What are the chances of John Wall going to UNC?

If he goes to tha tar heels, we shuld b a lock for another final 4 bid flatout!

I would say like a 1% chance that he goes to UNC since they’re not even recruiting him. They already have Strickland.

He’s not.

His final 2 choices are probably Kentucky and Duke.

More than likely, Wall is headed to Duke. Coach K even told Wall he’d use him the same way he used Jay Williams

John Wall is interested in UNC, but UNC is not.

UNC hasn’t offered Wall any sort of a guaranteed scholarship, while the 7 other schools on the list have.

John Wall will have to find a way to pay for his tuition at Chapel Hill then.

UNC has no Scholarships left to give out.

Wall grew up a Tar Heel fan and they did offer him a scholarship. But they offer Strickland a scholarship too and he accepted so UNC stopped approaching Wall…

I highly doubt Wall will a Tar Heel next year…he wants to be the MAN and I don’t see sharing shots with Strickland and Henson.

What person would give up a full scholarship in a recession? =]

Wall considered Memphis because of Cal’s dribble-drive offense. But after visiting Duke he realized that Coach K and Coach Cal run almost the exact same offense. Look at Jay Williams freshman year numbers compared to Derrick Rose…

Jay Williams
14.5 points per game, 6.5 assists per game, 4.2 rebounds per game, 2.4 steals per game, and 34 minutes a game

Derrick Rose
14.9 points per game, 4.7 assists per game, 4.5 rebounds per game, 1.2 steals per game, and 29 minutes a game

Very similar stats as you can see. Duke has no point guards on their roster so I can easily see him putting similar if not better stats than Williams.

They will have enough scholarships. 4 graduating senior, plus Ty Lawson, plus either Wayne Ellington or suspended Will Graves doesnt return, and we have 6 scholarships available. The class now has 5, and is ranked by all sources the number one class in the country already. I have a feeling Wall and UNC were both trying to be low key and wait till the scholarship and new team situation played out. He would be in a perfect position for himself at Carolina, and he knows it. He could be the face of a team that will return alot of talent, unbelievable size and depth, and bring a whole different squad to a title. He could then be the number 1 pick or top 3, with the Carolina brand name and early connections to Jordan, with the pedigree of classy players from the school to quiet concerns about his character. UNC can give him things Duke can’t, and it appears he wouldn’t have to sacrifice much in the interest of shine or playing time to get it.

Wall will not be a TarHeel for many reasons, but the biggest reason is Wall is playing college basketball for one year. So UNC is out no scholarships and Duke is probably out because unless Coach K has changed his mind on recruits. And Baylor is another team he is considering AAU teamate is going their and their up tempo style will fit his game.

He will either go to Baylor or Duke, he has a chance to be the best point guard in the nation and going to either Baylor or Duke (both super duper guard oriented teams) wouldnt hurt that expectation.

Wall’s smartest options are to go to a school that gets as many games televised as possible. That comes down to Duke and UNC. Both teams need a PG (Strickland is more of a SG/combo) and both teams get tons of games televised. Both schools are close to his ailing mother.

Remember, when UNC says “they aren’t recruiting him” they are clearly blowing smoke. If they weren’t interested, why did Roy Williams call him?

I’d say Duke makes the most sense (although I am biased). UNC will lose Hansbrough, Lawson, and probably Ellington (maybe even Green) and they will not be nearly as competitive next year (rebuilding year). Duke might lose Henderson, might not, but everyone else will return. Wall would make Duke Final 4 ready and going deep into the tournament equates to a high draft selection.

John Wall will be in Chapel Hill next year….John Wall excels in an uptempo type of system and what better team does it better than Carolina..either way we will be good with him or without him, plus Larry Drew is better served as a backup rather than a starter…

UNC won’t have anything close to a final four team next year UNLESS they get Wall. Then maybe.

Remember, Strickland/Wall/Drew/Wears/Henson/Zeller are all unproven. High recruits yes, but they have done nothing at the college level. Zeller hardly played and didn’t do anything spectacular in the time he did play. Drew was pretty unimpressive because he was so far back on the depth chart. That team will have zero experience. The Davis and Thompson combo will be solid, but they won’t come close to a final four when they lose 4 out of the starting 5…not sure how you can mitigate that kind of a loss.

And has anyone figured out UNC’s scholarship situation?

-Davis
-Zeller
-Henson
-Wear1
-Wear2
-Strickland
-DrewIII
-Ginyard
-Thompson

who else do they on scholarship…aren’t they full? They can’t rescind another player’s scholarship to give it to Wall, so if they are full, Wall ain’t going to chapel hill.

