reclegend22;1536498 wrote:Haha yes. That was 2006.

After Elton Brand (quasi-center), Carlos Boozer and Shelden Williams, if you would have told me that Duke would go almost a decade without another black center, I'd have thought you were crazy. Brian Zoubek was great (in fact he's one of the main reasons Duke won the 2010 national title) and Mason Plumlee put up nice numbers, but Duke absolutely needed this to get back into the game. This is a huge day for Duke.

Are you saying Duke needed a black center to "get back into the game"?

se-alum;1536579 wrote:Are you saying Duke needed a black center to "get back into the game"?

I am saying that Duke needed an elite center who was not a Plumlee to get back into the game. Read into that what you will.

A recent Adam Zagoria blog entry hints that Justise Winslow might announce by the end of this week. The six remaining schools in the hunt for the ninth-rated player in the class of 2014 are UCLA, Florida, Arizona, Stanford, Texas A&M and Duke.

With Rodney Hood and Jabari Parker both possibly gone next year (Parker for sure), he'd be the go-to guy for Duke in the middle of the lineup at small forward. I really liked Duke's chances when it appeared that Winslow would wait until the spring to announce, since I thought maybe he was waiting to see which players will be gone. But if Zagoria is right, then I'm not so sure what he's thinking.

http://zagsblog.com/articles/justise-winslow-could-decide-this-week-keeping-it-close-to-the-vest/

Winslow will announce his school of choice tomorrow afternoon at 3:30. There will be no LeBron James live decision. He simply will tell people where he is going and reporters will write about it. How novel. I like the kid already, whether he goes to Duke or not.

Duke's 2014 class is already considered No. 1 by some outlets, but landing Winslow would cement it. Defensively, he's been compared to a smaller Shane Battier because of the versatility of being able to guard up to four positions. He can also score. Really want him.

If Winslow picks Duke tomorrow, I'm gonna lose my mind.

Jones, Okafor, and Winslow together is not even fair.

ironman02;1539970 wrote:If Winslow picks Duke tomorrow, I'm gonna lose my mind.

Jones, Okafor, and Winslow together is not even fair.

I just checked into an asylum. Winslow chose Duke.

K needs to get the Hell away from that Olympic team immediately!!

ironman02;1540745 wrote:I just checked into an asylum. Winslow chose Duke.

K needs to get the Hell away from that Olympic team immediately!!

Haha.

With the direction the Duke program appeared to be heading as J.J. Redick's career came to an end, I admittedly was among the faction of Duke fans who was not happy that K would be dedicating so much of his time to the national team. After the much-hyped No. 1 class of 2002 that featured Redick, Williams and Randolph, and then getting Deng in 2003, things kind of tailed off and the future looked uncertain. Then came the string of early-round NCAA exits as the Roy Williams-era began to take full shape down the road. He was killing it, bringing in the type of mega-classes that K once did, while Duke seemed to have hit a wall. Many Blue Devils fans, including myself, thought the K era was coming to a close.

Long story short. We're back.

With that said, as we've seen over the years with the Duke and Carolina rivalry, the thing seems to go in cycles. Right now, it's just Duke's turn. It does feel great, though. I am really happy that K appears to be going out in grand style. Hopefully, after about eight to ten more years of coaching, he gets one more ring (or two) for Duke and one more for the United States and then calls it a day.

Damn, Duke's putting together a hell of a class. Winslow is a sleeper for, when it's all said and done, the best player of their class. I've heard great things about him.

For those who have seen him thus far, how good is Luke Kennard?

Azubuike24;1553334 wrote:For those who have seen him thus far, how good is Luke Kennard?

actually looked into him a little bit earlier this week. I believe there's some YouTube videos out there on him. Dude can definitely score

http://hoopmixtape.com/seventh-woods-dunk-year-61-posterizes-defender/

Woods isn't eligible until 2016, but the guy is a great prospect.

