[DanEboyParticipant]

I was listening to ESPN Chicago and Jay Williams was a guest. Coach K called in and they had a 5 minute love fest. After Coach K hung up, J-Will told the story of how Coach K recruited him. It went something like this….

“I was deciding between Rutgers and Duke at the time. I had just lost back to back state titles to my high school nemesis, Todd Billet. I wanted to stay home and play at Rutgers but my mom made me make the 9 hour drive down to Durham to meet with Coach. He said he wanted me on the team, that I was Duke cloth material. I told him that I was still undecided which he then replied, “Well listen, if you are not ready to commit, we will offer your scholarship to this kid Todd Billet.”

Williams also said the best player he ever faced was AI. He said that he was unguardable because if you blew too hard in his direction, he would fall and get to the free throw line.

Here is the link if you want to listen:

http://espn.go.com/espnradio/player?rd=1#/podcenter/?callsign=ESPNRADIO&autoplay=1&id=6269921

[The lake show2]

Lol..Smooth move by Coack K. Doesn’t surprise me. Coach Dawkins at Stanford used to tell stories of Coach K and how much he curses at his players in practice. I would have loved to play for him if i was good enough

[DanEboyParticipant]

Yeah, he kept saying, "Holy mackeral" during the interview. There are certain people I have always wanted to hear go off on a tirade, Coach K is one of them. He seems like the type that lets it all out behind closed doors.

[TRC1991Participant]

todd billet? im not familiar with this player…can someone gimme a background?

[TRC1991Participant]

nvm i looked him up…played at rutgers then transferred to virginia…averaged 16 and 4 as a soph at rutgers… 6’0” 185 lb. white point guard

[diehardhoopsParticipant]

Lets not be naive master recruiter. Please Coach K will never step foot in a predominantly African American neighborhood. I listened to the show but lets be real he said he recruited Chris Webber, but look what school he went to Detroit Country Day. Not in a black community. Grant Hill’s dad was in the NFL so he had the background in order to go to DUKE. Coach K goes on to say that Juwan Howard was not going to come there. How would he know if he did not try to recruit him. Because Juwan Howard was from the projects Coach K did not even attempt to recruit him. He was the number 4 player in the nation that year. There are plenty of players every year that coaches know are not going to attend there school but they still go after them with a slight bit of hope. Here are a few examples Corey Maggette who went to Fenwick High which is a upper echelon school in Oak Park, Il. Elton Brand went to Peekskill High which has a rich tradition. This was back in the late 90’s. Ater those players left in comes Jay Williams, yes he is from the "hood" but he went to a prestigious school. Coach K would not have recruited him from the New Jersey public league. We can go on and on. Look at the track record of players and look at what high schools they went to. Eddie Griffin was the #1 player in "99" and he went to Roman Catholic of the Philadelphia Catholic League and was not recruited by him. Kyrie Irving, Shane Battier, the list goes on. I have never seen a Duke player who looks to have a nasty streak to them on the court they are all nice guys. Thats why most of his players are NBA bums accept Elton Brand, Grant Hill. I agree with Jalen and still do believe you will never see guys from bad neighborhoods at Duke. It seems as if Coach K is stereotyping the players he is recruiting instead of going after the best players. Perfect example Greg Paulus. Its no way he should have ever started for Duke, Mario Chalmers, and Monta Ellis were in this class why were they not recruited look at where they went to school. Coach K does not recruit off talent alone a las John Calipari. He want his type of person, but there are plenty of 4.0 students from tough backgrounds that would make better Duke students than those who are seen as the Duke type. Coach K is a fraud and Grant Hill and Jay Williams are just protecting there Coach but are naive to the point.

[akhan786Participant]

I wouldn’t call Coach K a phony or a fraud because he does have the right to recruit the players he recruits and in some cases it makes sense to keep the integrity of the program. However, I do agree with the fact that he should at least recruit players who have 4.0 GPAs from tough backgrounds because isn’t it common sense that a basketball player who takes the time to commit to his studies would be enough to fit the "Duke label".

I don’t that is just my opinion we don’t really know for sure what Coach K takes into account when recruiting players.

[The lake show2]

I agree he recruits like that but i have zero problem with it because he can recruit any player he wants because he is the head man in charge there and because he gets alot of wins as well as titles. If you win with the way you have always recruited then why change?

[ReturnofthelemonParticipant]

^^^^^^No….

[The lake show2]

If phony works for him (800plus wins, 4titles) then more power to him

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