I have a source close to the situation. Wall’s AAU coach does not want him to go to UNC. (His brother didn’t get an offer from UNC, and UNC passed on Eric Wallace, leaving Coach Clifton with a bitter attitude towards UNC) He was trying to steer him to Baylor where Wall’s AAU coach’s brother got hired at. They compromised with Memphis. It was pretty much set he was going to Memphis, then the coaching change happened. He visited Duke and came back underwhelmed, called up Roy Williams and Roy returned his call.

And UNC does have a scholly to give him. If anyone thinks that Ty Lawson is staying they are dreaming he is gone.

Whether or not Wall is willing to seperate himself from his AAU coach will dictate whether or not he will get the UNC offer. Their is a mutual interest. UNC loves Wall and Wall loves UNC.

After Lawson declares for the draft, it will be interesting to see how this development goes down.

Wall would thrive at UNC in their up and down tempo also, may give UNC 3 top 5 picks next season in Henson, Davis and Wall.

Also midnightrider, teams are allowed to have 13 scholarship players next season UNC will have Ellington (maybe), Drew, Wear1, Wear2, Henson, McDonald, Strickland, Graves (if he is there), Watts, Ginyard, Thompson, Zeller. Gives UNC 1 scholly to offer.

Coach K blows another potential program changing recruiting move. How am I not surprised.

midnightrider, I wouldn’t put Duke out of the discussion yet. Kentucky has an outside shot, but I hear he also wants to stay in state real bad…If Wall can’t rid himself of his AAU coach, Duke is a real possibility.

But your sources sound pretty knowledgeable and things like “underwhelmed by duke” and “heir is a mutual interest. UNC loves Wall and Wall loves UNC” doesn’t leave me too happy. Great post though, pretty informative.

Actually, from what I heard, Wall grew up a huge Tar Heel fan and of course was really considering going there. UNC offered Strickland and Wall scholarships but after Strickland accepted they stop recruiting Wall. Then Wall was set to go to Memphis but then Cal left for Kentucky. Wall really had no intentions of going to Duke because of rumors that Coach K holds back college players. After Wall’s visit to Duke, he was completely blown away and so now he’s torn. He grew up a huge Tar Heel but now there’s a possibility that he might play for their archrival (I compare it to Paul Pierce playing for the Celtics yet growing up being a Lakers fan). As far as the phone call to Roy…Roy is a great communicator and he’s probably been a mentor to him throughout the whole time. I kind of would be surprised if Wall ends up at UNC since they offeried scholarships to Strickland, Mcdonald, Henson, and the Wear Twins but it does make sense. Strickland and Mcdonald are both shooting guards and Drew’s a one who’ll be backup Wall for the one year he’s in school…

As far as Coach K losing his recruiting touch…you can’t be more wrong. He locked up Curry the same night he visited as well as Andre Dawkins, Tyler Thornton, and Joshua Hariston from the 2010 class. He also might wind up with Harrison Barnes and Brandon Knight, both top 5 players from the 2010 class.

I know about the guys he has coming and they look good…but he blew Monroe last year, Boynton this year (we had been recruiting him for years), Patterson…all studs. Not to mention, he offered a scholarship to Brian Zoobek, who has the athletic ability of a two legged turtle. In recent years, K has been pretty miserable at recruiting—I say this by holding him to a “Final Four” standard.

Yeah he’s lost out on Monroe, Boynton, Patterson, Brandon Wright, and Eric Gordon but he also stole Gerald Henderson from Nova and Elliot Williams from Tennessee. He also got Dawkins and Hairiston from Georgetown…as well as Barnes who might choose Duke over Iowa State and Knight who might choose Duke over Florida. Recruiting is a crapshoot. What killed Coach K was the 2005 draft class…which wind up being one of the worst high school classes ever. Mcroberts was the number 2 overall prospect behind Gerald Green and Paulus was the number one point guard. from that class. Is that Coach K’s fault that they both wound up being busts???? Meanwhile UNC’s 2006 steller class had Lawson (#1 pg), Ellington (#1 sg), and Brendon Wright (#2 forward, #3 overall). Zoubek was the number overall 3 center in 2006…again how is that Coach K’s fault that all three became three of Coach K’s biggest busts ever? I see it as bad luck more than anything else. Every school goes through their up and down moments…UNC went 8-20 in 2002 and 17-15 in 2003…now they’re at the top of the mountain. What if the Wear twins, Strickland, and Drew don’t pan out? Then UNC might struggle over the next couple of years….that’s how much of a crap shoot recruiting is.

aio, you may be right I am just letting you all know what I heard from my source. So many people are saying different things that I know have sources close to John so it’s pretty much a crapshoot to know whats really going on.

If I am putting the pieces together to the puzzle though IMHO they stopped recruiting Wall for a bit because Clifton was trying his hardest to steer Wall away from UNC.

In fact I remember shortly after Strickland commited to UNC he stated that UNC was going to offer Wall next and obviously that never happened.

