Delvon Roe Finally Comes To Chapel Hill

Brian Barbour on December 2nd, 2009 |

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For those of you who do not follow recruiting, MSU sophomore Delvon Roe was recruited heavily by Roy Williams for the class of 2008 i.e. the Davis-Zeller-Drew class. During the course of that recruitment Roe was in Chapel Hill for visits and during one those visits he supposedly gave Roy a silent verbal commitment. A “silent verbal” basically means you tell the head coach you are coming to their school but it is not announced publicly. Duke recruit Kyrie Irving is said to have given Mike Krzyzewski a silent verbal before actually announcing his commitment to the Blue Devils some weeks back. According to Roy’s autobiography and details posted on Inside Carolina, Roe told Roy he would come during a visit the 2007 UNC-Duke game in Chapel Hill aka The Elbow Game. At the time, Roe was seen fully decked out in UNC gear watching the game. Six weeks later, Roe apparently changed his mind and committed to Michigan St.

Given there was a lot of history there and the Dean Dome crowd was fully aware of it cheering loudly when Roe fouled out near the end of last night’s game. During the postgame press conference Roy was asked about Roe and whether he had spoken with him. Roy said he had during the many, many other times these two teams have played as well as still being friendly with Roe’s parents. When pressed about the controversy further and the fact Roy mentioned it in his book, without using Roe’s name, the UNC head coach got a little testy(audio).

“I didn’t say Delvon lied. Go back and read it, well but I don’t mind saying it, he told me he was coming. Let’s be honest. He told me he was coming, he didn’t come. I’ve looked every day at practice, and I haven’t seen him yet. But understand one thing don’t make a bigger story than it is, because I love the kid and still think he’s a wonderful kid.”

Now, I have not seen the book so if anyone has please chime in as to what Roy actually said. Based on second hand reports Roy did say the recruit “lied” but does not name Roe specifically. However since he says the player ended up at Michigan St. everyone knows who is he talking about. Adding a little another twist to the story is the account given by Roe’s father, Delvon Blanton, who said Roy pressured his son and then yelled at him over the phone when Roe called to decommit.

Anyway, Blanton said he and Roe visited North Carolina together once, then Roe went by himself on a visit for the UNC-Duke game. Blanton said Williams wanted Roe to commit before the game to get the team hyped. Roe called Blanton. Blanton strictly forbid him from committing.

“I said, ‘You’re not down there to commit, you’re there to watch a game,’” Blanton recalled. “I don’t know if he was scared to say no because Roy was pressuring him or what. I don’t know exactly what happened after that. He might have committed, Roy might be telling the truth. But he wasn’t ready to commit and he shouldn’t have been pressured like that.

“Delvon still loved Michigan State and a few weeks later, when he was home and he could think about the decision without someone in his face, he realized that’s where he wanted to go.”

Roe had a hard time summoning the courage to tell Williams, Blanton said. Blanton told him he had to make the call. He did, and Blanton said Williams started yelling on the other end.

“I don’t know exactly the words he was saying, but he was upset,” Blanton said of Williams. “He started going off on Delvon. I mean, Delvon’s an 11th-grader, he’s shook up. So I grabbed the phone and said, ‘Let me tell you something, you never disrespect my son like that.’”

It is entirely possible Roy yelled at Roe on the phone. Roy is an emotional guy and when he gets a commitment from a player he considers that binding. A player who commits to UNC is then considered part of the Carolina Family to the point that a condition of commitment is the recruit will not visit other schools any more and promises to conduct himself as though he is already part of the team. So faced with a player decommiting maybe Roy did get heated. That being said, I am also willing to lay odds that Roy subsequently apologized if he did do something wrong. Otherwise I doubt he would be speaking with Roe “amiably” or friendly with Roe’s father at AAU events. As for the bit about Roy pressuring Roe. I have my doubts but I was not in the room at the time.

I would point out that including it in the book might have been a mistake but then again this is Roy we are talking about here. My understanding is the book is very honest. Within that context I would surmise that Roy included the bit about Roe, not out of malicious intent but because he wanted to tell the whole story about certain things. Recruiting is a nasty business and undoubtedly this sort of thing is going to happen from time to time. This appears to be an isolated incident of a misunderstanding between a player and a coach, you know, the kind of crap that happens in any number of relationships both professional and personal every minute of every day.

