The Recruiting Problem...

[IthacaMatt]

Let's be honest, last year was pretty disappointing until the tournament.

In fairness, though, we were supposed to have another big man option in the middle. That changed the entire structure of the team. Most of the games we lost were because we got killed inside on defense.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Agreed. Scoring is going bye-bye after next season. I can't believe that there isn't a Diallo or Walker tripping over themselves to come here to get 35+ mpg and average 20+ ppg in their one year of college. So it comes down to $$. And SU is way behind the power curve against UK and Duke on that front.

Duke isn't doing anything shady. I honestly think it comes down to for many of these kids material issues like dorm/housing digs, arena locker room/arena vibe. They know they are getting playing time anywhere. The Dome is still a morgue imo more often than not. IF we strike out on some of these perceived locks like Green I would suspect those might be some reasons.

 

[orangefog]

Duke isn't doing anything shady. I honestly think it comes down to for many of these kids material issues like dorm/housing digs, arena locker room/arena vibe. They know they are getting playing time anywhere. The Dome is still a morgue imo more often than not. IF we strike out on some of these perceived locks like Green I would suspect those might be some reasons.

Why do you think Duke isn't doing anything shady?

 

[SoBeCuse]

Why do you think Duke isn't doing anything shady?

Their staff is a completely different animal from Cal's for starters.

 

[orangefog]

Their staff is a completely different animal from Cal's for starters.

That I agree with, but Duke has been known to appease players from time to time over the past few decades. And their recruiting has REALLY improved over the past few years. They may not be doing anything shady, but it wouldn't be completely out of character.

 

[Fly Rodder]

Duke isn't doing anything shady.

Oh, sure ... they just decided to jump in the one-and-done pool with both feet and dominated it.

I was born at night, but not last night.

 

[SoBeCuse]

Oh, sure ... they just decided to jump in the one-and-done pool with both feet and dominated it.

I was born at night, but not last night.

So what? Would you have taken a commitment from Okafor or Jabari Parker or Winslow? I think we know the answer!

 

[Fly Rodder]

I don't get it. If you think that Duke recruiting on the up and up because they're Duke and everyone else is shady, I don't know what to say. Why would Parker, or whomever, turn down money from a UK or KU to go to Duke for a year for nothing? The education? Lol.

Recruits get taken care in a lot of ways and Duke has no shortage of incredibly wealthy boosters who want to see the program succeed. Who does SU have? Bill Rapp?

 

[JDubbin]

So what? Would you have taken a commitment from Okafor or Jabari Parker or Winslow? I think we know the answer!

I work with college basketball players from Chicago who have informed me specifically of the "bags" that Parker was given by Duke. Could be hearsay, but there is not reason why these guys would speculate or make it up.

 

[SoBeCuse]

I work with college basketball players from Chicago who have informed me specifically of the "bags" that Parker was given by Duke. Could be hearsay, but there is not reason why these guys would speculate or make it up.

Wow. That would be surprising but I guess few things shock me these days.

 

[Ward]

Wow. That would be surprising but I guess few things shock me these days.

Look up Corey Maggette, Chris Duhon and Lance Thomas. Duke knows as long as Coach K is there they are untouchable.

 

[orangefog]

Wow. That would be surprising but I guess few things shock me these days.

Look up Corey Maggette, Chris Duhon and Lance Thomas. Duke knows as long as Coach K is there they are untouchable.

Also look at how their recruiting was good before Jabari Parker, but UK was taking all the top 10 recruits. Looks like they decided to get back in the game.

 

[Fly Rodder]

For the record, I don't think all recruits need to be bought off. Some/most are perfectly happy with the scholarship, the training/coaching, and whatever extra benefit$ come with being BMOC. But that top-25 or so and few other sprinkled in the top-100 all have mouths to feed. So what if a college booster drops off a briefcase of cash to an AAU coach of a player that they're recruiting ... he's just supporting the AAU program ...

 

[reedny]

Wow. That would be surprising but I guess few things shock me these days.

Wasn't it a Duke recruit that stopped into a jewelry store and popped a $20k bracelot? lol

 

[orangefog]

Wasn't it a Duke recruit that stopped into a jewelry store and popped a $20k bracelot? lol

Yep, Lance Thomas, I believe.

 

[AZOrange]

Let's be honest, last year was pretty disappointing until the tournament.

