UNC's recruiting class of '06 best in nation (Fayetteville Observer)

[Irish Envy]

Led by North Carolina?s sensational six signees, the Atlantic Coast Conference boasts two of the nation?s top five recruiting classes for 2006 and three of the top 10.

Link To Original Article

 

[jiggafini19]

Gotta be them or Ohio State.

I hate UNC, which is why I started cheering for Duke years ago. Roy Williams is good, though. He and Coach American Express should have some battles for years to come.

How sick is Duke at recruiting?

 

[iloveirish_12]

I hate OSU.

 

[irishnd31]

I hate OSU.

My sentiments exactly.

 

[domerfor life]

Gotta be them or Ohio State.

I hate UNC, which is why I started cheering for Duke years ago. Roy Williams is good, though. He and Coach American Express should have some battles for years to come.

How sick is Duke at recruiting?

Duke sux and so does Coach Rat. He constantly recruits Top 10 classes w/ at least 4-5 recruits and still only plays 7 guys during a season. He's a great recruiter and motivator, but it seems like he's becoming more and more concerned about his image and the nature of his program. Any time you discourage Top 5 draft picks from declaring early, I have to question your motives.

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

Duke sux and so does Coach Rat. He constantly recruits Top 10 classes w/ at least 4-5 recruits and still only plays 7 guys during a season. He's a great recruiter and motivator, but it seems like he's becoming more and more concerned about his image and the nature of his program. Any time you discourage Top 5 draft picks from declaring early, I have to question your motives.

actually coach K helped develop an academic curriculum that is an option for duke players. it's a three year plan so they can leave early if they choose to, but they'll have a degree either way. i hardly think that's discouraging players from leaving early. plus we all know recruiting top high school players doesnt always translate to top college players. he's one of the best coaches of all time. i doubt he'd only play 7 just to be a dick.

 

[jiggafini19]

Duke sux and so does Coach Rat. He constantly recruits Top 10 classes w/ at least 4-5 recruits and still only plays 7 guys during a season. He's a great recruiter and motivator, but it seems like he's becoming more and more concerned about his image and the nature of his program. Any time you discourage Top 5 draft picks from declaring early, I have to question your motives.

I agree with you in regards to his depth chart...he doesn't play enough guys and they become gassed by the end of the year.

As far as discouraging Top 5 picks from declaring early, please follow up on that one. Is there an incident in particular that you're referring to here?

 

[domerfor life]

I agree with you in regards to his depth chart...he doesn't play enough guys and they become gassed by the end of the year.

As far as discouraging Top 5 picks from declaring early, please follow up on that one. Is there an incident in particular that you're referring to here?

That's just a myth (sort of) that gets tossed around by my fellow Carolina fans. It's kind of different for Duke. Roy does due diligence in order to find out where their top players will go in the draft. Marvin Williams and Sean May wanted to come back, but their draft status was too good to pass up. You think Coach K did the same for Loul Deng, Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Josh McRoberts and William Avery? Yeah right. Guys like Elton Brand and Corey Maggette are cheered for while they're playing for Duke. Then, when they decide to leave after only a year they receive hate mail from the people that cheered them telling them that they are no longer a part of the "Duke family". That was actually in a article about Brand. I wouldn't really say Coach K discourages them, but he definitely doesn't help them all that much either when it comes to declaring early and getting a feel for where you will go.

In response to 05natlchamps, people say he is a great recruiter and I agree. He is a great recruiter. Duke recruits 3-4 Burger Boys every year. Tell me with a straight face that they had only 7 players capable of contributing last year. They had a deep bench that he failed to develop. Meanwhile, most Carolina fans thought the Heels would be mediocre at best only to watch Roy go 9 deep each game and finish 2nd in the conference. Oh yeah, the win at dook on Senior Night was great too. I'm not saying that Coach K can't coach. He's a great coach. All coaches are not perfect. Is it a coincidence that JJ Redick faded down the stretch all four years of his illustrious career? Well, when he plays 39 minutes a game it's kind of hard to call it a coincidence. The guy is just tired. I'm pretty sure one or two of those 3-4 burger boys on the bench could've contributed at least 8-10 minutes a game. I mean the guy is a great recruiter right?

 

[BradyQuinn10]

I agree they do have the best recruting class in the nation and there going to win it all this year no doubt about it my friend

 

[jiggafini19]

Roy does due diligence in order to find out where their top players will go in the draft. Marvin Williams and Sean May wanted to come back, but their draft status was too good to pass up. You think Coach K did the same for Loul Deng, Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Josh McRoberts and William Avery? Yeah right.

This sounds a tad hard for me to swallow. Marvin Williams was God Almighty to NBA scouts and May's value was peaked. He had to come out. Deng and Brand were encouraged to leave early from what I recall. I'm not sure on Maggette.

Avery was actually not ready and neither is McRoberts, but that's just my opinion.

Tell me with a straight face that they had only 7 players capable of contributing last year.

Agreed 100%. My biggest argument against him. One guy just transferred, I believe.

Is it a coincidence that JJ Redick faded down the stretch all four years of his illustrious career? Well, when he plays 39 minutes a game it's kind of hard to call it a coincidence. The guy is just tired.

100% agreed. No doubt in my mind that this is the case.

I've always liked Roy Williams. I stopped liking North Carolina in 1994 because of Rasheed Wallace (I still find him to be a total tool). Jigga's myth: Rasheed Wallace the dope and Jerry Stackhouse drove Dean Smith to retirement.

