BU and team seem to find pretty good alternatives to recruits, often times better. Nice get for IU, will see how things work out.
Illinois Hoops Recruiting Thread
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Obviously it's all about the money.
But for a variety of reasons (3 years versus 1, longer NBA earning potential, draft stock more variable based on how you're used, etc) there is still somewhat more of a trusting the pro development plan to unlock FUTURE money aspect in basketball versus where we're at in football.
Duke just signed Luke Paul out of Australia and will have JBB coming back next season.
Just having those 2 alone would be an absolute incredible haul for everyone else
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I've seen Wabbington a ton live here in AZ. He'd be a nice year 1 complimentary piece. He's not wanting that so the IU choice isn't surprising. He's not going to a year 1 offensive focal point at top tier school like Arizona/Illinois. I don't see him as the one and done he fancies himself as.
Just having those 2 alone would be an absolute incredible haul for everyone else
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I've seen Wabbington a ton live here in AZ. He'd be a nice year 1 complimentary piece. He's not wanting that so the IU choice isn't surprising. He's not going to a year 1 offensive focal point at top tier school like Arizona/Illinois. I don't see him as the one and done he fancies himself as.
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I'm waiting for a player/agent to do a documentary on this, take us behind the scenes. It's amazing how black boxed it all is.
I'm watching the Demarcus Henry recruitment from afar. This kid is a marketer. He stonewalled Hurley's offer.
I'd love to know for a kid like that, what the considerations really are, what the financials look like across the various suitors.
I do think in basketball, these kids/agent weigh the dollars against the platform/exposure/development.
The Duke situation for instance is borderline digusting to watch. Luke Paul just joined on top of a 3 PG situation they currently have. Colton Hiller looks like he's signing even though there is a cafeteria line at the 3. They sell something there that gives them an opportunity to stack talent, kids will sit benches.
I just saw an interview with Scheyer at ACC media day where he talks about Drew Scharnowski playing alongside Ngongba. So then where are all the minutes for your 5* Cameron Williams? Is he ok with the arrangement or is it buyers remorse? Or is it so prestigious playing there to these kids that they don't care?
This has been going on at Duke for the last 30 years. Most years, no other teams come close to their overall talent level (some of Cal's Kentucky teams did). Yet most years they don't win it all.
You can only play so many guys. If everyone stays healthy (obviously a big if), what matters is your top 7-8 guys and how well they mesh and know their roles. It may sound great to have a top 10-ranked recruit not even in your two-deep, but it's probably not going to matter since there's only 40 mpg playing time.
I think there is an added advantage in today's era.
During the 2009-2020ish phase, teams could compete with their top OAD's because they could nurture along upperclassmen that had 2-4 years gelling together.
In this 15 man roster & lawless society where they also seem to have unlimited $$, they can stack their rosters so deep that they not only have depth, but will roll over a lot of very good players. Social media also seems to be something highly favorable to their brand. They have more IG followers than any CBB football team.
When you can bring in reels of the top freshmen while also getting the best portal players, where you don't have to rebuild annually, you can dominate. It feels like a matter of time with them, which would suck for the sport.
I don't recall a Duke team ever this deep.
This is the first time Hurley has ever gone out and gotten multipe top tennish 5 stars - my theory there is that he's preparing for the attack of the death star on CBB.
Dodgers and Dukies are why we need a salary cap in their respective sports. Although, I'm not even sure that will solve things as Duke seems to offer intangible value alongside a competitive NIL package (plus other endorsements like Boozer Twins x Jake from State Farm).
Perhaps all the big man recruits saw Koa Peat's jumper and were like "yeah, nah."
They have built a financial octopus, arms reaching into just about any aspect of wealth generation. A guy like Cal can sell his one year tour of duty, a dance floor for top kids. Duke is selling the Brotherhood and all it's financial access. It's smart and they have the network to support it. I'm sure a visit there contains a ton of this, what the Brotherhood can do for you.
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ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
Oh I dunno about that.
There was a pretty extended period in the middle there where you could count on Kentucky, Kansas and UNC, plus certain others in certain moments, having more talented teams. Roughly the period between Jon Scheyer's arrival as a player and Jon Scheyer's arrival as an assistant coach.
Not only were they rarely signing tippy top top 5 level players, but the raft of 5-stars they were signing very obviously included kids that would be nowhere near that high if they weren't committed to Duke. Your Brian Zoubek's, your Ryan Kelly's, your Greg Paulus's.
Between 2006 and 2014 the only Duke player taken in the first 9 picks of the NBA Draft was Kyrie Irving who of course barely played for them due to injury. The only other lottery picks were Gerald Henderson and Austin Rivers. Mason Plumlee was the second best NBA player behind Kyrie they produced.
It's no big mystery why this happened, Coach K didn't embrace the one-and-done system until Scheyer got there.
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Joel Goodson
- it's all ball bearings, nowadays
he'll do well there. the only question is degree. could be on a Caden Pierce-like path
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
Duke's 247 composite class rankings for the past 20 years:
2005: 2
2006: 5
2007: 10
2008: 14
2009: 20
2010: 16
2011: 2
2012: 41
2013: 9
2014: 1
2015: 2
2016: 1
2017: 1
2018: 1
2019: 3
2020: 3
2021: 6
2022: 1
2023: 2
2024: 1
2025: 1
2026: 2
Just an ungodly amount of talent coming through those doors starting in 2014. During Cal's tenure at Kentucky, it seemed like he had the #1 class almost every year.
ChiefGritty
- Chicago, IL
And of course one-and-done factories have a structural advantage when we're talking about class rankings since they are replacing more guys every year thus their classes have more players.
Chance for early minutes will be good for his development.
picture fears kicking player - Bing
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I've seen people that have never touched a basketball before shoot with better form than that. My goodness.
That transition was well documented. The OAD rule didn't kick in until 2006 I believe. Irving was the first of it, their 2015 title team was driven by OADs. Duke's entire model has changed in the last 15 years or so. Now the Brotherhood had Zion, Tatum, Flagg, Irving, Banchero, Boozer. That circle of life becomes really marketable to the youngens.
Any word on his younger brother Homeo?
lstewart53x3
- Scottsdale, Arizona
It makes a difference, but maybe not as big of a difference as you'd think. Here was Duke's average player recruiting rating compared to their overall recruiting ranking:
2014: 1 (1)
2015: 16 (2)
2016: 9 (1)
2017: 6 (1)
2018: 8 (1)
2019: 1 (3)
2020: 1 (3)
2021: 4 (6)
2022: 4 (1)
2023: 1 (2)
2024: 1 (1)
2025: 1 (1)
2026: 5 (2)
Only 1 class outside the top 10 in average player rating in the past 13 years. 9 of the 13 years, they were ranked in the top 5.
He's remaining stable despite the changing recruiting environment