You can call this an epilogue of the Harrison Barnes-UNC-Duke waltz on October 5th.
Former Wake Forest/SCAR coach Dave Odom in the hours following the flurry of visits to the Barnes home made some interesting assertions about how it all went down. Odom, who is now associated with Buster Sports, spoke at length about the recruiting war over Barnes in a podcast posted the day following to two in-home visits with Harrison Barnes by Roy Williams and Mike Krzyzewki. Odom said that while he could not back up everything he was saying, he did know for certain that Krzyzewski asked to be the last in-home visit with Barnes which has slight advantages to it. Odom goes on to say that after Krzyzewski finished his visit, the Barnes family talked it over and decided to call Roy Williams to see if he could drop everything and fly halfway across the country at a moment’s notice for a 2nd in-home visit. According to Odom that is what happened. First of all, Odom’s account defies the laws of physics and violates basic common sense. Can Roy get on a private plane on short notice and be somewhere? I am sure he can. Could he do so in within the limited time frame most of the reliable accounts indicated? Not a chance. So in that respect Odom’s account seemed fishy which was also confirmed by Inside Carolina who said the meeting had been scheduled in advanced.
After the dust had settled, Harrison Barnes caught wind of these rampant speculations and decided to set the record straight.
I would like to shed light on this process, since there is now speculation that Coach K’s request to my family was not upheld. I take my recruiting and the process in which I’ve established in selecting a school very serious, so when I hear a statement that is not factual and has no merit then it’s time to address it.
During the scheduling of my in-home visits at no point did Coach K say to my family and I that he wanted the “last” home visit, or did I say to him or his staff that I want you to have the “last” home visit. I have unofficially visited Coach K and Duke University on three occasions, so the “last” in-home visit was not going to make or break the relationship we’ve established.
Initially, coach Roy Williams, UNC, requested their in-home visit date with a return visit on October 5 since it was likely that I would have open gym that night. I notified UNC that we were not allowing additional in-home visits, so we agreed that they would have a contact on that date for approximately twenty minutes at my high school gym.
Coach Mike Krzyzewski requested the first in-home visit date, which we both agreed. As we were confirming the visit they also wanted an additional date, which was October 5. Once we started to go through the schedule it made more sense for us to have Duke conduct their in-home closer to their official visit date than to come in on September 9, their original request. Coach K wanted to see me on the first day of the contact period so we had a contact at my high school on that day.
During the contact period, September 9 – October 5, 2009, Duke used all three of their contact visits, while UNC used two contacts and one evaluation visit.
I didn’t have school on Monday, October 5; therefore open gym was Tuesday night, October 6. I could have easily met UNC at Ames High for a brief meeting, but since I had a few additional questions for Coach Williams I invited them back into my home. End of story.
Let me say, Barnes is very mature and his handling of this shows a great deal of savvy. If he ends up at Duke, I will have a difficult time hating him because he handles himself so well.
To sum up Barnes said there was no pecking order on visits and Duke did not specifically request the last visit with Barnes. I am sure they were extremely happy to get the last visit and it worked out well for them but according to Barnes it was not a specific request. Secondary to that Roy Williams apparently decided to play a little chess by working out a final contact on October 5th. Barnes points out that UNC had a contact in the bag and Roy wisely used it. It just so happened Barnes opted to simply have Roy come to the house instead of meet at Ames High School. I think we can call that a break for Roy since I am sure talking to Barnes and his family in their home is a better deal than talking to Barnes for 20 minutes at the gym.
In the end, this information does not change what we already knew but I do like the behind the scenes workings as well as a glimpse at how the process works.
P.S.: Is it me or does Buster Sports end up being wrong fairly often? Couple this with their assertion that Tyler Hansbrough was still injured and there might be a pattern developing.
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A friend of mine is a WF grad and he’s always indicated that Dave Odom has never known what he is talking about and this article on reinforces that statement. I’ve traveled to Iowa and while it may seem close it is a long flight and when I read about this originally I thought, too far, too little time – no way. It is impressive that Barnes addressed this in such a profound way, he clear, concise and to the point. There’s really no room in there for further media speculation and that was clearly his goal.
One question to the group – does anyone have any advice regarding the line/wait for Late Night with Roy from last year?
Go Heels!
One thing that is not cleat is what Harrison is looking for in a school. Either he is looking for a place that gives him the best chance of winning a championship, or the best place for his NBA prospects. The more I read, the more I think he thinks like a businessman and would want to showcase his skills. Not sure that is unc.
