Duke Basketball: 5 Early Storylines from the Blue Devils’ 2014 Recruiting Trail
The Blue Devils are happy to have a stacked team heading into next season. Yet Duke is intent on continuing to attract top high school talent. With all the uncertainty surrounding underclassmen that will surely attract attention from the NBA, Duke may need a serious infusion of new talent.
There are numerous storylines surrounding Duke’s 2014 recruiting. Each one not only has it’s own interesting narrative, but it speaks to the Blue Devils’ future plans.
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Villanova Basketball: 5 Early Storylines from Wildcats’ 2014 Recruiting Trail
With the Villanova Wildcats about to welcome in the three members of the 2013 recruiting class, the search for the members of the 2014 class has already begun.
While there is still close to a year left in the recruiting process for 2014, some of the best players in the nation have already committed to other schools.
With that being said, Jay Wright and his coaching staff will have to start aggressively pursuing the players that they want to bring to the Main Line for the season after next.
Here is a look at five early storylines to follow in Villanova’s chase for recruits in the class of 2014.
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Who’s Winning the John Calipari vs. Bill Self Recruiting Battle?
Losing out on Andrew Wiggins wasn’t exactly Derrick Rose bricking some free throws and Mario Chalmers offering one of the best stomach-punch shots in the history of the tournament, but it was one of the few moments in recent memory when John Calipari didn’t get what he wanted.
Once again, on the other end was Bill Self.
No one is crying for Calipari. Both he and Self got to puff their chests on Tuesday. Self landed Wiggins, one of the most prized prospects of all time, and his class is the best he’s ever had at Kansas. Calipari’s class, which includes a few players Self coveted, is still perceived as better.
This is not the first time that Self and Calipari have gone head-to-head for a recruit, and it certainly will not be the last.
It’s obvious why it happens. Self and Calipari are the two best recruiters in the game right now. They coach at two of the most storied programs in the history of college basketball, and high-profile recruits want to play at prestigious basketball schools.
But there’s more to it than that. Both coaches seem to like the same kind of players, and there’s a history of some high-profile battles.
From a strictly basketball perspective, history will look back at them as connected in this era. Self won his first national championship over Calipari. Calipari won his first over Self. They both were grad assistants at Kansas under Larry Brown.
From a recruiting perspective, the insiders who follow that side of the sport will be telling stories down the road of the battles between the two men.
If you’re keeping score at home, Self is making a strong comeback with his latest victory.
These are the players who have seriously considered playing for Calipari or Self and then ended up signing with one of the two coaches.
| Bill Self Recruits | John Calipari Recruits |
|---|---|
| Andrew Wiggins | Julius Randle |
| Perry Ellis | James Young |
| Josh Selby | *Archie Goodwin |
| Thomas Robinson | Kyle Wiltjer |
| Xavier Henry | Doron Lamb |
| Marcus Morris | Brandon Knight |
| Markieff Morris | Terrence Jones |
| Daniel Orton | |
| John Wall |
*Goodwin is the only player Calipari recruited on this list who did not have Kansas as a finalist, but he eliminated Kansas late, according to this ESPN.com story.
Self and Calipari have not expressed any friction publicly, but it would be understandable if there’s some there, which could have started with the Morris twins.
The twins committed to Calipari at Memphis, then decommitted, then committed again and then decommitted again. Or something like that. It was like a teenage relationship. It is all explained here in this story in The Commercial Appeal. Eventually, the twins signed with Kansas in October of 2008.
Xavier Henry was also Memphis-bound at one time. This was a loss that had to sting for Self. Henry’s parents both played basketball at Kansas.
Then Calipari left for Kentucky, and unlike DeMarcus Cousins, Henry choose not to follow Calipari and wound up signing at Kansas, where his brother transferred after spending one year at Memphis. Calipari won most of the battles that followed.
For Self, it had to sting to lose out on Daniel Orton, Terrence Jones, Kyle Wiltjer and Julius Randle. Kansas has done well developing big men, and all four would have fit well in KU’s system.
