2019 Men's Basketball Recruiting

[kAzE]

Never seen so many people not want a top 5 talent from a high school class. I understand why, but I just totally disagree.

Still hoping Stewart picks Duke.

[SavDukeGrad]

Never seen so many people not want a top 5 talent from a high school class. I understand why, but I just totally disagree.

Still hoping Stewart picks Duke.

Totally agree with you!

And even though he might be a better “fit”, Hurt to a Duke is not a certainty at all from what I understand. We could very well end up without either one of them.

That being said, I hope Duke really impresses Matthew Hurt this weekend!

Also, this kinda reminds me of when so many people argued that we shouldn’t have signed Marvin Bagley.

[killerleft]

Never seen so many people not want a top 5 talent from a high school class. I understand why, but I just totally disagree.

Still hoping Stewart picks Duke.

This IS vexing. We have been spoiled to the point where top five talent isn't good enough unless the poor dude "fits". Coach K offered him a scholly, I'm betting he'll somehow shoehorn the guy in.

[frb]

not sure why people think Bolden will definitely stay for his Sr year. It may be in his best interest to play in the G League instead of getting 17-18 minutes a game at Duke. He could finish up his degree during the summers. He's probably pretty close to the degree.

[COYS]

This IS vexing. We have been spoiled to the point where top five talent isn't good enough unless the poor dude "fits". Coach K offered him a scholly, I'm betting he'll somehow shoehorn the guy in.

Agreed. Nine years ago at this time Calipari had started his first season at UK with his super class of Cousins and Wall. UNC had a title to defend and had won the Harrison Barnes sweepstakes. Meanwhile, Duke hadn't been to a Final Four in five years and had lost out on a string of high-profile recruits, including Pattrick Patterson, Greg Monroe, Kenny Boynton and others.

[lotusland]

Agreed. Nine years ago at this time Calipari had started his first season at UK with his super class of Cousins and Wall. UNC had a title to defend and had won the Harrison Barnes sweepstakes. Meanwhile, Duke hadn't been to a Final Four in five years and had lost out on a string of high-profile recruits, including Pattrick Patterson, Greg Monroe, Kenny Boynton and others.

I feel like COYS is being coy and leaving out the money-line that Duke won the Natty that year with nary a lottery pick and a bevy of 4-year upper-classmen(my personal favorite Duke team of all-time).

In addition to missing on Wall, Duke also lost EWill to transfer and G to the NBA from the prior year. All of those players would have made Duke more talented overall but would they have been better? Either Wall or G would definitely have started most likely pushing Singler back to the 4 spot and thereby changing the nature of that championship team. But that team had experience and tenacity and they defended well. I would not trade Scheyer at PG for multiple Freshman John Walls on that team.

[johnb]

This IS vexing. We have been spoiled to the point where top five talent isn't good enough unless the poor dude "fits". Coach K offered him a scholly, I'm betting he'll somehow shoehorn the guy in.

Mr. Bagley comes to mind as a recent recruit who inspired some DBR concerns, though that may have related to worry that we were recruiting over the current guys.

[NSDukeFan]

Agreed. Nine years ago at this time Calipari had started his first season at UK with his super class of Cousins and Wall. UNC had a title to defend and had won the Harrison Barnes sweepstakes. Meanwhile, Duke hadn't been to a Final Four in five years and had lost out on a string of high-profile recruits, including Pattrick Patterson, Greg Monroe, Kenny Boynton and others.

I feel like COYS is being coy and leaving out the money-line that Duke won the Natty that year with nary a lottery pick and a bevy of 4-year upper-classmen(my personal favorite Duke team of all-time).

In addition to missing on Wall, Duke also lost EWill to transfer and G to the NBA from the prior year. All of those players would have made Duke more talented overall but would they have been better? Either Wall or G would definitely have started most likely pushing Singler back to the 4 spot and thereby changing the nature of that championship team. But that team had experience and tenacity and they defended well. I would not trade Scheyer at PG for multiple Freshman John Walls on that team.

This.

I think if Duke had multiple John Walls, G Henderson and EWill in 2010, they would have won the title twice. Coach K is good with talent. As much as 2010 was one of my favourite teams, if not my favourite, I would generally prefer more talent vs. less talent, even if it isn’t the perfect fit.

[lotusland]

I think if Duke had multiple John Walls, G Henderson and EWill in 2010, they would have won the title twice. Coach K is good with talent. As much as 2010 was one of my favourite teams, if not my favourite, I would generally prefer more talent vs. less talent, even if it isn’t the perfect fit.

Doubtful. The 2009 team had the starters from the 2010 team along with G and E will + ( Paulus and Mclure) -(freshmen MP2, Ryan and Dre) and they barely beat Belmont. Meanwhile John Wall’s UK team was packed with more vs less freshmen talent and they lost to the WV team that Duke beat. Less freshman talent with more experience and cohesion was better.

[Kedsy]

Doubtful. The 2009 team had the starters from the 2010 team along with G and E will + ( Paulus and Mclure) -(freshmen MP2, Ryan and Dre) and they barely beat Belmont. Meanwhile John Wall’s UK team was packed with more vs less freshmen talent and they lost to the WV team that Duke beat. Less freshman talent with more experience and cohesion was better.

Sorry, Belmont was in 2008. Also, you're making the mistake of assuming that what happened in the 2010 NCAAT tournament was manifest destiny. But that's not true. If the tournament was played again the next week, it almost certainly would have turned out differently.