 

[irishfox]

How many national championships has Roy won, ONE. Coach K. 3. I think Roy is a great coach but kids are going to UNC because Roy doesn't care if they leave. Look at how many players have left. He is going to have 4 go after this year. Two freshman that he is bringing in are lottery picks right now, they will not hang around a campus when they could be making millions.
Coach K.'s first players to leave were Brand (couldnt do anything more in college) Avery (grades were killing him) and Cory Mag. (wanted the money) Jay Will came back for another year and won a NC and everything else so he couldnt do anything more, Mike D (still lost on that one, stock was never going to be higher who knows) and Deng (was ready to leave even though he didn't do much at Duke) Coach K brings in players that are going to stay and ones that he can develop a relationship with, you will never see Roy doing that. Collision and Henrich are dif story, thats Kansas players dont leave.
Don't get me wrong Roy is a great coach but players are going to go to schools where they can leave early. I would be willing to bet OJ Mayo heads to UNC and bolts after a year. Coach K could use his bench a little more but thats his style and it has worked. He also did give players early on in the season this past year to prove themselves and they didn't so why should he play them. Boteng is going to wish he didn't leave Duke.

 

[domerfor life]

Nah, Vince Carter's mom pushed Dean over the edge. lol Anyway, Marvin Williams loved Carolina and he did want to stay. Roy probably only verified that he was a top 3 pick, but he still did due diligence and encouraged him to make the decision that was right for he and his family. I've read all kinds of stories on how hard his mom worked and that he wanted to take care of her so that she would not have to work anymore. You can't fault the guy for wanting to reward the person who raised him. Sean May wanted to stay as well and said so often during last season. He did peak and it would not have been smart for him to return. Once he got word he would be a lottery pick, his tone changed and it was a done deal.

Anyway, again Coach K is a great coach. He justs needs to develop a deeper bench. If he stops making so many commercials, maybe he can find the time to do that. Sorry, I had to do that.

Oh well, I think UNC's class is the best. However, Oden will be a beast. There's nothing likehaving a human eraser standing in the lane.

 

[domerfor life]

How many national championships has Roy won, ONE. Coach K. 3. .

Who said that Roy is better than Coach K? I didn't. I said Coach K is a great coach. I said Roy does more in terms of guaging draft position.

"Boteng is going to wish he didn't leave Duke."

Why?

"Coach K could use his bench a little more but thats his style and it has worked. He also did give players early on in the season this past year to prove themselves and they didn't so why should he play them."

I watched a good deal of Duke's games and the starters were out there running around when the game was a 25 point blowout. Again, you mean to tell me 1-2 players could not have been developed enough to contribute 8-10 minutes a game? Look at Quenton Thomas for North Carolina. He was terrible last year and for a good part of the beginning of last season. By season's end, he was an important contributor to the team. Why? Playing time and a little confidence from the coach. Is it really necessary to play your starters when the game is clearly out of hand? You can't say Coach K is a great recruiter in one breath and then turn around and say nobody stepped up and proved themselves "early" in the season. After all, he did recruit the players who are now plucking splinters from their rears, didn't he? So now none of them are good enough to play 8-10 minutes a game? Whatever.

 

[jiggafini19]

Boteng is going to wish he didn't leave Duke.

He could have STARTED at some other schools and he barely played any significant minutes at Duke. Why? Pocius, 6 minutes per game. Boykin, 2.7, Boateng 2.5.

Why is this? Shelden Williams played 33 minutes a game. Redick played 37. Those three other guys couldn't have gotten more time?

 

[irishfox]

With the landlord headed to the NBA there will be a lot of time up for grabs I think. I wish him the best of luck though. I do agree with ya jigga that coach k needs to give his players/bench more time, only way to learn.

 

[domerfor life]

With the landlord headed to the NBA there will be a lot of time up for grabs I think. I wish him the best of luck though. I do agree with ya jigga that coach k needs to give his players/bench more time, only way to learn.

Thank you irishfox. That was my one major point. Lack of bench development has killed Duke the last two years. By the time the NCAA's come around, they are tired. You can't play guys 38 minutes a game and they not feel it at some point during the season.

 

[ShivaIrish]

actually coach K helped develop an academic curriculum that is an option for duke players. it's a three year plan so they can leave early if they choose to, but they'll have a degree either way. i hardly think that's discouraging players from leaving early.

I thought Duke was supposed to be a good school, right? So how do basketball players graduate in three years when students who don't have the rigours of college basketball (which also often times includes summer leagues) do not do so als?o. I remember being suspicious about that when Jay Williams graduated in three years. Anybody got any answers?

 

[Folsteam_Ahead]

extensive summer school i presume. they actually did an extended segment during one of the nationally televised duke games last year or the year before. i dont have all the details but they explained how players like shane battier were able to leave after junior year and have a degree. if you think about it, college athletes can start summer school before freshman year. that means they can have 3 or 4 classes worth of units done already. then add two more summers, that's over a full years worth of units. it's not hard if you have any major outside of engineering. technically any student can do it, but coach k made sure the registrars office could help plan this out. most students dont have the time to calculate units and especially dont have access to course schedules ahead of time. plus athletes get to register for classes first so they are guaranteed to get into the courses they need and into times that wont get cancelled. all schools are like this, just at duke it's pushed on the players to help make them well rounded people instead of college dropouts that will have to beg for an analysts or courtside interviewer's job.