Duke Basketball: Recruiting Fail

Quick question…should you be slightly concerned about the double de-commitments this summer? Of course, I’m talking about (SF) Carrick Felix and (PF/C) Tyler Adams.

Back in June, Carrick Felix, Coach K’s first ever Juco transfer, walked on campus and decided Duke wasn’t right for him. He asked for a release and was granted one.

Then in October, Mississippi native and 2011 recruit Tyler Adams de-committed.

Even though Adams was saying all the right things all along the way, the writing was on the wall; when the big guy showed up for "Midnight Madness," he was not in Durham.

Prior to that, I had heard nothing about Adams changing his commitment. Just goes to show you how little I know.

So what went wrong? The Blue Devils don’t lose recruits, right? Sure, I’ve seen kids label Duke as their favorites, lead us to believe they’re on their way, only to end up on Skype with Roy Williams. But I can’t recall the last time I’ve seen a Duke commit go elsewhere.

Both players’ situations are very similar. Both were “discovered” by Coach Nate James. This isn’t surprising, since he is in charge of recruiting, but unlike big names like Austin Rivers and Kyrie Irving (whose first phone calls come from Coach K), neither Felix or Adams were five-star studs.

In fact, when Coach James found Felex up in Idaho, he was there to see a different player. Adams, on the other hand, was a low-end, four-star recruit. Prior to getting a phone call from Duke coaches, few thought he would escape the state of Mississippi.

Now I’m not saying Nate James is at fault. I think he’s new at this and experience will help. Knowing who really is a “Duke” guy will become second nature. Like I said, he’s not being asked to deliver the top players in the country. He’s being asked to find the hidden gems, which is not an easy task.

Continue reading: Recruiting Fail