Also have heard about some Duke interest in 2015 shooting guard Austin Grandstaff from Texas.
Texas seems to be producing some great prospects, and Duke seems to have good connections.
Sounds like Karl Towns will be in the Triangle tomorrow and the next day visiting UNC and then Duke. Granted it's very early, anyone know how we stand with the young man? Who else are we in contact with in 2015 at this stage? Elijah Thomas, Mickey Mitchell, others?
Karl Towns @KATis32
Tomorrow visiting Harrison Barnes land then next day visiting Rivers land #Duke #BlueDevils #CoachK
Also have heard about some Duke interest in 2015 shooting guard Austin Grandstaff from Texas.
Texas seems to be producing some great prospects, and Duke seems to have good connections.
Towns is visiting State, UNC, and Duke this week. He picked up an article from State yesterday, but UNC did not offer yet. There some unwritten rule about offering sophomores that few coaches follow including Roy. I can't remember the exact specifics, but Roy follows that rule, or suggestion, or whatever it is. K doesn't. Anyway, UNC will surely offer.
Will be interesting to see if Duke offers tomorrow. Towns did say that academics will play a big role in his selection, as will potential teammates. You can read the WRAL article here.
Edit: Per the article Towns is rated as the Number 1 player in the Class.
Towns is a 5-star prospect and is ranked the No. 1 player in the Class of 2015, according to ESPN.com. This summer, Towns played for the Dominican Republic National Team during the Olympic qualifying period. The team was coached by Kentucky coach John Calipari
I actually just moved to Metuchen about three weeks ago, and I live about a mile and a half from St. Joe's. I look forward to going to a good number of Towns' games. He held his own in the limited time I saw him for the Dominican team, didn't look flustered against Team USA. He just sent out a bunch of pictures the other day on his twitter account from the rookie orientation event, and he's huge for his age. He took a picture with Jared Sullinger and they were basically the same size. This kid is legit, but I do wonder if Calipari has the early edge given that he's already picked him for an international team and coached him. (Either Machiavellian, or simply good fortune.)
I a saw Channel 11 WTVD here in the triangle interviewed him yesterday and he only talked about his State and unc visits. There was interestingly enough not one mention from Towns or the reporter interviewing Towns about Duke and perhaps it got edited out for time or it just hadn't come up since he had visited Duke yet. Apparently he got an offer from State but not one officially from unc according to him. Very well spoken kid though.
Wait, are people still wondering about this? I had assumed Cal's motivation was generally common knowledge. Slimy, yet within the rules -- even if only because nobody else had ever thought up such a convoluted recruiting maneuver. I guess the other interpretation would be that Cal actually believed he could make the Dominican Team competitive? Seems outlandish.
Actually not too concerned about this initial maneuver by Cal. As another poster highlighted, Karl seems genuinely interested in his academics and is reportedly at the top of his current class (at a real school, btw). Apparently he wants to be a doctor (after he's done with the NBA). He seems unlikely to want to simply skate through academically in his likely brief sojourn in college, but rather pursue a full degree path as others have done while in the NBA. Duke would seem to be a good fit for that plan.
Also, Karl must have gotten a clear view of Coach K and his crew of NBA superstars when the DR played the USA recently. Perhaps that contrast between Cal and K was helpful to him.
So Cal took on a two year responsibility to recruit a kid that wasn't even associated with the team when he started with the goal in mind that in two or three years the kid might wear a kentucky jersey for one season... If that was the plan then I don't think there's a doubt who the hardest working recruiter is but I doubt that was the reason, or at least not the entire reason.
I think it's never a bad idea to establish a coach-player relationship with a kid who's the next big thing, regardless of motivation or sense of future outcome. Please note that I actually kind of like Calipari (I know, scandalous) and I wouldn't assume the whole thing was some huge scheme. My tongue was firmly in cheek for that last post up there.
Last edited by Starter; 08-26-2012 at 10:55 AM.
I recall from the telecast earlier this summer of the USA vs Domican Republic game prior to the Olympics that the announcers were chattering on about this kid. He didn't play a whole lot - he's many years younger than the rest of the team and there was at least an inference that he was actually on the team b/c of Cal's recruiting interest (there may have been older, currently better DR players) - and they also pointed out K was taking advantage of his position with USA BB to get a leg up on other recruits there in Vegas for camps, etc. But the inference was certainly there that Cal did take on the DR coaching gig to secure this kid (they actually were admiring his foresight in doing so).
My thought was simply that just a few short years ago people, even on this board, were talking about how K's recruiting had slipped and that the USA Basketball burdens were partially to blame. My how that worm has turned...
http://www.givengobasketball.com/karl-towns-article
Karl Towns interview. #1 in the nation class of 2015. Let me know if you have any questions. Thanks
Karl is set to announce next Tuesday. Seems like a lost cause from our perspective. I just hope he doesn't Skype with Cal.
Why, why, why, would someone who is a sophomore in high school be making his college choice now? I know this happens not infrequently, but I don't get it. Where is the advantage to the kid in making such an early choice (other than, perhaps, reducing the number of calls and texts they receive for two years)? Does a school have any obligation to honor the "choice" of a player too young to sign in case of injury or just a better option coming down the pike?