From what i gave read, though, barnes’ mom loves Carolina because of mj and probably the championship thing. Question then is whether mom can convince Harrison that unc is the choice.
wb3, I assume you’re saying that dook is the best place for his NBA prospects? Really?! Last time I checked, UNC has placed more of its players to the next level than dook has in recent years. Plus UNC has more “connections” in terms of players, coaches, and GMs.
I haven’t really been keeping up with Barnes’ recruitment that closely but I seriously can’t figure out what dook has that UNC doesn’t, except maybe the higher probability of being a feature player due to lack of depth.
Odom was never a great recruiter, so I don’t hold his recruiting expertise in such high regard.
And you’re right, THF – Buster Sports is a joke.
Dook has zero that we don’t. ZE-RO. Feature player? Henderson was “feature” player for what, a year? his last. and he averaged 16.5 and 5 boards. WOW!!! *yawn*
for that, he got to run his ****** off, and had enough muscle left to bench 185 a couple times. as Matt Foley would say, whoop dee freakin doo.
Carolina basketball, as Barnes saw, is BURSTING with legendary talent. which of these guys left here hurt that they didnt get “featured”? Bobby Jones? Phil Ford? Sam? Big Game James? Sheed? ‘Twawn? Vinsanity? TYLER? MICHAEL? Seriously.
And on top of that, playing basketball here is fun. Its not getting F-bombed during a game by your leader. Its not running til your skin and sinew. it’s not wearing a 4-letter word on your chest. it’s not Durham. its playing for a Hall of Famer of a Hall of Famer.
if he’s good, he’ll shine. and then he’ll star. he won’t be a 4-time 1st team All-American, i’m guessing. but he’ll make millions not too long from now.
and he can come back every year and play with the greatest collection of college talent anywhere in America.
…and the clock keeps ticking until the big day.
I REALLY think that this kid likes Mike Krzyzewski. He almost sounds defensive of Coach K and staff in his statement. Either he is diverting attention away from the real facts (which would be a UNC commitment), or he is dropping (rather unsubtle) hints as to where he is going.
Prepare for the young lad to don royal blue, folks. I hope I’m wrong…for I will have to ignore both ESPN and message boards for a good year or two should Barnes commit to Dook.
i still say the Alumni game was the single greatest recruiting tool of all time.
he’s going to come in here as a visiting player and remember the choice he couldve made?? if so, we dont want him.
I’m with you Heel To The End. And I also agree about the alumni game being the biggest recruiting tool. If THAT didn’t work, he JUST wasn’t meant to be.
I know what you mean DeanForever. I think Barnes unfortunately likes K. Just can’t understand it.
Roy got into the game late with Barnes. As indicated by Barnes he has been to Duke’s campus unofficially three times and the relationship was well established. The timing of the Duke visit was likely immaterial to Barnes but I can see Duke being happy with the position.
I think it is funny to what extent everyone is trying to decipher the statement. For my money I think he was simply giving folks the facts and answering Dave Odom’s story which was something out of One Tree Hill.
BBLB, I am an usher for basketball games. This year’s Late Night starts with a women’s volleyball game at 5. Doors open at 4. My advice is just to get there as early as you can. Here’s the link to tarheelblue.com with the info. http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/spec-rel/093009aah.html
There are still some domino effects to this situation though. For one, if Barnes is intent on going to Dook, why did Roy suddenly back off of Terrence Jones? Also, why no offer to C.J. Leslie? Perhaps Jones just wasn’t the player that Roy was interested in, but Leslie is a BIG-TIME recruit who is drawing Garnett comparisons (yes, hyperbole and the sports blogosphere go hand-in-hand, I know; yet, there appears to be no offer on the table for the young man. I would be MORE than content with Leslie coming in to the fold, and Barnes going to Dook.
While it is true that we are going to be fine either way, if Mike Krzyzewski is successful in piecing together his two-year recruiting plan (Kyrie Irving, Harrison Barnes, plus the current team) we are going to need all the firepower we can get. I’m liking the 2012 squad, IF Bullock and Strickland are still around, plus McAdoo, Marshall, Hairston, and MAYBE Zeller and the Wear Twins. At that point, Leslie McDonald will have (hoepfully) developed into a lock-down defender who can contribute the occasional three or outside J. If we get C.J. Leslie into that mix, then we’ll be unreal 1-5. Not to mention, Drew will be a senior by that point as well.
Does anyone think that Barnes will commit anywhere else, other than Dook/UNC?