Pretty sick for a six foot PG.

Another 2016 prospect. Thon Maker. He's 7'0, 15 years old. The #1 player in the class, per ESPN's rankings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz11-HJc1Fo

Thon Maker has received comparisons to a young Ralph Sampson regarding his ability to handle and shoot the ball around the perimeter. Scary clips. Almost too-good-to-be-true territory. Look forward to revisiting him in a couple of years to see where the media hype will go if he continues to improve.

Right now, it looks like Arizona, Miami and, fittingly, Virginia are the only schools to offer Maker so far. He visited Duke for Midnight Madness in October, but no offer has been made as of yet (to my knowledge).

Rashad Vaughn committed to UNLV, which seems like a joke to me when you have offers from Carolina, Kentucky, and Kansas, but oh well. He and his "mentor" will be happy in Vegas.

The number one used car salesman in America strikes again. Enjoy possibly making the NCAA Tournament and losing in the first round, Rashad.

Glad he didn't choose any of the other schools, though. I like Vaughn's game a lot.

Rebels will surely be stacked with talent next year. We'll see what happens with it.

Azubuike24;1580032 wrote:Another 2016 prospect. Thon Maker. He's 7'0, 15 years old. The #1 player in the class, per ESPN's rankings.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gz11-HJc1Fo

Wow. This guy is going to be very very good. He's a 7 footer that moves like that? Christ.

UK started 2015 off pretty well with a commitment from SG and #11 overall Charles Matthews from Chicago.

Azubuike24;1584756 wrote:UK started 2015 off pretty well with a commitment from SG and #11 overall Charles Matthews from Chicago.

I am thinking -- crossing my fingers and praying, really -- that Matthews' early commitment might give Duke a better shot at Ohio's own Luke Kennard. A 6-5 lefty with in-the-gym range, he'd be a perfect fit for the Blue Devils.

It's widely believed that UK is the favorite in this race -- apparently his parents are big Cat fans and have a "Kentucky room" in their home -- but Calipari is loading up on the perimeter and this latest commit might give Kennard reason to consider creating his own identity elsewhere. Duke, North Carolina, Ohio and Louisville are considered the biggest possible players.

Luke's dad said the Matthews decision wouldn't impact his son regarding UK. This was yesterday. We'll see...

...and Kennard won't go to UofL...the others, yes.

Azubuike24;1585059 wrote:...and Kennard won't go to UofL...the others, yes.

It's weird that Louisville is even on his list considering that he and his family are reportedly such die-hard UK fans, but, as we've seen in the past, favorite childhood teams are often thrown out the window when a kid's basketball future hangs in the balance. More often than not, the decision comes down to the best fit.

Jason Williams actually grew up a big North Carolina fan and wanted to be the next Phil Ford, until Bill Gurtheridge explained to him that he would not be playing point guard. The rest, as they say...

But it will certainly be interesting to see what path Kennard chooses.

If both Luke Kennard and Carlton Bragg don't go to Ohio State I may cry, and I usually don't get too hyped up in recruiting. Really hoping both of them then VJ King go to Columbus.

For what it's worth, the staff at Bucknuts thinks Duke is the growing leader for Luke Kennard.

http://ohiostate.247sports.com/Article/BH-Need-Force-With-Luke--181795

Luke and his family visited Duke for the North Carolina game last week for the kid's first official college visit. In a recent article, Luke's father said the visit went beyond the family's wildest expectations and that they fell in love with the intimacy of the campus. He went on to state that they were pleased with Coach K's designs for Luke as a player without a position who could fill multiple roles for the Blue Devils, including point guard, shooting guard and small forward. Apparently that is one of the major selling points Luke is searching for, a situation where he won't be pigeonholed into a particular role.

Everyone is loving the momentum for Duke right now. However, IMO, Ohio State and Kentucky aren't going to go quietly. We'll see what happens when he's in town to visit those schools.