Calipari has won the numbers game, but it’s not really fair to strictly stop there. Since both will continue to go against each other regularly—they’re both in the mix for the top three recruits in Rivals.com’s 2014 class—they should be keeping another kind of scorecard: How the players who wound up at their schools have performed.
I came up with a system for how to score player performance in this battle. This is the scoring system.
| Achievement | Points |
|---|---|
| All-League (2nd or 3rd team) | 1 |
| First-team All-League | 2 |
| Conference POY | 3 |
| All-American (2nd or 3rd team) | 4 |
| First-team All-American | 5 |
Here’s the scorecard:
| Bill Self | John Calipari |
|---|---|
| 21 | 16 |
Self benefited the most from both Marcus Morris and Thomas Robinson staying school for three years. Perry Ellis could be the next player in Self’s system to thrive his sophomore and junior year.
Usually when a big-time prospect has stuck around for Calipari past his sophomore year, such as Wiltjer, the reward has not been as great.
Calipari has had more success with the one-and-done or two-and-done players. Both Doron Lamb and Jones were major contributors on Kentucky’s championship team. John Wall was a first-team All-American and the SEC player of the year in his one season at Kentucky. Brandon Knight helped lead the Wildcats to the Final Four.
Self has not had as much luck with the one-and-done crew. Selby never really had much of an impact in his one year at Kansas. Henry was an honorable mention All-Big 12 player, but he’s been a bust in the league. Ben McLemore, who wasn’t recruited by UK, will be viewed as Self’s first great one-and-done success.
It’s not as though Calipari’s one-and-dones have always thrived, as Daniel Orton and Archie Goodwin came and went without accomplishing much in their one year in Lexington.
The battle continues next season, which could give both coaches plenty of ammo in the recruiting battles in the 2014 class. Calipari could even the score with Randle, who Kansas really wanted, or Wiggins could give Self a feather in his cap.
The real winner will be whichever coach gets his second national title first. And you know what would be great? KU and UK in the 2013-14 final with Wiggins and Randle squaring off in the final seconds for the win. Bragging rights to the winner.
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Kentucky Basketball Recruiting: Will ‘Cats Be Better off Without Andrew Wiggins?
It’s tough to believe that your team will be better off when you miss out on the No. 1 overall recruit. But that’s exactly the case for Kentucky basketball when Andrew Wiggins decided to take his talents to Kansas.
Sure, Wiggins is a can’t-miss prospect. But remember, the Wildcats already have eight McDonald’s All-Americans on their roster coupled with a returning starter in Willie Cauley-Stein.
If Wiggins was to commit to Kentucky, it would create a logjam for minutes, especially on the wing for either Alex Poythress or James Young.
Wiggins decision to wear Kansas’ blue, as opposed to Kentucky’s blue, will allow Poythress the chance to finally flourish in the system. He won’t be buried on the bench behind the No. 1 recruit, and unlike last year, he will be able to play with a plethora of talent around him.
This isn’t to say Poythress is a better player than Wiggins, but let’s not forget that people had high expectations for him last year. The Sporting News named the Clarksville, Tenn. native a second-team preseason All-America last year.
Perhaps, most importantly, the remaining scholarship will provide depth to the point guard position, which is the one position Kentucky was arguably the thinnest at heading into the Wiggins decision with only freshmen Andrew Harrison and Dominique Hawkins on scholarship.
The remaining scholarship should now bring back fan-favorite Jarrod Polson to be a backup to Harrison and mentor to Hawkins for a year.
Polson recently graduated from the University of Kentucky, but he has a year of eligibility left.
Polson being able to mentor Hawkins won’t provide the gratification in 2013-14 that Andrew Wiggins would have, but down the road, it will pay off to have that year of learning for Hawkins, who could very well turn into the next Darius Miller at Kentucky.
