i know you guys never want to hear Kevin Knox ever again, and the fact he chose Kentucky still stuns me. So I ask in terms of duke what is the biggest postitve or negative upset you guys ever had. For us negatively, it would of had to of been Allan Houston, hansborough, or Brandan wright. All 3 guys were at one time exoectednto go to uk. I'm not going to include bolden cause that was back and forth and was never a huge lean for either but team. What about positives/negatives for duke?
Biggest shocking recruiting upset ever for duke?
- Thread starter Wall2Boogie
- Start date
I aim to please my man. Just a question for the off season.
Thought for sure he was going to fla, with Lucas. Watching him do the gator chomp on flas bench against ky, cemented the idea he was fla bound. I never thought geography would play the deciding factor in his recruitment
Barnes was most shocking by far, but Knox is a definite second. Still don't get it, but it is what is and I really like what I see from Tucker. He will be around for more than one year, so maybe he is a blessing in disguise, and I will welcome him to Duke with open arms if he decides to come here!
Bill Bradley. He signed with Duke all the way through the summer before rethinking his future. He would have won Duke a title or two with Heyman and Mullins.
I was pleasantly surprised when we signed Carlos Boozer a couple days after the 99 NCAA Championship game. I thought for sure he was going to UCLA or St.John's.
Hahahaha Tony Parker! I was crushed when we didn't land him. I wonder how he's enjoying the Dleague.
Spot on hokie....Bradley, Heyman and Mullins would have won a couple nattys I do believe....
OFC
They would have only been teammates in 1963, but you gotta think that team easily could have won it all.
Thx for correction devz...Yeah I always imagined Bradley as the difference maker...
OFC
Year we missed on Mullen was also same year we narrowly missed on St John's big Bill Wennington and Indiana 7 footer Uve Blab.
OFC
Yeah I went to St. John's and always thought Boozer on that St. John's team could have won a title. But I like Duke more lol.
Boogie, let it go dude, Quit acting like you shocked the F%^&ing world with Knox, we don't care , seriously.
That is a great answer. Different sort of miss, but a big miss all the same.
Steve Nash. He reached out to Duke and wanted to play for Coach K but it didn't happen. He would have been the perfect fit following Bobby Hurley but there wasn't much out there on Steve coming from Canada I guess but he would have been the perfect Duke PG and would have probably helped win another Natty because I believe he would have been a Freshman during Grant Hills Senior year.
Nash was a freshmen at Santa Clara during Hurley's senior year, 1993. Never heard about Nash reaching out to Duke. That would have made our team much more competitive during the down years of 95 & 96, and certainly a bigger title threat in 1994.
I don't dwell on anyone we wanted but didn't get. I guess my biggest recruit disappointment is only seeing Irving play 8 games or whatever it was. Man, I would have loved to seen him for an entire season. I know that's not what asked, but that's the best I can answer it.
Harrison Barnes is probably the most memorable. At the time, it hurt like hell....but things turned out ok. Really, until UNC made the Final Four in 2016, the last bad thing to happen for us against UNC was the Barnes pick.
One that really stung at the time for those following recruiting back then, was the recruitment of Jon Brockman. When he shunned us for Washington it was a tough day. I thought he had Duke written all over him. He would have started four years at Duke and really changed the dynamic of those teams.
Others....
Patrick Patterson - just because we needed a big man in the worst way at the time
Greg Monroe - we were the perceived leader, he visits Georgetown and commits before he leaves
Brandan Wright - UK and Duke were widely considered the favorites, when he picked UNC after his visit there it even shocked them....I remember Lawson saying he never saw a guy less excited than Wright on a visit
Shaun Livingston - Losing Shaun to the draft and watching Luol leave after a year was like getting kicked in the nuts with steel toe boots....our 2005 team, despite losing those two, was still a 1-seed in the NCAAT....but we probably overachieved
One that really stung at the time for those following recruiting back then, was the recruitment of Jon Brockman. When he shunned us for Washington it was a tough day. I thought he had Duke written all over him. He would have started four years at Duke and really changed the dynamic of those teams.
Others....
Patrick Patterson - just because we needed a big man in the worst way at the time
Greg Monroe - we were the perceived leader, he visits Georgetown and commits before he leaves
Brandan Wright - UK and Duke were widely considered the favorites, when he picked UNC after his visit there it even shocked them....I remember Lawson saying he never saw a guy less excited than Wright on a visit
Shaun Livingston - Losing Shaun to the draft and watching Luol leave after a year was like getting kicked in the nuts with steel toe boots....our 2005 team, despite losing those two, was still a 1-seed in the NCAAT....but we probably overachieved
HB for sure and forever. I still can't say his name. Livingston was the timing of it. I still root for him though. The others seemed like a big deal at the time but we recovered.
What we've learned is that no one recruit is a program changer when you have a guy who has been successful for over 30 years. Knox will be forgotten by the time the season starts.
What we've learned is that no one recruit is a program changer when you have a guy who has been successful for over 30 years. Knox will be forgotten by the time the season starts.
Barnes is obvious.
And I know that I sound like (and am) a Duke homer, BUT I am surprised by every recruit that doesn't take a Duke scholarship. Not even lying.
And I know that I sound like (and am) a Duke homer, BUT I am surprised by every recruit that doesn't take a Duke scholarship. Not even lying.
I almost put Brockman down as a joke. Haha, but it really hurt when he spurned us for Washington. He would have been in with McRoberts and Paulus. He would have been an excellent addition. Not sure we would have won a title with him, but it would have been fun to see him in a Duke jersey. I always wondered though, if we landed him, would we have gotten Lance or Zoubs.
I don't exoect you to. I wasn't claiming we shocked the world as any uk fan will tell u they were just as shocked as everyone else. When you guys land duval you will be just as excited because the dudes a stud and there is really nobody else out there that can do for him what duke can. He's the real deal