I think we will find out after Lawson declares for the draft just how serious Wall to UNC could be.

For what it’s worth, I just can’t imagine him playing at UNC or Duke. He tends to let his emotions get the best of him a bit and I don’t think Roy or K would react well to it. By all indications though he is a good kid off the court, just lets his emotions get the best of him.

Yeah, McRoberts/Paulus/Zoobek were highly touted…but they are all slow. Like, really, really slow. So yeah, people saw upside in them, but K did opt to recruit the slow, unathletic players.

And the examples I was using (Monroe/Patterson/Boynton) were guys we HIGHLY recruited and everyone knew it. True, we did steal Henderson and Williams, but by comparison Duke wanted Monroe and company more.

In the continuing saga of John Wall, NCBaller, what do you think about him going to NC State? Not a highly touted program, but in the ACC, will get TV time, close to his mother, and he will be so much better than everyone else that he will OWN that crappy little team. I think they could be a dark-horse.

Honestly, all this speculation is just going to give me an ulcer…I may as well just worry about it after everyone picks a school. Every program and recruit lies through their teeth about recruiting…its just a mess.

I have a wierd feeling that Carolina is just gonna keep winning. Ellington will leave and land late first round, which for all the outsiders, opens up the 6th spot that would be John Walls if he were to pick them, of course assuming that either Ty Lawson or Ed Davis leaves, which is almost a certainty. Roy will show up at Wall’s door Wednesday Afternoon, after a National championship, just like he did with Lawson, which is when he says that he decided upon Carolina. Roy said he was going recruiting wednesday in the press conference. Who else would he see? Wall could come in and play the point from day 1, follow in the trails of Felton and Lawson, who got into the Lottery with NC’s and half the measurables as Wall. He would also remove the bad kid reputation from his back, and be on the fast track to that Jordan endorsement money as the number 1 pick, and very likely a deep tourney run. It’s perfect, he would start no problem over Larry Drew at point, the Dexter Strickland thing isn’t because they play the same position, they just didnt have scholarships at the time and wanted to wait. Wall planned to wait too, so they both could see how it plays out. It works for him moreso than any other school, because he can get everything he wants and not look like he was bieng selfish. At Duke, especially if Henderson returns, he would have to share the ball with Seniors and Draft Hungry Scheyer and Henderson, as well as Singler, as well as Elliot Williams and Nolan Smith, Coach K benched Elliot Williams most of the year in favor of the horrible Paulus out of Senior Loyalty. Think Wall takes that chance, given all that proven depth ahead of him? Duke fans are in trouble, i really think its Kentucky and Carolina at this point competing for Wall.

John Wall, Xavier Henry and DeMarcus Cousins goes to Kentucky and starting five looks like:
1. John Wall
2. Jodie Meeks
3. Xavier Henry
4. Pat Patterson( if he stay)
5. DeMarcus Cousins
it’s only my dreams but i think this is possible

John Wall, Xavier Henry and DeMarcus Cousins goes to Kentucky and starting five looks like:
1. John Wall
2. Jodie Meeks
3. Xavier Henry
4. Pat Patterson( if he stay)
5. DeMarcus Cousins
it’s only my dreams but i think this is possible

Wall is not going to UNC. 4wat? there is nothing about unc that would make him go there. 1st off UNC has a great up and coming sophmore pg in larry drew. then dex strickland is coming in. they got pg’s

Wall doesn’t even fit the typical Roy Williams pg…he likes smart decision makers who push tempo and who gets everyone involved…like a Jacque Vaughn, Aaron Miles, and of course the great Ty Lawson. It normally takes 2-3 for a pg to master his system…I don’t see Wall thriving in it in the first year…If he stayed an extra year, then I can see him excel but by then he’ll be off to the NBA…if he does go to UNC, Roy would have to tinker the offfense a litlle bit.

I disagree completely about Wall not fitting in at UNC. He thrives in an uptempo game. UNC’s fastbreaking offense is perfect for a PG with Walls tools. Rewatch the Hoop Summit game and tell me he wouldn’t thrive at UNC he had 11 assists and started the break to perfection. The only thing that wouldn’t fit in at UNC is his tendency to let his emotions get the best of him, but he looked very composed and incontrol of his emotions during the Hoop Summit game, it looks like he matured in that department since I last saw him play.

Strickland was recruited to play SG first and get some minutes at PG which leaves UNC with one true PG in Larry Drew. Larry Drew could be good or not so good. He is really unproven and was incredibly inconsistant his freshman season.

wall going to duke will be his biggest mistake. Coach K will turn wall into a weaker player. I tend to feel that players of duke’s don’t turn into agressive monstrous players, a type that I think John Wall should become. John Wall should go to Kentucky.