The other positive of Wiggins not committing to Kentucky provides the Wildcats is team chemistry. The six incoming All-Americans have all had a chance to bond with each other at various showcase events as teammates. Sure, Wiggins played in those games too, but he wasn’t ‘one of them as a Kentucky commit.
The players now know their roles heading into the 2013-14 season. The media is expected to be intense for this team, but without the No. 1 recruit, it’s possible the media will be directed more toward Lawrence, Kansas to follow Wiggins.
And for Big Blue Nation, if the Wildcats don’t win the 2014 title, look at the bright side—There is an excuse now in not having the best player in the class.
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UNC Basketball Recruiting: No Andrew Wiggins Means Wings Must Step Up
The University of North Carolina may have taken a hit with Andrew Wiggins’ decision to join the Kansas Jayhawks, but it’s hardly the end of the world for the Tar Heels.
There is still loads of talent and potential on this team that could easily make a deep run in the tournament.
However, depth on the wing will be a serious concern for the UNC heading into the 2013-14 season. And former role players will be forced to step up their game.
P.J. Hairston, Leslie McDonald and J.P. Tokoto are the only wings on this squad. With Wiggins, you probably would have seen him at the 3 and Hairston the 2. McDonald would come off the bench as the sixth man and Tokoto would be given a little spot treatment here and there.
Add a returning James Michael McAdoo, a more experienced Marcus Paige and five options at center, and we’re looking at a pretty talented group of starters.
Without Wiggins, one has to assume Hairston will take the 3, McDonald the 2 and Tokoto will be receiving a larger chunk of minutes at both positions. There will be a lot of pressure on Tokoto now to develop a consistent jumper.
On the bright side, not having Wiggins gives Tokoto the room to gain invaluable experience in his sophomore season. In his freshman year, he was already showing signs of becoming an elite defender with his quick hands and feet.
He was also very active on the inside, using his insane hops to crash the boards and slam home putbacks from seemingly out of nowhere. But his poor 10-of-26 free-throw shooting and 1-of-11 effort from downtown is a serious concern.
Tokoto will be one of those question marks that will make or break the Tar Heels this season.
But nobody will have more weight on his shoulders after Andrew Wiggins’ decision than Leslie McDonald. Unless Tokoto plays out of his mind in the offseason, McDonald will finally be a starter through his senior season.
He isn’t the dominant athlete that Tokoto is, but he makes up for that with his experience, shooting ability and smarts.
McDonald was off to a blistering start last season, burying 25-of-58 treys and scoring over 20 points twice. It was the Reggie Bullock and Leslie McDonald show behind the arc.
Then he was suspended for academics and tweaked his knee to boot. He was never the same after missing the next six games. McDonald was only able to muster double-digit points twice through the remainder of the season.
His three-point percentage also took a hit, as he was just 17-of-59 after coming back.
For now, McDonald is looked at as a one-dimensional player that usually offers some pop on the perimeter.
However, I do recall Bullock having the same stigma before he was forced into a starting role. Before you could blink, he turned himself into an elite on-ball defender and an extremely versatile weapon with his shooting, passing and rebounding abilities.
Make no mistake about it, McDonald has that same potential.
Hairston and McAdoo will also receive some extra pressure, as the Tar Heels won’t have a third proven scorer. But either Paige or McDonald could be that guy.
And who knows what will happen at center with Joel James, Desmond Hubert and Kennedy Meeks. Power forwards Brice Johnson and Isaiah Hicks could end up in the mix, too.
Even with Wiggins, there would have been no guarantees. You never really know what a freshman will do when he hits the college hardwood for the first time. How many No. 1 overalls bring home a title their first year?
According to Scout.com’s rankings, Anthony Davis is the only one to bring home a title as a freshman since at least 2005.
Wiggins would have just made them favorites, alongside the Kentucky Wildcats and their loaded recruiting class. But being listed as a favorite means very little. If you recall, Kentucky and Indiana were both considered preseason favorites to cut down the nets in 2013.