At the end of the day I think it worked out better for UNC. Roe has been plagued by injuries and the Heels got Ed Davis instead. Hopefully Roe will enjoy a nice career from here on out and hopefully the ACC/Big Ten folks and the NCAA will ensure both teams get a break from each other until Roe is graduated.

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C. Michael

December 2, 2009 at 11:36 am

“As for the bit about Roy pressuring Roe. I have my doubts but I was not in the room at the time.”

It is also entirely possible that a 57-year old man said something, and what he meant, and what a 17-year old kid heard, are completely different.

If Ed et al. can’t get ring #2 this year, I sincerely hope Delvon gets ring #1.

william

December 2, 2009 at 11:45 am

I just finished the book, which was interesting but probably not as good as the Adam Lucas one from a couple of years back.

I honestly do not remember the part you are referring to. The gibe that I was surprised by was how pointedly Williams makes reference to issues he had with a Kansas recruit named Jaron Rush, to the point where Roy refused to allow the kid to play for Kansas. Rush’s brother would end up getting some revenge on Roy a few years later.

Let me leaf through it and see if I can find the part purported referring to Roe.

scl11

December 2, 2009 at 11:52 am

I’ve read the book and it mentions a player that called Roy and his coaching staff into a conference room and told them he was coming to Carolina, and then a couple weeks later committing to Michigan St. Don’t remember the exact quote, but Roy did mention he felt either mislead or lied to…….

December 2, 2009 at 11:54 am

I am having a hard time finding that bit.

Here are a few interesting tidbits:

Roy hates Pizza.

Roy voted for Obama and took the team to meet him after winning the title in 2009, but did not take the 2005 team to the White House.

Roy had a losing record as a high school coach.

December 2, 2009 at 11:59 am

Okay, now I have found it. It made little impression on me during the book because Roy does not say whether it was a Kansas or UNC recruit or from what time period this anecdote was. Roy’s point about not saying Roe lied is true enough but the juxtaposition of the sentences about lying and about Roe in the book certainly could lead to such a conclusion.

I believe this is “fair use”:

“So I enjoy recruiting when I get a chance to sit and talk with the kids and their families, and I love recruiting when I get in the gym, but there are other parts of recruiting that really stink. It can be demeaning. Kids have lied to me. I once had a recruit ask me to gather all of my assistant coaches and secretaries and everybody else we could find into my office, so he could commit to me in front of a huge group. We all cheered and hugged, and then six weeks later he called to tell me he was going to Michigan State.”

Pages 172-73.

December 2, 2009 at 12:17 pm

“Roy voted for Obama and took the team to meet him after winning the title in 2009, but did not take the 2005 team to the White House.”

I found an explanation of this from a 2005 edition of Adam Lucas’s “Mailbag”:

“I know every sporting team that wins a championship in any sport, has a chance to go to the White House and meet the President of the United States. I’m just wondering did the Tar Heels get to do that, if not when will they do it.
Dawayne Eason, Atlanta, Ga.

You’re right, every team gets the chance. But it’s only a chance and not a guarantee. The White House sent the Tar Heel basketball office several possible dates for the visit to Washington. But all the dates were problematic–on some of them, Roy Williams wasn’t available, and on others Williams could have gone but several of the players couldn’t. The head coach didn’t feel comfortable going without his full roster of players and the players didn’t feel comfortable going without the head coach, so no date could be found.”

I certainly hope this is the real reason. Everyone is entitled to their own political leanings (and I have no intention of discussing mine), but visiting the White House is a opportunity very few people ever get and I would hope that Roy did not deny his players this because of his own views. I know I would jump at the chance to go, regardless of who was sitting in Office.

December 2, 2009 at 12:21 pm

Speaking of the 2009 White House trip:

http://blogs.usatoday.com/gameon/2009/05/bobby-frasor-was-camera-ready-on-the-tar-heels-white-house-visit.html

briarcliff

December 2, 2009 at 2:23 pm

Roy had become very close to Delvon during that recruitment and while I can’t speak for what’s in Roy’s head, I’m guessing it was similar to that of the jilted lover — extremely hurt and embarrassed that he’d been misled.

