruiting/bio/37

I don't know if this proves he was offered or not but there was very high mutual interest and then we chose Ewing over Gordon I believe. I think we were deciding between Gordon, Ewing and Shelton and decided on Ewing I don't think we ever offered Shelton but I have no proof.


Shaun Golden - can't find any link

[jimsumner]

Yes, Duke recruited Montross and Pat Sullivan. Hard.

Duke was considered the early leader for Matt Bonner but dropped him when Horvath committed.

Shelton, Ewing, and Ben Gordon were all combo-guard targets in '01. I'm pretty sure Ewing was the only one to get an offer.

Duke did want Jason Gardner.

Hurley was the surivor of a long list of PG prospects in '89 that also included Kenny Anderson and Chris Reynolds. Duke also offered wing Mitchell Butler in '89 but ended up with Thomas Hill when Butler committed to UCLA.

Duke didn't get very far with Abdur-Rahim. MacLean may have been an early target but didn't stay one. Rob Werdann was another big man target from the Laettner-Palmer-Mustaf class.

[jimsumner]

Add Keith Booth. '93, I think.

Duke went after Antawn Jamison but there were some academic concerns, so I'm not sure if he belongs.

[greybeard]

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.

His first cousin, a naval academy grad, runs the gym I go to. I'll ask her the next time I work out, which could be a while. :)

[jimsumner]

Danny Miller? Oh, yes, Duke wanted him. Duke hoped to get two of Maggette, Miller, and Fife.

[Nugget]

We definitely wanted Casey Jacobsen, but it is possible that we told him we wanted Mike D more so he committed to Stanford instead of waiting. Hard to know if that's a "miss" or not.

Drew Gooden has to be included in the "miss" category. I think we also may have offered Kirk Hinrich in '99 too, along with Jason Gardner. I guess the "consolation" of Jason Williams didn't work out too badly.

As for the others, I would vote:

No - David Noel, Leon Powe, Matt Bonner (we didn't seem to be after him too hard), Mike Miller (again, I don't think we were ever really in the discussion for him), Martellus Bennett (really football), and Echefu, Shareef Abdur Rahim, Thaddeus Young (don't think we really recruited him much).

Yes-Eric Montross, Pat Sullivan, Randy Livingston, Jason Capel, Danny Miller, Mike Williams, Micah Downs, Lewis Clinch.

Ricky Paulding, Kareem Rush, Rashad McCants, DJ Augustin, Jerryd Bayless, and Chris Wright were reported as having early interest in Duke. Not sure if we recruited any of them hard enough to count as "misses."

Ben Gordon was more dropped by us in favor of Daniel Ewing.

We may have made a very late run at Lavell Blanchard (Michigan, 99) after Corey Maggette jumped ship.

[HDB]

Kobe Bryant

[MChambers]

We definitely wanted Casey Jacobsen, but it is possible that we told him we wanted Mike D more so he committed to Stanford instead of waiting. Hard to know if that's a "miss" or not.

Drew Gooden has to be included in the "miss" category. I think we also may have offered Kirk Hinrich in '99 too, along with Jason Gardner. I guess the "consolation" of Jason Williams didn't work out too badly.

As for the others, I would vote:

No - David Noel, Leon Powe, Matt Bonner (we didn't seem to be after him too hard), Mike Miller (again, I don't think we were ever really in the discussion for him), Martellus Bennett (really football), and Echefu, Shareef Abdur Rahim, Thaddeus Young (don't think we really recruited him much).

Yes-Eric Montross, Pat Sullivan, Randy Livingston, Jason Capel, Danny Miller, Mike Williams, Micah Downs, Lewis Clinch.

Ricky Paulding, Kareem Rush, Rashad McCants, DJ Augustin, Jerryd Bayless, and Chris Wright were reported as having early interest in Duke. Not sure if we recruited any of them hard enough to count as "misses."

Ben Gordon was more dropped by us in favor of Daniel Ewing.

We may have made a very late run at Lavell Blanchard (Michigan, 99) after Corey Maggette jumped ship.

Exactly right.

