Duke Basketball: Austin Rivers Says I Would Love to Be a One-and-Done

Not many people can experience being recruited by the last three NCAA champions.

Austin Rivers kept a diary chronicling his recruiting process, and if you missed it you can find it here. It reads as honest and down to earth.

He discussed every minute detail, from what food was served on the home visits to the cars the coaches arrived in. Even his excitement at attending the Countdown to Crazies was infectious.

UNC and Duke were served ribs while Kansas had lasagna, maybe that was the first clue?  Coach K had seven glasses of lemonade!  All three coaches wore their championship rings to Doc River’s house which meant five champions passed through that house.

The last three NCAA champions, Kansas, North Carolina and Duke, plus Doc River’s NBA championship. Throw in young Rivers' high school title and that’s an impressive collection of champions.

Florida was in the mix, and Rivers had previously given them a verbal commitment but later reopened his recruitment. That meant the last five NCAA champions were after Austin Rivers!

Ultimately the Winter Park high school product chose Duke because he loved the atmosphere there and felt he would be more productive in their system.  All three coaches promised to give him the reigns from day one.

This was early 2010, and UNC had a very talented recruiting class coming in, so promising to give the reigns to a high school junior at the time seems preposterous. Duke was expecting to lose leading scorers to graduation, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith, so one could understand why Rivers chose them.

Kansas was on the back of Rivers' mind on this one as he admitted to having not met Bill Self prior to the home visit but was impressed by their pitch.

After calling each coach to let them know his choice, he celebrated with his mother, girlfriend and little brother by having a big dinner and more of that lemonade Coach K loved.

He found out how heated the rivalry between Duke and North Carolina was after he committed.

Apparently there is nothing like a UNC fan scorned. Rivers anticipates that he will not be too well received in the Dean Dome, but then he also figured that Harrison Barnes (UNC incoming freshman at the time) would suffer the reverse at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

Rivers talks a lot about his love about everything Duke, which is refreshing but ultimately he is a basketball player. He wants to be the best he can be, and if that means leaving Duke after one year, well why not?

Any college is lucky to have the services of John Wall, Kyrie Irving, Harrison Barnes or Austin Rivers for a year.  Prior to David Stern implementing the rule where high school players should be a year removed from their graduating class before they can be eligible for the draft, all these kids would have gone straight to the NBA.

The good news for anyone who refers to these kids as mercenaries is that the rule may be on the verge of changing. The exposure received from playing in the NCAA greatly benefits the NBA. If anything they might change the rule to two years instead of one.

Rivers was looking forward to playing with Irving again, as they both represented their country's junior squad. However, he saw it was a long shot because Irving’s name was very high on a lot of mock draft boards. In reference to his own ambition Rivers said:

“I would love to be a one-and-done. I think that’s every kid’s goal whether he admits it or not. But my ultimate goal is to go at the right time. If that’s after one year then so be it. If it’s two years then that’s fine too. I’m in no rush. The reason I say after one year is because that would mean that I was playing to my maximum potential and that’s always my goal when I step on the court.”

This is not news; every basketball player wants to be in the NBA. Every assistant coach wants to run their own program someday, just like every intern wants to be a doctor. We prefer them to be coy about it, but that’s just the way the cookie crumbles. You can't fault someone for being good and playing to their maximum potential.