Btw, just look at Duke’s recruiting class and see how they turned out. If you think Duke developed players from nothing, you’re mistaken. They go in projected as high draft picks already and simply come out at around the same caliber.

fastfingers…Duke has more NBA players than any other school…what’s your explanation for that? Calipari did a terrible job with Darius Washington and Dajuan Wagner…where are they right now??? Really how many quality players in the NBA has Calipari produced besides Marcus Camby and Derrick Rose? Answer: NOBODY.

As far as John Wall…he would be an excellent fit for UNC…ncballer you’re right. Whichever team he chooses to play for (UNC or Duke) will be contending for a championship.

UNC fan….I’m pretty sure his favorite school is UNC…but keep in mind MJ”s favorite team growing up was NC State and he idolized David Thompson but he chose UNC because of Dean Smith. And I believe Chris Paul’s favorite team growing up was UNC…they already had Felton so he chose Wake.

After looking at some game film on Wall, I think he’s just as good at 2, verses being at 1. I would not be suprise to a starting line up on the floor similar to this for UNC

1 Drew- He will have a great off-season, he’s hungry. He’ll be one of the best defenders in the ACC next year.
2 Wall- after watching game film on him, i would compare him to a young Derrick Rose at PG, and a young Dwayne Wade at SG. He’ll be a top 5 pick next year. Also I was extremly impressed with the way this kid plays Defense. This kid gives 110 percent on the defensive end of the floor.
3 Ginyard- He’ll be the emotional and vocal leader of the tarheels next year. He’ll ready to lead this young bunch to back to back NCAA titles.
4 Thompson- Look for him to be a very important piece of UNC back to back title run. If averages 15 and 8 UNC will cut the nets down again.
5. Davis He will be the go to guy next year in the paint, Davis posted 11 and 8 in 14 mintues of action in the championship game. He just announced that he’ll be back for the 09-10 season. Look for him to put up 20 and 10. He ‘ll be a top 5 pick next year.

Key Reserves

Tyler Zeller- Look for him to gain weight in the off seson, and be a very important part of UNC title run in 09-10.
Mcdonald- Very impressive athlete. After wacthin game fil on him, he reminds me of Ginyard, but he’s a little bit more polished on the offensive end of the court. He’s a very unselfish player.
Strickland- Very polished on the offensive side of the floor, streaky three point shooter, with a very soft touch on his shots.
Graves- Look for Graves to drop weight and get around the 225-230 weight range. He’s a very good athlete, who is probably the best three point shooter on the team.
Henson- 6’11 athlete who runs the floor and has a nice perimeter game. He will need to gain 20 to 30 lbs before November. But UNC has one of the bease weight and conditioning programs in America. He could be one of the top Freshman in America next year. With his height and ability to play on the perimeter, Henson is a potential lottery pick, even after his freshman year.
Weir twins- With their height and ability to shoot jumpers, the two twins could help UNC to several NCAA champioships over their 4 to 5 year careers. Both, more than likely will be 4 to 5 year players at UNC, and both may redshirt this year, when you take into account the tarheels depth.

By March 2010 this will be one of Roy’s best defensive teams, he has ever had. I think this team will shock alot of people this year. They will be one of the deepest teams in America. I think Drew and Thompson will take their games to another level, and if they do so don’t be suprised if you see UNC ranked in the top 3 next year in January.

I really like Ed Davis but 20 and 10 is a bit much and Wall, I just don’t seem him playing the 2 in college.

UNC fan: I don’t see how you didn’t start Henson -_-

I’d be more like this:

PG: John Wall / Larry Drew
SG: Marcus Ginyard / Dexter Strickland
SF: John Henson / Leslie McDonald / Will Graves
PF: Deon Thompson / Travis Wear / David Wear
C: Ed Davis / Tyler Zeller

If UNC gets Wall, we’re looking at a 12-deep team

Also, I’m a UNC fan myself, but saying Roy Williams will have a great defensive team in the future is a total oxymoron.

D7H7N, you do realize that team has some VERY gifted defenders don’t you? Wall, Drew, Ginyard, Strickland, McDonald, Henson, and Davis all LOVE to get after it defensively.

I am with you that Roy’s defensive coaching is suspect at times. (UNC’s defense in the tourney was outstanding though), but with 7 guys that love to defend I think UNC can’t help but be an excellent defensive team next season.

As for the lineup I believe will get most of the minutes (not necessarily start):

PG Drew (Wall isn’t going to UNC yet, although I believe UNC is the leader)
SG Strickland
SF Ginyard
PF Henson
C Davis

Sub in Wall for Drew if Wall ends up at UNC.

I really don’t think Wall is going to UNC…it’s either Duke or Kentucky:

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/luke_winn/04/16/wall/index.html

This thing is far from over. I remember a certain recruit who added Duke to his list WAY late in the game and is going to be playing at Duke. His name you ask? Ryan Kelly.

