UPDATE: In case you were not able to see it, Scout. com's Evan Daniels was in Ames, IA reported on it live. Harrison Barnes used Skype to make a video call to the school he was choosing. It was UNC:
"Can hear us?" Roy Williams said as he appeared on the video screen. "We got the whole team here."
"I just wanted to let you guys know that I'll be joining you guys on the squad and I can't wait to play," Barnes responded.
By all accounts, the kid oozes class, is smart, thoughtful and his handling of this whole process has been lauded by recruiting analysts repeatedly. Also, according to ACCSports on Twitter, Barnes cited his relationships with UNC players, twice, as a huge factor. ACCSports speculated on the possible meaning of that in a later Tweet saying:
Don't know if that's a reflection on Duke's players as much as it is a compliment to UNC's.
Meanwhile, not a peep from Seth Davis on Twitter. I am guessing he is in the fetal position under his desk crying into his 2001 NCAA Championship shirt. Man that thing has to be getting rank by now. I think that makes Davis 0-2 on high profile picks concerning UNC.
Original post below the jump.
The University of North Carolina.
You know what? Roy Williams just came in and stole Coach K's lunch money. Or as Adam Gold put it more succinctly yesterday:
Let's go back to the Texas Hold'em analogy for a second. Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski has been sitting at the table since they invented green felt and playing cards. Sure, Kansas' Bill Self, Oklahoma's Jeff Capel and Ben Howland of UCLA have had chips on the table for a while, but not nearly as big a stack as the one that sits in front of Coach K. But, about an hour ago, Roy Williams came off the golf course, wearing a powder blue golf vest emblazoned with "2005 AND 2009 National Champions," plopped a big ol’ bag of money down, sat next to Krzyzewski, glanced at his cards briefly and daggummit if he didn't just say, "All in".
Roy did not really start in on Harrison Barnes in earnest until April when he dropped in to visit him two days after the Heels won the title. Over the course of a few months he stole a recruit everyone was sure was headed to Durham.
Roy owns K right now.
On the court.
On the recruiting trail.
And what's worse for Duke is that Barnes in combination with Kyrie Irving was their best shot to close the gap. Instead it just widened...again.
Original crossposted at Thee Sports Blog