Kentucky didn’t even make the tournament—and failed to get past Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT.
I’m not being delusional or downplaying Wiggins’ talent. The Tar Heels would have been better with him, and they certainly could have used the depth on the wing. There is no denying this.
That doesn’t mean today is Doomsday in Chapel Hill. Wiggins is most likely a one-and-done player, and now the Tar Heels have a chance to build for the future.
Perhaps in some strange, demented way, the program is better off without Andrew Wiggins. Unfortunately, we won’t know until we see the development of a handful of Tar Heels.
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College Basketball Recruiting: Greatest Asset of Each Top Player in 2014 Class
Although Andrew Wiggins’ commitment to Kansas is putting the 2013 recruiting class in today’s headlines, coaches around college basketball are well aware that it’s already time to worry about their 2014 recruits. As the nation’s best high schoolers prepare for their senior seasons, many have already established top-tier skills that they can count on to earn them playing time at the college level.
One prime example of that phenomenon is athletic SF Jalen Lindsey, set to take over Wiggins’ starting job at Huntington Prep. Lindsey may not have his predecessor’s versatility, but he can throw down a dunk with highlight-reel panache.
Herein, a closer look at Lindsey’s finishing ability and the biggest strengths of the rest of ESPN’s top 20 recruits for 2014.
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Andrew Wiggins’ Decision Boosts Kansas’ Recruiting Class to the Top
Five-star forward Andrew Wiggins has decided to commit to the Kansas Jayhawks.
Grant Traylor of The Herald-Dispatch first reported the news:
Wiggins is the No. 1 player in the 2013 class, according to 247Sports’ composite rankings. Kansas head coach Bill Self likely spent the past few weeks figuring out how he was going to replicate Ben McLemore’s production from this past season, who led the team with 15.9 points per game as a freshman.
Now, Self will have the opportunity to coach a player in Wiggins who boasts even better scoring abilities than McLemore.
Self commented on Wiggins’ announcement, via Kansas Basketball on Twitter:
Not only will the Huntington Prep product provide overwhelming scoring potential to the offense, but he also has the ability to fill up the box score due to his versatility. On a team losing a ton of production from last season, Wiggins will be seen as a saving grace for the coaching staff, the Kansas fanbase and his future teammates.
While the squad will be without its top five scorers from last season, there are plenty of examples of Kansas players who dramatically raised their level of production when given the opportunity. In the past few years alone, Thomas Robinson and Markieff Morris both doubled their scoring averages from one year to the next.
Next season, fans should expect to see big years out of Perry Ellis and Naadir Tharpe. Each player showed tons of potential in limited minutes as underclassmen and will receive plenty of playing time in 2013. With Wiggins’ LeBron James-like abilities to facilitate the rock and lead an offense, his teammates will excel both inside and outside the paint.
In addition to Wiggins, the rest of Kansas’ recruiting class is top-notch. The group is ranked the No. 2 class in the nation, according to 247Sports, and it features some elite talent that will make an impact right away.
Wayne Selden is a shooting guard in the mold of McLemore, with the ability to score and defend as well as anyone in the class. Selden was as interested in Wiggins’ decision as anybody across the nation and took to Twitter as soon as Wiggins announced his commitment to the Jayhawks:
Alongside Selden and Wiggins is Joel Embiid, who is one of the fastest risers in the class. He is a great shot-blocker who has the athleticism to develop offensively as well.
If these players perform as expected and the experienced members of the team step up their efforts, Kansas will once again be one of the top teams in the country next season.
It is important, however, to note that one-and-done players have been quite hit or miss during Self’s tenure. While McLemore was great last season, Xavier Henry and Josh Selby did not live up to expectations. However, nobody expects Wiggins to follow in the footsteps of previous subpar players due to his overall skill set and maturity.
Putting too much pressure on an incoming freshman could lead to poor results, regardless of how good the player is expected to be. Still, Kansas will have a balanced attack next season full of promising, well-rounded players.