Seems like Clifton is doing everything in his power to keep him from UNC isn’t he? IMHO that speaks volumes about Wall’s interest in UNC. They are the leader. Doesn’t mean this is over by any means however.

Well apparently my source was a little off base. Apparently I am wrong:

http://www.zagsblog.com/2009/04/16/wall-not-thinking-nba-will-narrow-list-next-week/#more-15024

Seems like a longshot. Congrats to Duke or UK on getting this talent!

That’s funny, because Wall had UNC on his list during the Nike Hoop Summit. During a interview he had mentioned Carolina.

Clifton has huge problems with Wall going to UNC for two reasons. 1st reason: Roy Williams did something to Clifton personally for him to have no respect for him. 2nd and probably most important…they want Wall to be in the league as quickly as possible so they want him to be in a position where’ he’s on the fast track to make it to the NBA….and let’s be honest: Coach Calipari has a strong recent history of getting one and done point guards to the NBAs. And if he’s at UNC, you know Wall could be spending his whole first season slowing learning Roy W’s system….learning how to spread the ball around on offense…you know learning how to dump the ball inside to Thompson and Davis and then swinging it around to wing players, etc. By his sophomore year, he’s almost as a grasp of it but right before he’s ready to go to the NBA, Roy W convinces him to come back to school more year since he’s not “ready” for NBA…then by his junior year, he’ll be a lottery pick…that’s not what Clifton and Wall want. The same can be said for Coach K. It’s neither right or wrong…really that’s how he feels and it’s not changing.

Bottom line is Wall would be a top 3 pick in the draft regardless of where he goes whether it’s UNC, Duke, KY, or Joe’s Blow’s community college. The Cliftons are really in control and at the mercy of these college coaches.

1st. Roy did nothing to Clifton personally. Clifton has a riff with UNC because they didn’t offer his brother D’won. (back in 2000 Roy wasn’t coaching)
2nd. Clifton has a riff with Roy because Roy pulled his offer to Eric Wallace after his basketball skill did not catch up with is freak athleticism.

I disagree with your statement about Wall learning the offense and him being convinced to stay another year. Wall runs pretty much the same offense at WOG. WOG’s coach is a UNC grad. The coach patterns their offense off of UNC’s. Roy also told Brandan Wright and Marvin Williams to go pro when it was obvious that they are top 10 picks even though it was obvious neither were ready for the jump. If you are a top 10 pick Roy will tell you “you are crazy to stay”. I remember when he was recruiting Dwight Howard, Howard quoted Roy saying “Son, if you are crazy enough to go to college we would love you at UNC.”

Bottom line: Wall will have to learn the offense wherever he goes. But no decent coach will tell him to stay after his freshman season if he is still a lottery pick.

I just don’t get it with Clifton. I think he should bury the hatchet because IMHO, Wall fits at UNC the best. Despite Wall’s love for UNC, I don’t think it will happen anymore. Clifton is trying his hardest to steer him away and Clifton is like a father to Wall.

IMHO, his best fit is Duke especially with the pieces coming back next year (Henderson (maybe), Williams, Singler). He’ll have more weapons at his disposal. Coach K will spread the ball out by putting all his wing players on the perimeter thus allowing Wall to attack the rim…it’s really a match made in heaven IMHO. When K had playmakers at the point position (Avery, Williams, Duhon) in the late 90’s/early 00’s, Duke was averaging 90+ points a game. I’ve heard too he’s an excellent defensive point guard…Coach K loves hard-nosed defense players. It’s a no-brainer.

D7H7N…Jason Williams was the number two overall pick!!! What are you talking about? He’ll have Henderson and Williams…LOLOLOL! Wall, Henderson, Williams would be on ESPN top 10 plays every night…LOLOL!

BTW…Coach K has been talking to Clifton and Wall all year.

if you read the article John says he will have it down to 3 or 4 schools sometime next week more than likely its UK, Duke, NC State and Baylor being the long shot he said UNC is not really on his list hopefully he picks Duke and Henderson comes back to win Coach K is 4th title

Henderson is not gonna be back aio. Wall would be playing wtih 2 other potential top 5 picks in Henson and Davis if he went to UNC. I fail to see how Duke is much better with their weapons of attacks.

Anyway this seems like a moot point with all the info that is coming out.

ncballer….Can I get a link on Henderson going pro or is that one of your sources again…

UNC loses their top 4 scorers this year. When was the last time a team contended after losing their top 4 players….it’s NEVER happened before.

With Ryan Kelly and Pumlee coming IN, Wall should look at that and join Duke!!

Were 1 PG away from a Final 4

aio, no sources just a guess if you are top 10 IMHO you should go.

