Carmello says, Olympic..

Nothing like playing for your country

I think once Maggette, Brand and Will Avery all left early Coach K decided to start going after more nerdy white dudes with less talent that would stay 4 years. I think they might have actually been his first guys to leave early ever and I know for sure William Avery had pretty shitty academics and they made an exeption for him.

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Could you imagine if K had the opportunity to grab hold of NBA players in need of a reality check.

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People said the same thing about Saban.

Sean Dockery is the only player from a very bad background that immediately pops into my head. He was from the South Side of Chicago. Will Avery was from a pretty bad neighborhood as well, but he was from a pretty small town in Georgia.

A lot of the other players on the team come from pretty affluent backgrounds (Jay Wiliams, Nolan Smith, Dahntay Jones, Shane Battier, Jon Scheyer, Mike Dunleavy Jr. obviously, Trajan Langdon, etc.), while some other players aren't exactly affluent, but are certainly not from the ghetto either (Elton Brand, Daniel Ewing, and Chris Duhon).

As far as I can tell, the only recruit that they are actively pursuing from the '09 class is from a really bad background though (John Wall), and it will be interesting to see where he ends up going.

Also, while I think the '07 and '08 recruiting classes were hurt by K's time commitment to the Olympic Games, he will have a great recruiting tool over the next few years as he tries to bring blue chip players to Durham, especially because Kobe, LeBron, and Carmelo have all had extremely positive things to say about K (especially Kobe).

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Well wtf did he do w/ Kobe, Lebron etc that altered there lives so much?

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My guess is most of the emotion comes from the fact that they won.

coach k is the NBA prima donna whisperer

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coach k is the NBA prima donna whisperer

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I think once Maggette, Brand and Will Avery all left early Coach K decided to start going after more nerdy white dudes with less talent that would stay 4 years.

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This is such a misconception. I can't find any good information until 2002, but here are the players that K offered scholarships to since 2002, and their Rivals rankings.

2002
Shelden Williams (Number 3 power forward, this was before they ranked players in one big group, behind Sean May and Chris Bosh)
Sean Dockery (Number 9 point guard)
JJ Redick (Number 6 shooting guard, but you have a point about him being a 4-year player)
Michael Thompson (
Lee Melchionni (Okay, he is clearly a 4-year player, and he only got a scholly because of his father's connections to the program)
Shavlik Randolph (Number 7 Power Forward, rated much higher on other services, and was expected to stay no more than 2 years).
Michael Thompson (Number 6 center)

Unfortunately, I can't find the players who were offered, but didn't come.

2003
Luol Deng (Number 2 player in the entire country)
*LeBron James-Obviously no one expected him to come.
*Kris Humphries-Pussied out after committing and signed with Minnesota, number 15 player in the country
*Ndudi Ebi-Signed with Arizona, number 4 player in the country, declared for the NBA draft and now plays abroad.

2004
DeMarcus Nelson-Number 17 player in the country
David McClure-epitome of a 4 year player
*Shaun Livingston-Number 2 player in the country, almost came to Duke but declared for the NBA draft and became a top 5 pick
*Sasha Kaun-Number 34 player, went to Kansas

2005-this is the only year where the conventional wisdom holds true at all.

Josh McRoberts-Number 2 player in the country, expected to stay no more than 2 years.
Greg Paulus-Number 11 player in the country.
Pocius, Boateng, and Boykin were all players in the 3 or 4-year mold for sure, as were Jon Brockman (Washington) and Geoff McDermott (Providence), along with Hansbrough, who dropped Duke after McRoberts signed.

2006
Gerald Henderson-Number 11 player on Rivals
Lance Thomas-Number 42 player on Rivals, ranked higher on most other services, not expected to say four years
Brian Zoubek-Number 23 player on Rivals, but raw and from a wealthy background and expected to stay four years
Scheyer-Number 72 player on Rivals and from a wealthy background. Expected to stay for 4 years
*Brandan Wright-Number 1 player on Duke's board and was ranked Number 3 on Rivals. Obvious one and done

2007
Kyle Singler-Number 5 on Rivals in an extremely strong year. Expected to stay 1 or 2 years.
Nolan Smith-Number 39 on Rivals, but number 5 on EPSN. At the time he committed, certainly wasn't considered a 4-year lock.
Taylor King-Number 37 Player, probably the only guy in the class who was considered a 4-year player.
*Eric Gordon-Number 2 player in the country. Guaranteed one and done.
*Patrick Patterson-Probably the hardest recruited player by Duke in the past 5 years. Number 17 player in the country, expected to stay no more than 2 years.
*Kevin Love-Number 6 on Rivals. Expected to be one and done.
*Gani Lawal-Number 29 on Rivals and expected to stay 2-3 years max.
*Gary Johnson-signed with Texas. Number 61 player, probably the only 4-year player pursued other than Taylor King.

2008
Elliot Williams-Number 16 player on Rivals. Definitely not a 4-year lock.
Olek Czyz-Number 112 player on Rivals. Definitely a 4-year player. No idea why he got offered unless K is just a homer for Polish players.
Miles Plumlee-Definitely a 4-year player. Was only signed because he is a great student and has two younger brothers who are significantly better than he is.
*Greg Monroe-K's number one target for '08. Number 8 player on Rivals. Considered a lock for the 2009 Draft at the time.

2009
Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee definitely fit into your stereotype as both are excellent students from wealthy families who will stay for four years although both were ranked in the top 10 of ESPNU.

*John Wall-Number 1 player in the country. Guaranteed one and done.
*Kenny Boynton-He was the number one guy on K's list for sure, and was probably the biggest surprise non-commit to Duke since Patterson. Number 12 on Rivals, expected to stay one or 2 years.

2010
Duke has gotten three commitments, two from borderline 5-stars and one from a lower ranked player.

However, the only other players who have been offered scholarships are:

Josh Smith-Number 1 on Rivals
Brandon Knight-Number 2 though he is an excellent student at a top private school and may stay more than one year.
Harrison Barnes-Number 4, with the same circumstances.
Kyrie Irving-Number 27 on Rivals

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two from borderline 5-stars and one from a lower ranked player.

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THis is a first. Borderline 5! But I did see where he is trying to bring them in. He's missing big time though. And dont forget about the boost in rankings Duke commitments get.