This is how things have run for years, and it has led to plenty of success.
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UNC Basketball Recruiting: No Andrew Wiggins Means Depth Will Be a Big Problem
The University of North Carolina may have taken a hit with Andrew Wiggins’ decision to join the Kansas Jayhawks, but it’s hardly the end of the world for the Tar Heels.
There is still loads of talent and potential on this team that could easily make a deep run in the tournament.
However, depth on the wing will be a serious concern for the UNC heading into the 2013-14 season. And former role players will be forced to step up their game.
P.J. Hairston, Leslie McDonald and J.P. Tokoto are the only wings on this squad. With Wiggins, you probably would have seen him at the 3 and Hairston the 2. McDonald would come off the bench as the sixth man and Tokoto would be given a little spot treatment here and there.
Add a returning James Michael McAdoo, a more experienced Marcus Paige and five options at center, and we’re looking at a pretty talented group of starters.
Without Wiggins, one has to assume Hairston will take the 3, McDonald the 2 and Tokoto will be receiving a larger chunk of minutes at both positions. There will be a lot of pressure on Tokoto now to develop a consistent jumper.
On the bright side, not having Wiggins gives Tokoto the room to gain invaluable experience in his sophomore season. In his freshman year, he was already showing signs of becoming an elite defender with his quick hands and feet.
He was also very active on the inside, using his insane hops to crash the boards and slam home putbacks from seemingly out of nowhere. But his poor 10-of-26 free-throw shooting and 1-of-11 effort from downtown is a serious concern.
Tokoto will be one of those question marks that will make or break the Tar Heels this season.
But nobody will have more weight on his shoulders after Andrew Wiggins’ decision than Leslie McDonald. Unless Tokoto plays out of his mind in the offseason, McDonald will finally be a starter through his senior season.
He isn’t the dominant athlete that Tokoto is, but he makes up for that with his experience, shooting ability and smarts.
McDonald was off to a blistering start last season, burying 25-of-58 treys and scoring over 20 points twice. It was the Reggie Bullock and Leslie McDonald show behind the arc.
Then he was suspended for academics and tweaked his knee to boot. He was never the same after missing the next six games. McDonald was only able to muster double-digit points twice through the remainder of the season.
His three-point percentage also took a hit, as he was just 17-of-59 after coming back.
For now, McDonald is looked at as a one-dimensional player that usually offers some pop on the perimeter.
However, I do recall Bullock having the same stigma before he was forced into a starting role. Before you could blink, he turned himself into an elite on-ball defender and an extremely versatile weapon with his shooting, passing and rebounding abilities.
Make no mistake about it, McDonald has that same potential.
Hairston and McAdoo will also receive some extra pressure, as the Tar Heels won’t have a third proven scorer. But either Paige or McDonald could be that guy. And who knows what will happen at center with Joel James, Desmond Hubert, Kennedy Meeks, Brice Johnson and Isaiah Hicks in the mix.
Even with Wiggins, there would have been no guarantees. You never really know what a freshman will do when he hits the college hardwood for the first time. How many No. 1 overalls bring home a title their first year?
According to Scout.com’s rankings, Anthony Davis is the only one to bring home a title as a freshman since at least 2005.
Wiggins would have just made them favorites, alongside the Kentucky Wildcats and their loaded recruiting class. But being listed as a favorite means very little. If you recall, Kentucky and Indiana were both considered preseason favorites to cut down the nets in 2013.
Kentucky didn’t even make the tournament—and failed to get past Robert Morris in the first round of the NIT.
I’m not being delusional or downplaying Wiggins’ talent. The Tar Heels would have been better with him, and they certainly could have used the depth on the wing. There is no denying this.
That doesn’t mean today is Doomsday in Chapel Hill. Wiggins is most likely a one-and-done player, and now the Tar Heels have a chance to build for the future.