Matrix very good points indeed. Although I disagree about Lawson IMHO he will be much better than Felton. I have no doubt that Wall will be awesome wherever he goes, but IMHO at UNC is where is he would be awesome. Roy Williams wouldn’t necessarily have to develop him seeing as he has never had a PG with his ability before.

Qhaynes, Kelly is an awesome player you guys will love him at Duke he is a less polished Singler right now, but he has the potential to get there. I was p!ssed when I saw you guys got him. Plumlee has all the tools to be elite, but IMHO he hasn’t put them all together yet. I wouldn’t expect him right away to be Duke’s answer down low, but over time should develop into a star. If Duke gets Wall (which looks like a possibility) and Henderson returns (he would be crazy not to go in the draft though) Duke should be a final four team.

Matrix, you can’t really speak about how mediocre some of Roy William’s PGs have been in the NBA if you’re gonna try to point out Bobby Hurley or Jay Williams.

Matrix, Hurley sure did take it to King Rice everytime in 5 on 5. 🙂

Just playing around, but I hate debates like these because we will never know. I do think it is safe to say Jay-Will would still be in the league had it not been for his injuries.

Felton is one of the fastest players in the league who handles in the open court with the best of them.

But it doesn’t matter because the Bobcats play at a snail pace and ask Felton to run the point with no back up for three years AND pull time at shooting guard. He’s another case of a good player being stuck in a bad situation.

1st – John Wall would be dynamite in UNC’s system and he knows it. You pair him with D. Strickland, J.Henson, L.Drew, M.Ginyard, and L.McDonald next year and with D.Thompson, E.Davis and the Wear Twins…..this roster looks deep and talented again. I’m not saying we are going to compete for a National Championship but we will be quite competetive and exciting to watch. I saw Wall play in the Jordan Classic. He has the second gear that the elite players have and he would be a great replacement for Ty Lawson (who would be insane not to leave now, if he stays I would be elated and surprised).

2nd – Roy does put out solid point guards. They may not be superstars at the next level but they are solid contributors. Now in defense of Duke, Jay Williams was one of the most dominant players I ever say at the college level. I hated having to watch him shred UNC on a yearly basis. But I think Roy has produced more quality point guards that have produced at both levels. Hinrich and Vaughn may not be stars but they are going to have long careers. Felton is just on the wrong team right now. I’d love to see him in Golden State, Phoenix….man he would be awesome with the Knicks too. I don’t care what anyone says about Lawson he is going to play in the NBA and be a better pro then Felton. Not to discount Duke, but Roy does produce solid point guards.

3rd – Henderson is as good as gone. I don’t think Duke will be able to win a National Championship next year. Wake will be better, Michigan State will be solid, UNC will be tough to beat as well, Kentucky will be better, Kansas is going to be scary with Collins and Aldrich as well as Xavier Henry possbily comign to Lawrence, and Texas is going to dynamite. I don’t think Henderson’s stock is going to get any higher and that makes that team less likely to compete next year.

I still thinik Wall may end up choosing UK but you can’t discount the fact that he put UNC back on the list now, despite the fact of Clifton. Clifton may have beef, but Wall knows what system would be best for him to showcase his talent for the next level and he also knows that he would be able to star on the perimete for UNC next year. I would say before it’s all over, he will choose from UNC and UK.

matrix, I completely agree with you. Teams that repeat normally have their entire lineups come back from the previous season (Florida and Duke). If Lawson and Ellington go pro, UNC would lose their top 4 scorers. Rarely do teams contend for the title after losing that much experience in one year. Also, teams that compete for the title have at least one shooter that can stretch the defense. Green and Ellington were both long range bombers and Lawson shot over 45% from threes. Chalmers shot 48% from threes and Rush shot 43%. Humphrey and Green of Florida both shot over 40% from threes. Felton and Mccants both shot over 40%. Uconn had Ben Gordon and Rashad Anderson. Maryland had Juan Dixon. Duke had Williams, Battier, and Dunleavy. UNC of 2009 with a lineup of Wall/Ginyard/Henson/Thompson/Davis would be one of the worst shooting lineups ever for a national title team.

Matrix, how Thompson gets the minutes he does is beyond me. He has all the ability in the world and the tools to dominate the college level, but shies away from contact and gets bullied around in the low post.

I for one am VERY impressed with Dexter Strickland. The only thing he lacks is a meanstreak. He plays great defense, is a freak athlete, and a very smart basketball player. In terms of style of play, I think of Russel Westbrook. I saw Strickland play twice this season and he may not have dominated the game scoring (his HS team is LOADED) but he dominated the game in other ways. Obviously he hasn’t proven it on the college level, but at St. Patricks he faced HS’s best very night.

The Wear twins are enigma to me. I read reports of them outplaying Henson and Tristan Thompson then when I see them on TV I come away unimpressed. I doubt they will see much time with UNC’s frontline.