In addition, though maybe I'm misunderstanding your point, are you suggesting that losing Gerald Henderson and Elliot Williams made the team better? Obviously we couldn't have gotten a better result than we had in 2010, but saying that G and E-Will were net negatives doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

NSDukeFan is right. More talent is almost always better than less talent. What happened in one particular one-and-done tournament doesn't change that.

[JNort]

Sorry, Belmont was in 2008. Also, you're making the mistake of assuming that what happened in the 2010 NCAAT tournament was manifest destiny. But that's not true. If the tournament was played again the next week, it almost certainly would have turned out differently.

In addition, though maybe I'm misunderstanding your point, are you suggesting that losing Gerald Henderson and Elliot Williams made the team better? Obviously we couldn't have gotten a better result than we had in 2010, but saying that G and E-Will were net negatives doesn't make a lot of sense to me.

NSDukeFan is right. More talent is almost always better than less talent. What happened in one particular one-and-done tournament doesn't change that.

Yeah not to mention I don't think we fared much of a chance against UK that year. I didn't even believe we had a chance until they went down. UK lost because of bad coachong that year.

[Steven43]

Agreed. I don't see how we plausibly could have had Carey, Stewart, Marques and Javin next year. And would prefer to have a Sr. Marques over prospective Fr. Stewart.

I’m with you. A team with 3-4 big men who can score on the inside and rebound but who can’t shoot from outside is not how winning basketball teams are constructed anymore. Those days are over.

[Steven43]

Mr. Bagley comes to mind as a recent recruit who inspired some DBR concerns, though that may have related to worry that we were recruiting over the current guys.

Okay, sure. But I actually think Duke played better when Bagley was not in the lineup. So there’s that.

[frb]

I’m with you. A team with 3-4 big men who can score on the inside and rebound but who can’t shoot from outside is not how winning basketball teams are constructed anymore. Those days are over.

Lol. Bolden over Stewart. [redacted text]. Stewart is a potential NBA all star. Bolden averages 5 points and 5 rebounds and plays less than 20 mins a game.

[frb]

I hope K has some things up his sleeve. The roster for next year is a bit thin...

projected 9 scholarship players. Goldwire is a practice player. Glorified walk on so really you have 8 - Boogie, Alex O, Wendell, Baker, Bolden, J White, DeLaurier, Carey

If one of the guards gets injured, we have major problems.

Need M Hurt and another guard.. preferably a lead guard since Boogie isn't a pure PG.. we'll need his scoring ability off ball. I can't believe Cole Anthony eliminated Duke... he would fit in great at PG.

[Nugget]

Lol. Bolden over Stewart. [redacted text] Stewart is a potential NBA all star. Bolden averages 5 points and 5 rebounds and plays less than 20 mins a game.

Every highly rated recruit is a "potential NBA all star" until you actually see them play in real games. Stewart is the #6 recruit in a weak class, while Bolden was #14 in a strong class - I don't see a huge difference there.

I don't think it is at all crazy to prefer having Bolden as a Sr. next year over freshman Stewart. Bolden is already the highest rated player from his class still in school. Carolina had some pretty good results the last couple of years from similarly situated Srs. Jackson and Pinson.

[budwom]

My personal attitude is that this year's team has such amazing potential that I'm not going to stress about next year's bunch until this season is over. Stewart or no Stewart, I just don't see next year's bunch
as having anything close to the potential of this team. Focus on them begins in mid April at the earliest (and you never know if a grad transfer might materialize to shake things up a bit).

[DavidBenAkiva]

The reference to John Wall is interesting. I don't recall him being a must-get as Duke had Scheyer and Smith. Maybe that's hindsight as it turned out that Duke did not, in fact, need Wall.

For 2019, Duke absolutely needed one of Carey or Stewart and it would have been great to get both. But we got Carey, and I personally am delighted. He might be the better fit for Duke with the collection of senior frontcourt players anyway. Carey can score. The team next year needs that. Stewart does not have the offensive package to lead the team in scoring. He does other things incredibly well, like rebound, block shots, and hustle. It turns out those skills are similar to what Bolden, DeLaurier, and White bring to the table. I hope Stewart picks Duke tomorrow, however unlikely that now seems, but I am not going to fret over it.

[jv001]

My personal attitude is that this year's team has such amazing potential that I'm not going to stress about next year's bunch until this season is over. Stewart or no Stewart, I just don't see next year's bunch
as having anything close to the potential of this team. Focus on them begins in mid April at the earliest (and you never know if a grad transfer might materialize to shake things up a bit).

I'm with budwom on this. I like to speculate on the next recruiting class but not to the point of being negative on our current players(Bolden). I see no one is mentioning Javin as the player that might not go to the NBA. I take that as posters think Marques is the better pro prospect? Personally I would take the bird in the hand(Bolden) over Stewart(freshman). Beat the Hoos! and GoDuke!

[fgb]

Mr. Bagley comes to mind as a recent recruit who inspired some DBR concerns, though that may have related to worry that we were recruiting over the current guys.

Bagley is an interesting case for this argument. loved the player, seemed like a really good guy and it was pure joy watching him play. that said, I thought as a team we played out best basketball sitting the 3-4 game stretch in which he was out with an injury.

(side note, part of playing that what-if scenario leads to wondering what might have been had bagley not reclassified, and played on this year's squad. 5 freshman starters is a nerve wracking proposition, but imagine the fast breaks...)