Obviously, it was bad judgment by a 17-year-old kid to ‘commit’ to a school if he didn’t have his parents blessing yet (which appears to be the case from what I know) and in hindsight Roy probably used poor judgment in accepting that commitment on face value.

That said, after Delvon’s silent verbal, the coaching staff was in constant contact with him all the way up until he finaly called Roy to say he was not coming. The part that really PO’d Roy was the fact that Delvon and his parents had known for weeks that he wasn’t coming to Chapel Hill and they — for whatever reasons — kept telling Roy they were. That’s where the “lie” occurred – in all those phone calls after his silent verbal where Delvon said “yeah coach, i’m still coming…” when he knew he wasn’t. Sure, kids can change their minds, but it’s the stringing along afterward where the wrongdoing occurred.

Still, it was mistake to mention it in the book, but Roy would never admit that – because… well, he’s Roy! and he’s a stubborn old goat; I’m just glad he’s OUR stubborn old goat.

DeanForever

December 2, 2009 at 3:54 pm

Roy can pitch a fuss about recruiting all he wants, but in the end, he is really, really good at it and he KNOWS it. I would be pissed at the Roe situation too. In the end, how do you think Devlon Roe feels? Three straight losses to the Heels, and not a single contest being noteworthy in any fashion for the Spartans. AND, Ed Davis simply dominates his team. Hell hath no fury…

December 2, 2009 at 4:19 pm

One has to wonder if part of any “angst” Roy feels has less to do with anything Roe did, and more to do with the timing with which it was done. After Roe committed to MSU, UNC also received “nos” from Al-Farouq Aminu, Jrue Holliday, and Samardo Samuels, before finally getting Ed Davis to commit. And this was all on the heels of losing out on Kevin Love the year before. There were actually musings as to whether or not Roy had lost his recruiting touch. I wonder if Roe’s decision had come a different point in time (now, for instance) if it would sting Roy as much as this may have?

Tar Heel Fan

December 2, 2009 at 4:25 pm

^The answer to that lies in what Roy said after the Harrison Barnes announcement. They asked him how he would have felt had Barnes gone elsewhere. He said he was more concerned with going back to practice that day.

Still I think Roy values loyalty and honesty in his relationships. You screw with that he can be difficult to deal with. That is why his leaving Kansas was such a huge deal. He did not want to leave his players and he stayed in 2000 to keep his promise to Nick Collinson. Even after taking the UNC job he felt so torn about having left Kansas which came to a head in Stickergate. Someone who takes his own loyalty and honesty that serious is going to demand it from the people around him. Roe made a mistake in committing and in doing so ran afoul of those values Roy holds most dear.

December 2, 2009 at 4:31 pm

^In addition to Roy’s seriousness for loyalty and honesty, I think this paticular instance also has to do with embarrassing Roy in front of his peers / subordinates, it is one thing to say “Coach I think I’m Coming” one on one vs. calling everyone into Roy’s office and saying “I’m Coming to Carolina”.

December 2, 2009 at 6:32 pm

“Even after taking the UNC job he felt so torn about having left Kansas which came to a head in Stickergate.”

THF, speaking of Stickergate, that reminds me in Chansky’s new book (Light Blue Reign) which you already reviewed http://bit.ly/lbrthf , Roy is asked by the author if he might handle the sticker thing differently with the benefit of hindsight? IIRC, Roy says something like: “Yes, I would handle it differently. Next time, I wouldn’t wear just one sticker; I’d wear TWENTY!!”

Classic Roy.

JBowling

December 2, 2009 at 9:10 pm

David Glenn could only say how MchgnSt guards didn’t perform very well. Golly David, do you think maybe we played good defense and that is the reason? Again, anti-UNC sentiments. I have no clue why we just can’t seem to muster any respect from certain guys in the media. All he could talk about last year was how consistant Duke was and how they’d be ready for the ncaa tournament. Hello David, how could you not be most impressed with our play?