The thing that next years UNC team will have (with or without John Wall) is a team full of guys who love to get after it defensively. Drew, Strickland, McDonald, Ginyard, Henson, and Davis. While they won’t be as potent offensively as they were this season or have the shooters, I believe Roy will have at least 6 guys who pride themselves on defense and that they could potentially surprise people in March. Again I am assuming a lot of things haha. But looking at this team on paper I believe there is a lot more raw talent on that team than UNC’s 2006 team that started Frasor, Miller, Terry, Noel and a freshman Hansbrough.

Under my first point I said I DON’T think that UNC will compete for a national championship with or without wall. Duke is going to be alright. I’m not saying they are going to have a bad team by any means. But Singler is a SF not a PF, Zoubek has never been consistent. I’m not sold on Scheyer as a point guard. He’s a poor man’s Redick but he doesn’t offer more than a spot up shooter and he’s hasn’t been too consistent either. If Duke were able to add John Wall I think that they would considerably better just not National Championship material.

UNC is better than you are giving them credit for. Thompson has had to live in the shadow of Hansbrough and I think that he will be a solid player next year. Henson is a lot like Brandon Wright a few years ago. I feel like he is slightly more skilled than Wright was though. The Wear twins aren’t going to be superstars but they will be solid players. They will get after it on the boards and defensively. That provides more depth and size. Davis is going to be a solid player as well. He put up solid numbers while not even getting a lot of minutes. UNC with those guys on the inside will actually be bigger than Duke to tell the truth. Drew also is solid, once again not a superstar but he has good speed (not at Lawson level), plays solid defense and is a pass first point guard. I don’t know why you don’t like Strickland. He’s got great athleticism, is a slasher and can be either guard position. He’ll make an immediate impact.

UNC will win the ACC regular season or the tournament. One of the two. They will be too talented not to. Wake will start hot and fade away, same with Clemson And duke will choke like always. Larry Drew is ALOT better than people give him credit. Yeah he didn’t look too good out there, but what do you expect from a Freshman on a National Championship team. The guy knows how to get in the lane and dish. Strickland is a freak. Can handle, d it up and stroke the 3’s. John Henson has been labeled as the next KG, except for the fact he handles the ball like a guard. Ed Davis will average about 15 points and 12 rebounds a game, along with about 3 blocks. The wear’s will come off the bench and score here and there. Deon Thompson will average 10-15 ppg. Leslie Mcdonald will hit the occasional 3 pointer. And you guys are forgetting about Zeller. In his first 2 games he was averagin 10 points per game. Yeah he looked crappy those last games he got in, but the guy was out 20 games what do you expect. He’s skinny, yes but he’s got range out to 15 feet. UNC will be DEEP.

Matrix you have’nt written one objective post yet, but you jump on anyone with a pro-carolina post. Just say that your a duke fan and you dont like carolina and stop FRONTIN’. You lost it when you threw Hurley and his NBA career out there. He was about as one dimensional as you could get as a point guard with his only quality being his ability to push the ball on the break. He had no jumper, could not finish and was to weak to play good NBA D and this was PRE-ACCIDENT. Mind you that’s not my oppinion that’s what was written about him in one of those basketball scouting report magazines some years back (i collect them).

IN A NUTSHELL its obvious your suffering from “post carolina national champions syndrome”, something I heard most of you Duke fans suffer from when carolina wins the big one. Hey dude just take a couple of motrin and at least wait until the NFL playoffs before you start annointing Duke the 2010 NCAA champions…….Hurts like a Biatch dont it…HAHAHAHA

Your an idiot. How is it dumb to think Davis will score 15, Thompson 10-15 and Zeller 10? And second of all. Who the hell cares how many regular season and acc tournament wins the have. That doesn’t mean jack. Two National Titles in 5 years. But, i guess you have something to look forward to, Duke made it at least past the second round!! your boys are showing promise!!

Duke dont believe me look it up. I have to agree with matrix i think unc fans are just scared that DUKE might have a championship team, unc is rebuilding face it, i think they will be a top 20 team but with out a proven shooter considering lawson and ellington are gone and there going to be young they are not final 4 worthy. So stop drinking the KOOL-AID

Hm… getting to the final four last year was choking?? Yeah they lost, they weren’t the best team. Kansas had an NBA team. What has Duke done? nothing. THEY LOSE in the tournament. THEY NEED ATHLETES, NOT MATHLETES!

^^ Duke’s won more games this decade than any other school for any decade ever.

Regular season means nothing. I bet they are in the bottom 1/4th in the nation in tournament wins this decade.