[jimsumner]

In addition to Blanchard, Duke made a belated run in spring '99 for Sean Harrington, who went to Illinois.

I don't recall Duke going after Mike Miller.

Rolando Howell visited Duke but Duke didn't offer him. Likewise, I think Duke backed off David Harrison, thinking him too slow.

Duke backed off James White after getting Dahntay Jones as a transfer.

[Jumbo]

Yes, Duke recruited Montross and Pat Sullivan. Hard.

Duke was considered the early leader for Matt Bonner but dropped him when Horvath committed.

Shelton, Ewing, and Ben Gordon were all combo-guard targets in '01. I'm pretty sure Ewing was the only one to get an offer.

Duke did want Jason Gardner.

Hurley was the surivor of a long list of PG prospects in '89 that also included Kenny Anderson and Chris Reynolds. Duke also offered wing Mitchell Butler in '89 but ended up with Thomas Hill when Butler committed to UCLA.

Duke didn't get very far with Abdur-Rahim. MacLean may have been an early target but didn't stay one. Rob Werdann was another big man target from the Laettner-Palmer-Mustaf class.

OK, so let's figure out whom to add to the list.
Montross -- Alredy there
Sullivan -- I'll put him on
Bonner -- I'm still not convinced. He didn't have an offer and if he got dropped for Nick Horvath, I don't consider that a "lost" recruit.
Kenny Anderson -- Was he offered? Was Duke ever really in the running? I'm not sure he's a "lost recruit ever.
Chris Reynolds -- Same questions as Anderson. Didn't we grab Hurley before he made a decision? He ended up at Indiana, right?
Mitchell Butler -- Totally forgot him, and I was a big fan of his play at UCLA. He's going on the list.
Jason Gardner -- He was in the same class as J-Will, right? So was there an offer on the table? Didn't we take J-Will before Gardner picked Arizona? Other way around? We were following recruiting reasonably closely on the DBR at that point, and my recollection was that we were always high on J-Will, but that Gardner was a name mentioned frequently. Would we have taken both guys? In short, did we "lose him" to Arizona?
Werdann -- Did he get an offer?

[Jumbo]

Add Keith Booth. '93, I think.

Duke went after Antawn Jamison but there were some academic concerns, so I'm not sure if he belongs.

Did "Keet Boot" get an offer from Duke? Sounds familiar...

[Jumbo]

Danny Miller? Oh, yes, Duke wanted him. Duke hoped to get two of Maggette, Miller, and Fife.

Cool. Going on the list.

[Jumbo]

Kobe Bryant

Kobe would have gone to Duke, but never really considered anything but the NBA. That's not a recruiting loss -- we're talking about guys who picked other schools.

[Jumbo]

We definitely wanted Casey Jacobsen, but it is possible that we told him we wanted Mike D more so he committed to Stanford instead of waiting. Hard to know if that's a "miss" or not.

That was very much our choosing Dunleavy. I purposely left out Jacobson.


Drew Gooden has to be included in the "miss" category. I think we also may have offered Kirk Hinrich in '99 too, along with Jason Gardner. I guess the "consolation" of Jason Williams didn't work out too badly.

Good, so I didn't imagine Drew Gooden. I don't remember Duke having been involved with Hinrich seriously, though.


Yes-Eric Montross, Pat Sullivan, Randy Livingston, Jason Capel, Danny Miller, Mike Williams, Micah Downs, Lewis Clinch.
I need more info on Mike Williams, Downs and Clinch.


Ricky Paulding, Kareem Rush, Rashad McCants, DJ Augustin, Jerryd Bayless, and Chris Wright were reported as having early interest in Duke. Not sure if we recruited any of them hard enough to count as "misses."
I definitely wouldn't count McCants, Augustin, Bayless or wright as a miss. I don't recall Duke offering Rush. I don't remember the Paulding situation very well.


We may have made a very late run at Lavell Blanchard (Michigan, 99) after Corey Maggette jumped ship.

Yeah, we definitely made a late run at Blanchard. I remember during that during the post-Brand/Burgess/Avery/Maggette panic. Still don't know whether I should count that as a recruiting "miss."

