North Carolina Basketball Recruiting: Does Joel James Deserve a Scholarship?

CBS Sports reports that Joel James is unhappy with North Carolina, because although the Tar Heels are recruiting him, they have yet to offer him a scholarship.

“I’m starting to get tired of waiting,” said James, “If they want me, offer. If they don’t, just tell me and let me move on with my choices. They haven’t said anything.”

He does highlight an issue that’s rampant among college basketball recruiting.

Every top school seems to be recruiting every top player. It’s like seeing your best friend hitting on every hot girl in a bar, hoping that the numbers game will work for him. The more women he hits on, the more likely someone is to say yes.

Can’t fault this method as the old saying goes, don't put all of your eggs in one basket. College coaches seem to take this to heart. If several responses are "yes," then the negotiating power shifts to the coach. He can pick and choose who he wants.

Guess the coaches have their priorities as well in trying to decipher which recruit is more desirable than the other.

Maybe James is really interested in playing for North Carolina and not like some recruits who like to brandish scholarship offers around like trophies, an issue the No. 1 center of next year's recruiting class, Andre Drummond, brought to light.

“I'm not going to sit around and play games with the coaches,” Drummond said. “I'm not going to tell them I'm interested when I'm not. It's just what I want to do. I don't want to make everything hectic; I want it to be smooth."

This is the madness of recruiting, and it is frustrating as a fan to hear a coveted recruit praise your team, raising hopes in the process, before saying elsewhere the same thing about your school's rival.

James, a 6'10", 280-pound center, has other top schools such as Florida, Florida State, UCLA, Georgetown, Maryland and St. John’s recruiting him. CBS Sports ranks him as the No. 54 (ESPN ranks him No. 58) recruit of the 2012 class.

North Carolina needs to bolster its frontcourt for the 2012-2013 season, as it could lose junior John Henson and freshman James McAdoo to the draft next year. Center Tyler Zeller's eligibility will expire, as he is a senior.

Roy Williams is currently waiting to hear from Mitch McGary and Kaleb Tarczewski. McGary is the top-ranked power forward of the 2012 class, and Tarczewski is the third-ranked center of the same class.

James probably just needs to exercise a little patience, as no one likes being called out like that. Also, he chose to leave his AAU team and work out on his own, because he felt he was not getting enough touches.

Alarm bells ring at that because there are other ways to be productive on a basketball court. McGary was a relatively unknown recruit this time last year, but through his hustle, he has made a huge leap up the recruiting ranks.

For all we know, James might be the best center in the class of 2012, as analysing players in college can be so vague, But in this instance, James is probably just UNC's backup option.