LOLLOLOL….how does a team that’s been to two final fours and won one title be in the bottom 1/4 in tournament wins…BTW, they’ve NEVER missed the tournament.

tarheel fans i know that is a painful memory. And congrats to Roy finally won a championship. If u are wondering i dont count the 05 championship since the starting 5 was Doherty players. 15 years at Kansas still couldnt do it. 6 years at UNC finally

Anyway, we all need to just give it a rest. Enough is enough. This post is supposed to be about John Wall and not who is better between UNC and Duke so we might as well stop arguing and get back on topic.

I can p!ss longer than you can…

I agree….let’s give his thread a rest until John Wall picks his school.

BTW, ncballer, I doubt you can p!ss longer than me.

http://blogs.newsobserver.com/prepsnow/wall-recruitment-takes-a-new-twist

Now he’s visiting NC CENTRAL?!?! You have GOT to be kidding me.

At this point, I can’t figure out if Wall just loves the attention, if he’s stalling, or if he really doesn’t know where he wants to go to college.

If I had to guess, though, I’d say it’s because he’s stalling. I say this because, let’s be honest, there are only a handful of schools that he has any business going to, and all but one of them has already offered him a scholarship. If he REALLY wanted to go to any of them, he could trim his list to the legit contenders and go from there.

But let’s say you’re John Wall, and everyone in the world is pressuring you to make a decision, but the one school that you REALLY want to go to hasn’t offered you a scholarship yet. What do you do? You can’t trim your list to ONLY those legit schools that have offered, because that makes it look like you don’t want to go to UNC. And you can’t trim your list to just those schools plus UNC, because that’s basically begging (and god knows this kid’s scumbag handlers are forbidding him to beg UNC for anything).

So you keep your recruitment open, and you send every signal you can that you’re happy to entertain new offers. And you just hope that UNC offers you a scholarship sometime before you have to make a decision.

I know what everyone is thinking – John Wall is the best PG in the country, shouldn’t UNC be begging him and not the other way around? Ordinarily, I’d agree. The scholarship has been available to offer for a week now, so Roy must be skeptical of something about this kid. And yet Wall is still stalling…. and not only is he stalling, but he’s made some statements that appear to be specifically targeted at the types of things Roy would be skeptical about. Earlier in the week Wall was saying he might want to go to college for 2-3 years; now he’s talking about seeing a school because he wants to know what the “college experience” will be like there… If you’re John Wall and you think Roy Williams is holding out on a scholarship offer because he’s concerned about your character, aren’t these exactly the kinds of signals you’d be trying to send him?

Seriously – how many times has this kid said he’s gonna trim his list? And how many times has he delayed it? You don’t keep delaying unless you want somebody else to be on that list before it gets cut. And there’s only one school on the planet that John Wall could POSSIBLY by waiting for.

And oh by the way – if Roy Williams wasn’t interested, he could end the whole thing right now by saying that he’s done recruiting for 2009. But he hasn’t done it. He keeps saying “we’ll see, we’ll see…”

Long story short – John Wall is stalling because he wants very badly to go to UNC.

Baylor would be a great choice for him, since the coach is guard orientated, and PG Curtis Jerrells in leaving for the NBA draft.

But definetly not Duke, duke blows…

tkd720…Alot of black Duke students go to Central to party and vice versa: alot of Central students come to Duke to party too. This visit, IMHO, favors Duke and not UNC.

Seriously dude, where were you at. Jason Williams was GOING TO BE GREAT. It was no secret he clashed with his NBA coach Bill Cartwright, Bill wanted a traditional point, and held Jason on a leash. Jason still managed to have a few great games while a Bull (before an injury, where they weren’t even sure if he would walk again), check his triple double on Jason Kidd (then top point in the league) http://www.highbeam.com/doc/1P2-1463913.html .

On topic, John Walls potential WILL NOT be affected by where he plays. These back and forth comments are ridiculous about how this school will or will not help. Do any you honestly believe Memphis did SH*T for D Rose? In reality Baylor or Duke seem to be better options though. Baylor will allow him to dominate and Duke has great coaching (lack of athletes have hurt them – also he’ll actually run a REAL OFFENSE – not just run). No matter where he goes, he’s a top five pick.

Wall is taking the SAT’s today to qualify. Recent chatter says the only reason Roy hasn’t pulled the trigger is the SAT’s. Sit back and watch it play out.

Josh Howard was screwed in his 1st yr because of his low SAT score,
man, ballplayers need to learn to do good at school these days.

Look at OJ Mayo, 29 on the ACT, that’s beautiful !!!

i always find it interesting reading oldpost. how some thought unc was gonna beso good. i also dont think they would be title contenders even if wall went to unc

I think they would’ve been a title contender. John Wall would’ve been perfect for them. I still to this day don’t know why they didn’t go hard after him, or at least offer him a scholarship.

as a team they just aren tthat good. which is why i dont think they would. i do think he would make them better though