[Jumbo]

In addition to Blanchard, Duke made a belated run in spring '99 for Sean Harrington, who went to Illinois.

I don't recall Duke going after Mike Miller.

Rolando Howell visited Duke but Duke didn't offer him. Likewise, I think Duke backed off David Harrison, thinking him too slow.

Duke backed off James White after getting Dahntay Jones as a transfer.

I'm pretty sure Harrison and White got offers. I could be wrong, but I remember Duke's wanting both guys.

[jimsumner]

White may have gotten an offer but it was withdraw after Dahntay came on board. Duke definitely got the better of that deal.

I'm pretty sure Gardner and Reynolds committed before Hurley and JWill.

Not sure if Werdann ever had an offer. Probably not.

If we don't count Kobe, should we count Cisse? I don't think he ever committed to any college.

[jimsumner]

Duke offered Adam Boone, '00.

[dkbaseball]

I'm thinking maybe Duke liked Allan Houston as a SG ahead of McCaffery in '89. And the big kid who played center for Florida '91-'95 (can't remember his name) may have been a priority ahead of Meek. I know he visited the same weekend Parks did. Like Meek, he was pretty raw, but I think turned into a decent player for Fla.

[Jumbo]

Duke offered Adam Boone, '00.

Really? Ick.

[Jumbo]

White may have gotten an offer but it was withdraw after Dahntay came on board. Duke definitely got the better of that deal.

I'm pretty sure Gardner and Reynolds committed before Hurley and JWill.

Not sure if Werdann ever had an offer. Probably not.

If we don't count Kobe, should we count Cisse? I don't think he ever committed to any college.

I thought Cisse was going to go to Louisville. Maybe not. I'll get rid of James White. I still remember J-Will coming early and not being at all upset when I heard about Gardner. I'll have to look up some articles on that one.

[Jumbo]

I'm thinking maybe Duke liked Allan Houston as a SG ahead of McCaffery in '89. And the big kid who played center for Florida '91-'95 (can't remember his name) may have been a priority ahead of Meek. I know he visited the same weekend Parks did. Like Meek, he was pretty raw, but I think turned into a decent player for Fla.

Andrew DeClercq?

[dyedwab]

Andrew DeClercq?

Yeah. I remember that visit - and though I didn't follow recruiting that closely when I was a student, I remember being surprised when DeClerq chose Florida.

[DavidBenAkiva]

I know this is before 1988, but Duke was hard after Bill Wennington, who chose St. John's. The next year, I think that we landed Jay Bilas. Can't tell if that didn't work out for everyone...

Time flies like an arrow
Fruit flies like a banana

[DukeBlood]

Kevin Love.
- I understand Duke backed off, but he still had a offer didnt he?

Spencer Hawes.
-I know there was some interest for a while, but dont think he had an offer. Just throwing his name out there incase someone remembers him getting a offer.

Gani Lawal.
-Scout.com has him having a offer. They arent 100% accurute but maybe look into it

[kramerbr]

I'm thinking maybe Duke liked Allan Houston as a SG ahead of McCaffery in '89. And the big kid who played center for Florida '91-'95 (can't remember his name) may have been a priority ahead of Meek. I know he visited the same weekend Parks did. Like Meek, he was pretty raw, but I think turned into a decent player for Fla.

Andrew Declerque? (sp?)

[devildeac]

Add Keith Booth. '93, I think.

Duke went after Antawn Jamison but there were some academic concerns, so I'm not sure if he belongs.

Jim, don't you mean Keet Boot?:D (Cremins reference here)

[devildeac]

D@mn, Jumbo, you are one morbid soul with this thread dredging up all of our 'failures'. It is absolutely astonishing that we have won ANY games over the last 20 years or more, let alone 3 NCs and many FF. (just kidding, of course). I think I see where this is may be going. Next discussion-of all our players, who did we select them over(or who did they select us over), and how did their careers turn out.

[throatybeard]

Do you guys make lists of every girl who ever shut you down too?