We had a fantastic start, then lost JB and stumbled, the had a great finish. Wild swings

 

[reedny]

We had a fantastic start, then lost JB and stumbled, the had a great finish. Wild swings

JB got 150% out of that lineup. We had no depth whatsoever, guys playing out of position, etc.. It's amazing how far he was able to go with the team.

 

[orangefog]

JB got 150% out of that lineup. We had no depth whatsoever, guys playing out of position, etc.. It's amazing how far he was able to go with the team.

And it was fun to watch the development of the young guys and the leadership of the old guard. Definitely frustrating and worrisome at times, but the ending made it all worth it. The lows made the highs that much better. Tell me that Frank Howard wasn't an altogether different player in the NCAA tournament than he was early in the season. And now, with the reports of how well he has been playing in practice and over the summer, you just know he is going to be special. Great ending last year leading to a GREAT season this year.

 

[TinyManInside]

Duke isn't doing anything shady. I honestly think it comes down to for many of these kids material issues like dorm/housing digs, arena locker room/arena vibe. They know they are getting playing time anywhere. The Dome is still a morgue imo more often than not. IF we strike out on some of these perceived locks like Green I would suspect those might be some reasons.

Duke has a long history of shady dealings. I'm not nearly as plugged into the recruiting game as I was a decade ago, but there were a lot of stories I heard back in the day. No idea if they're still dirty but they certainly have been at times during the K era.

The interesting thing is that from most of the stories I heard back in the day, buying players doesn't seem to go down the way most fans assume. It's usually not bags of money... Most of the coaches have a level or two of separation from the guys who are delivering the benefits... plausible deniability... sometimes it's as simple as giving a set of select boosters a list of players they want, and having the boosters figure out how to entice them. The coaches who are good at it rarely know any of the specifics.

IMO Coach K has gotten a lot of mileage from the 'Vitale shield'... Dickie V was always adamant and very vocal about how K 'does things the right way' and I think a lot of people have run with that over the years and just believed what he said. It's amazing how much of an influencer Dickie V was in the 80s and 90s, and even into the early 2000s.

(Also, FWIW the only coaches I ever heard singled out as '100% never cheating' in the recruiting game were Bob Knight and Mark Few).

 

[IthacaMatt]

Wasn't it a Duke recruit that stopped into a jewelry store and popped a $20k bracelot? lol

I recall that they gave a job to somebody's mom, and it was from away, like Alaska, I think. Anybody else remember that one?

 

[orangefog]

I recall that they gave a job to somebody's mom, and it was from away, like Alaska, I think. Anybody else remember that one?

Yep, there are quite a few stories out there about Duke. I heard they offered Grayson Allen a personality, but he turned it down, said he didn't need it. Love him or hate him, you have to respect that.

 

[longtimefan]

I recall that they gave a job to somebody's mom, and it was from away, like Alaska, I think. Anybody else remember that one?

Trajan Langdon was from Alaska. Don't know if they took care of his parents.

The one I heard was Chris Duhon, from Louisiana, whose mother got a job in or near Durham.

 

[orangefog]

Trajan Langdon was from Alaska. Don't know if they took care of his parents.

The one I heard was Chris Duhon, from Louisiana, whose mother got a job in or near Durham.

Boozer was from Alaska too, and I thought I had heard something about one of them as well.

 

[skurey]

Is Quade going to be our only recruit that can contribute right away?

 

[dasher]

Duke has a long history of shady dealings. I'm not nearly as plugged into the recruiting game as I was a decade ago, but there were a lot of stories I heard back in the day. No idea if they're still dirty but they certainly have been at times during the K era.

The interesting thing is that from most of the stories I heard back in the day, buying players doesn't seem to go down the way most fans assume. It's usually not bags of money... Most of the coaches have a level or two of separation from the guys who are delivering the benefits... plausible deniability... sometimes it's as simple as giving a set of select boosters a list of players they want, and having the boosters figure out how to entice them. The coaches who are good at it rarely know any of the specifics.

IMO Coach K has gotten a lot of mileage from the 'Vitale shield'... Dickie V was always adamant and very vocal about how K 'does things the right way' and I think a lot of people have run with that over the years and just believed what he said. It's amazing how much of an influencer Dickie V was in the 80s and 90s, and even into the early 2000s.

(Also, FWIW the only coaches I ever heard singled out as '100% never cheating' in the recruiting game were Bob Knight and Mark Few).

I had a client that played on the 1976 Indy national team. He told me that while there was no money offered to go to indy, once you were there, the boosters took care of you. They bought your game tickets at greatly enhanced prices.