Perhaps in some strange, demented way, the program is better off without Andrew Wiggins. Unfortunately, we won’t know until we see the development of a handful of Tar Heels.
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Syracuse Basketball: 5 Early Storylines from Orange’s 2014 Recruiting Trail
The Syracuse Orange men’s basketball team will play its first year in the ACC without three of its four best players from last season.
Seniors Brandon Triche and James Southerland are moving on and hoping to get drafted and make a professional career out of basketball, and sophomore point guard Michael Carter-Williams is just waiting to see where in the NBA lottery he will be picked.
Only junior forward C.J. Fair, who was the Orange’s most consistent and arguably best player, remains from a team that made a Final Four run.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Syracuse head coach Jim Boeheim has been losing players for decades but has always found a way to keep the cupboard full, or at least he’s made the most out of what’s been in the cupboard. For the past few years, however, with each player lost, Syracuse has advanced farther in the NCAA tournament than the previous year.
It’s like the old adage, “Teach a man to coach and he’ll win today; teach a man to recruit and he’ll win for a lifetime.”
OK, I made that up, but it’s true.
At the close of the 2010-11 season, Syracuse lost to Marquette in the third round (formerly known as the second round). Following this disappointing loss, senior Rick Jackson departed, leaving the Orange to look for other leadership.
That leadership would come from a variety of players. Syracuse would put a team on the floor with extraordinary depth, led by Kris Joseph and Scoop Jardine and the best bench catalyst in the country, Dion Waiters.
Syracuse steamrolled through the season and even achieved a No. 1 ranking. The only blemish of the season came on the road against Notre Dame with Fab Melo being held out with academic problems, an issue that would surface again at the end of the season.
Syracuse seemed destined for a championship date with Kentucky, but a second Fab Melo suspension would force the Orange to make do without the Brazilian 7-footer and Syracuse fell to a strong Ohio State team, albeit in the Elite Eight, a marked improvement over the previous year.
Syracuse lost four players after that season—Waiters, Joseph and Melo to the draft and Jardine to graduation.
The next season would prove a little tougher with the experience lost, but Syracuse found a way to survive and thrive. The explosion of Carter-Williams, combined with the steadiness of Fair and the leadership of Triche and Southerland, Syracuse found itself among the nation’s elite.
The Orange struggled with consistency and settled for a No. 4 seed in the NCAA tournament, but the defensive intensity proved too much for most teams to handle and Syracuse played its way all the way to the Final Four before losing a heartbreaker to Michigan.
From that team, Carter-Williams, Triche and Southerland are all gone, but Jim Boeheim still has a few tricks up his sleeve.
Returning along with Fair are Rakeem Christmas, Baye Keita, DaJuan Coleman, Jerami Grant and Duke transfer Michael Gbinije, a big guard who should be a key contributor after sitting out a season. According to ESPN.com, these players will be backed up by the No. 6 recruiting class in the nation, which includes 5-star point guard Tyler Ennis, Tyler Roberson, B.J. Johnson, Ron Patterson and Chinonso Obokoh.
If Syracuse continues its tournament trend, a national final could be in store, but nothing is assured. The cupboard must be maintained and Jim Boeheim is already preparing for the season after next.
Let’s take a look into the future of Syracuse basketball and the players who will guide the Orange into the early years of ACC existence.
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Ohio State Basketball: 5 Early Storylines from Buckeyes’ 2014 Recruiting Trail
In today’s what-have-you-done-for-me-lately age of college basketball, it has seemed like a lifetime since Ohio State brought in a top-notch recruiting class.
In reality it has been since 2011 that Thad Matta brought in a top-10 class. The 2012 and 2013 groups featured only three combined players, which means the 2014 class will be particularly important for the future in Columbus.
Read on to see five early storylines when it comes to the Buckeyes’ recruiting efforts in trying to land the next scarlet-and-gray stars.
All recruiting rankings, scouting reports and lists of interested schools are courtesy of Scout.com.
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