[Jumbo]

Kevin Love.
- I understand Duke backed off, but he still had a offer didnt he?

Spencer Hawes.
-I know there was some interest for a while, but dont think he had an offer. Just throwing his name out there incase someone remembers him getting a offer.

Gani Lawal.
-Scout.com has him having a offer. They arent 100% accurute but maybe look into it

I consciously kept Love out of it because that was clearly Duke's doing. We didn't miss on him -- we opted out of the sweepstakes. Duke was never in the mix for Hawes or Lawal.

[Jumbo]

D@mn, Jumbo, you are one morbid soul with this thread dredging up all of our 'failures'. It is absolutely astonishing that we have won ANY games over the last 20 years or more, let alone 3 NCs and many FF. (just kidding, of course). I think I see where this is may be going. Next discussion-of all our players, who did we select them over(or who did they select us over), and how did their careers turn out.

Tsk, tsk, tsk -- No editorial comments! Data! We want data!

[Jumbo]

It appears Duke was never seriously involved with Jason Capel. An Al Featherston article prior to Maggette' signing mentioned that Duke had three targets in that class: Dane Fife, Danny Miller and Maggette. And then there's this, from another article after Capel signed with Carolina:
"Duke was never on the list," said Capel, who led St. John's Prospect Hall of Frederick, Md., to a 25-0 record and the No. 1 national ranking in the final USA Today high school poll. "The reason I didn't go there was because I didn't want to be in Jeff's shadow. I want my own identity. Since Jeff went to Duke, there was no way I was going there."

[Karl Beem]

It appears Duke was never seriously involved with Jaosn Capel. An Al Featherston article prior to Maggette' signing mentioned that Duke had three targets in that class: Dane Fife, Danny Miller and Maggette. And then there's this, from another article after Capel signed with Carolina:
"Duke was never on the list," said Capel, who led St. John's Prospect Hall of Frederick, Md., to a 25-0 record and the No. 1 national ranking in the final USA Today high school poll. "The reason I didn't go there was because I didn't want to be in Jeff's shadow. I want my own identity. Since Jeff went to Duke, there was no way I was going there."

I suspect that the only way he could make the Duke team of that time would be to walk-on.

[HDB]

I believe we recruited Schea Cotton in the mid 90's (ended up at LSU?).

[jimsumner]

"I believe we recruited Schea Cotton in the mid 90's (ended up at LSU?)."

Do you mean Randy Livingston? Duke never recruited Cotton.

[Chicago 1995]

My recollection as to Micah Downs is that we were very interested and were in the process of scheduling a visit when he committed to KU. We may not have offered him, but it was crystal clear that we intended to if we hadn't.

I'm also nearly certain that we got in very late, but did have offers out, to Lavell Blanchard and Sean Harrington. Jim's right about those two.

Pretty sure we offered Jason Gardner too. I don't think we ever did offer Scott Hazelton. We were interested in him, but that waned, I think.

Even if we backed off James White, I thought we'd offered him.

I also think we offered Clinch and lost him to Tech. Pretty sure about it.

I don't recall us being much involved with Mike Miller, but that's not definitive. Just know that KU thought they had a great shot at him, and when he committed to UF, that was the impetus for the Eddie Fogler/Roy Williams allegations that Billy D was cheating.

Duke offered Boone, but wanted him to redshirt, IIRC. I don't think UNC was even recruiting him until we got involved.

I know I'm not supposed to editorialize, Jumbo. I can't resist though. I understand what you are doing here Jumbo, but this data only tells about 1/3 of the story. ;)

[Chicago 1995]

Did we ever offer Chauncey Billups?

[jimsumner]

"Did we ever offer Chauncey Billups?"

I do not believe that Duke was ever involved with Billups.

[Chicago 1995]

"Did we ever offer Chauncey Billups?"

I do not believe that Duke was ever involved with Billups.

I don't know if it ever got to the point where we offered him, but I'm pretty sure we chased him some before his senior year, and were for a time at least, pretty interested.

It may have been another of those instances where he committed to Colorado before we had a chance to have him visit, but I thought we were very interested.