[delfamParticipant]

Just wondering how many of you guys like his recruiting style. Unlike Calipari, Coach K drafts alot of guys he knows aren’t as good as some guys he could get, but by getting these guys it allows him to create his team better because they stay four years.

Your thoughts on this style compared to some like Cal.

[FDAPO]

I find it hard to believe Coach K doesn’t go for the best players he can get….

[delfamParticipant]

I’m not saying he doesn’t do that, he can’t get some of the best just cause of the academics. What I’m saying is he mixes it very well with players he knows will stay there four years and be the main core of players that he can mold into what he wants.

[BlackMamba24Participant]

He goes after guys that are team oriented and have a desire for academics. He does get high profile guys, but he also goes after guys that are lesser recruited, i.e. Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek,Wojo,etc…

[wuteverParticipant]

Lance Thomas was also a Mcdonalds All-American and was very highly sought after, he just made his decision very late into the year.

[tjc23Participant]

He goes for the guys that play as a team in the system he runs. He does not need the best players to win he nedds good role players. Last year he had Lance Thomas for a devensive stoper Zoubek was a get rebounder. The guys he gets knows what there roles are and that is why they win.

[Imaking6004Participant]

I agree Coach K goes after team oriented role players focused on academics. But that makes it suprising he broke his style and signed Kyrie Irving who I be shocked if he doesnt leave his freshman year.

[kanyedabestParticipant]

umm ……….
brian zoubek = mcdonalds all american
jon scheyer = mcdonalds all american
kyle singler = mcdonalds all american
nolan smith = mcdonalds all american
mason plumlee = mcds aa
ryan kelly- mcds aa

lol this disproves your statement saying he doesnt go far guys neccessarily the best

[CelticJayhawkParticipant]

zoubek and scheyer and possibly even kelly were mcdonalds aa because they went to duke and everyone knows it

[llperez]

he goes after top guys just like anyone else. Will avery, corey maggette were both one and doners. Elton brand wasnt there long. Jay will, dunleavye, boozer etc… I give him respect as a great coach, but i honestly dont think he recruits much differently then anyone else.

[huff09Participant]

Well given that Duke has very grueling academic standards along with being an elite program, he gets that rare combination of heady players with alot of talent. College teams with high basketball iq always make deep runs (last years example:Butler). Duke just happens to have those types of players EVERY year.

[HandDownManDown13Participant]

He doesnt recruit a lot of one and done players, and i think his style does differ from a lot of the other coaches recruiting styles. Take a look at singler, he’s a mcdonalds all american who could have left after any year but he’s stayed all 4. For the most part he doesnt recruit players that leave very early.

I do think that he tries to recruit 4 year players with the other players the way he did with shane battier. and since then he’s tried to recruit 4 year fowards that are about 3 star players (a la Olek Czyz) and so far it hasnt panned out, but hopefully he’ll be able to hit gold that way again.

I see him recruit 4 year players a lot more than other players and i see 2 players in the next couple classes that look like locks as four year players (tyler thornton, and tyler adams) and i think he may have had more success in this if not for the fact that players all want to succeed now rather than later, and it leads to a lot of his kids who dont get tons of time to transfer. (such as Jamal Boykin and Eric Boateng)

[rtbtParticipant]

There were some interesting comments in this thread but I think I can shed some light on how and why Duke recruits somewhat differently than most teams.

Let me start by saying Llperez is absolutely correct, Duke is just like everyone else, they go after the best players available. However, this is where the strategy changes.

A few years ago I read a very interesting article on Duke University Athletics. The coaching staff realizes the obvious, Duke has very high admission standards so they immediately eliminate about 80% of potential recruits because they would never be admitted. In light of their academic standards, the coaching staffs concentrate on a very small percentage of high school athletes.

Since that small percentage of available talent, who fit into their academic criteria, are very good or excellent students, very few of them are interested in being a one and done guy. It probably has very little or nothing to do with the philosophy of Coach K.

[BothTeamsPlayedHardParticipant]

“I agree Coach K goes after team oriented role players focused on academics. But that makes it suprising he broke his style and signed Kyrie Irving who I be shocked if he doesnt leave his freshman year.”

Are you aware of the fact that Duke basically has nothing but McDonald’s All-Americans on scholarship? Sean Dockery was barely able to qualify at the NCAA’s minimum standards, and he not only got into Duke but played right away. I’ll give Dockery all the credit in the world for graduating, but let’s be honest, Duke is no different from anyone else. Coach K recruited a JuCo kid this past year and would be there this fall if not for a change of heart. John Wall was barely able to qualify out of high school, and the only reason he didn’t go to Duke was that he chose to go elsewhere. It wasn’t like they pulled their offer when they saw mediocre grades and a rap sheet. They were on him like everyone else.

[rtbtParticipant]

As I mentioned above, Duke coaches start their recruiting process by eliminating close to 80% of all incoming students because they would never qualify for Duke’s strict academic standards. Therefore, they’re left with a smaller talent pool and most of those kids have a different mind set than the kids in the other 80% of the talent pool.

I don’t think Duke recruits any specific type of players, such as team oriented, etc. Once again Duke, recruits the best talent available within that narrow group they’re going after.

Kids who are serious about school often have different values then those kids whose entire life is basketball. It has very little to do with recruiting philosophies.

For those kids whose entire life is basketball and academics means little or nothing, many of them have a single minded goal, making it to the NBA. Those are the kids who rarely wind up at Duke.

[OMARtheLEGENDParticipant]

i never knew you could “DRAFT” players in the ncaa isnt that some sort of violation?

[the I in winParticipant]

He gets highly touted players but he doesn’t usually get guys that project as well in the nba (they have a few but for how big the school they don’t get many nba players).

[lakanoParticipant]

“(they have a few but for how big the school they don’t get many nba players)”

Sorry but i gotta disagree with you on that one

Carlos Boozer
Elton Brand
Shane Battier
Luol Deng
Chris Duhon
Mike Dunleavy
Corey Maggette
Grant Hill
J.J Redick
Shelden Williams

Coach K is a hell of a coach but he recruits just like everyone else
As someone said earlier Duke was definetly a school on John Wall’s short list

[Author]

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