Let me state upfront I am not into conspiracy theories but this chain of events is quite interesting:
1. Joe Alleva leaves the AD position at Duke for the same position at LSU
2. LSU hires Stanford’s Trent Johnson to be the head men’s basketball coach at LSU.
3. Stanford hires Duke assistant Johnny Dawkins to replace Johnson at Stanford.
4. Stanford 2008 commit Miles Plumlee asks to be released from his LOI; Dawkins obliges.
5. Plumlee commits to Duke where his younger brother, Mason Plumlee is already a 2009 commitment.
Now, if I am not mistaken, Trent Johnson to LSU was in the works prior to Alleva coming on board or at best it was simulataneous. I do think it is odd that Dawkins was willing to release Plumlee to Duke which is his former(and future?) employer. I tend to think you should force kids to honor their LOIs since they signed with the school and not the coach. Dawkins even said he thought Plumlee would end up at Duke which is convenient he could help his old coach out by sending him a 6-10 forward for next season.
In the end there is really nothing funny here, unless you think the “Dawkins releasing Plumlee so he could commit to Duke” action points Dawkins caring more about Duke than he does his new employer. Overall it is just an weird circle of events that started at Duke and ended at Duke.
May 2, 2008 at 1:39 pm |
I’m sure Plumlee will wear a Cardinal sticker when he suits up for Dook.
May 2, 2008 at 3:02 pm |
Miles asked to be released before Dawkins was offered the job, Why make a kid
who doesn’t want to live an ocean away from his family, do something that he will make him uncomfortable in life in general. Its not just about basketball, I think that he has put some thought into the fact that it might be hard for family and friends to see him on or off the court period. His father also stated that he sat down with his brother Mason (Who was committed to Duke long before any of this) and talked about what it would be like to play together, and decided that they thought playing together would be a good thing. This is a point that I cannot argue, because I know that I, as many I believe would find it to be a good thing to play with a brother or sister. I just believe that coming from the source of this conspiracy, it may not hold so much merit.
Go Devils!
May 2, 2008 at 3:17 pm |
Find another site, Dook boy.
May 2, 2008 at 4:11 pm |
The brothers played together the last several years here in Asheville at Christ School. Mason grew-up in Indiana as a huge Tar Heel fan and it was well known that he would jump at the chance to play at UNC. Roy came to see him play at least once but never offered a scholarship. It came down to a numbers game and when Henson and the Wear twins accepted Roy’s offer it left Mason as odd man out. Coach K got hot on him and tendered a ride shortly after that. Everyone around here considered it almost a lock that Miles would want to go to Duke after the coaching change was made at Stanford. The local paper quoted their father as saying that they were disappointed with the “lack” of communication from Stanford with Miles during the time that Johnson left for LSU and Dawkins was hired. Apparently the relationship was already ruined before Dawkins came into the picture. Anyway, Miles old love for Carolina will now be turned into totally committed Dookie-dom! The rivalry justs gets better and better!
May 2, 2008 at 5:56 pm |
Plumlee’s vs Wears’. Who wins?
May 2, 2008 at 10:20 pm |
Edge to the Plumlee’s, for now. PLumlee’s are 2 inches taller. Miles is a year older, and Mason is the only 5-star recruit of the group.
That being said, most people, myself included, would have given the edge to McBob over Tyler coming out of HS, and well, we’ve seen how that has turned out…
May 2, 2008 at 10:25 pm |
There is no doubt big men are very talented coming out of high school. What happens to them once they arrive in Durham is a hotly debated topic since Shelden Williams left.
May 2, 2008 at 11:24 pm |
watching the Jazz whoop up on Houston right now–who doesn’t think the good folks of SLC wouldn’t LOVE having Tyler on their team?
May 3, 2008 at 8:52 am |
Only time will tell whether the Wear’s or the Plumlee’s are the better players. I have seen the Plumlee’s play several times and they are both good players at the high school level. Mason pretty much deferred to Miles hence Miles’s better stats (older brother versus younger brother). What I have heard is that the coaching staff thinks the upside and the better fit for UNC is the Wears. My own perception is that the Wear’s have better all-court games and that their dad insisted that they learn guard skills before he allowed them to focus on playing down low in the post. Ultimately, I trust Roy and the coaching staff’s assessment of which players we would rather have. I find it telling that K never showed any interest in Mason because he assumed he wouldn’t give Duke the time of day if he could play in CH. He said after he signed Mason that he considered him a lock for the NBA 1st round. That remains to be seen but he and his brother may be an improvement over anything Duke has had in the post the last several years.
May 3, 2008 at 9:08 am |
william- thought you might like to see this:
http://www.newsobserver.com/sports/story/1059343.html
May 3, 2008 at 11:59 am |
If this story has wheels, then they are the size of pennies. Yawn.
It doesn’t matter how many Plumlee’s Krzyzewksi adds. It still doesn’t compensate for not getting Patterson or Monroe. Then again, Duke are not in that elite recruiting sector anymore…at least not for big men.