Question...How close were yall to getting Zion? Was Clemson in the picture? Did Duke come
- Thread starter UGADawginVA1
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Nobody really knows. Frank is the only one I've ever heard say we were his 2nd choice. Every Clemson fan I know said they were his 2nd choice right up until when that meant they offered him 200k and it wasn't enough. Either way, Duke is filthy and nothing will happen to them.
Clemson was the odds on favorite because his dad played there. They’re saying now that he considered SC mostly because that was his mom’s favorite school. I guess he went with the biggest check $$$ in Duke. Duke was a huge shock around here.
Also Kansas was a factor because of the FBI shady stuff.
Also Kansas was a factor because of the FBI shady stuff.
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You guys....it was all ‘subterfuge’. Clemson and Carolina were used for cover.
Now you cannot blame the kid for going to play one year for K instead of FM or BB, but I think the deal was done a long time before he announced.
Now you cannot blame the kid for going to play one year for K instead of FM or BB, but I think the deal was done a long time before he announced.
I will be glad when they eliminate the one and done...this kid will go to one semester of classes.
Sort of ambivalent about it since teams with juniors and seniors (Villanova) are starting to beat the teams of one and done-Rs (Duke/Kentucky) for basketball championships. Hard to build teamwork and chemistry with me-me players.
We were about as close as UGA. No chance!
If you read the FBI shake down, he was checking around for the most $$$ and Duke came through.
I can’t wait until these basketball coaching gods start to fall. But you watch it will come out after they put the proposed alternative route in place. Then the toothless NCAA will do nothing.
When you consider where he eventually went, it becomes obvious that we were never really in the running.
If the season potentially ends in April for Duke, won’t he need to attend two semesters?
He was never going anywhere in SC.
He always knew he was going to Duke. Not sure there was a second place. Think he played up Clemson and USC a bit just to satisfy the home folks for a while
One and dones only have to stay eligible until the second semester. After that, what do they care if they fail out? They're about to become instant millionaires.
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No, because he won't receive grades for the second semester - for which he will be ditching classes, until after the season ends. All he has to be is registered.
I saw him play in person, and I really didn't see the big deal... He was like a man child with all those high schoolers...
I agree. I worked with his (biological) father for about 10 years. He and Zion were are all about Duke BB and FSU football. I think Clemson and Carolina had a slim shot but I think it was always gonna be Duke in the end.
Zion was a Duke lock for quite a while. He enjoyed his recruitment by entertaining us and the taters. Yes Duke paid him but his "shopping around" was merely leverage for a max offer from Duke. Which his family got and accepted. Also, it's Duke and the biggest stage in college basketball for a stellar program. Can you blame him?
Not just high schoolers but private high schoolers. You know, the ones whose parents names are Conrad and Octavia. Their kids haven’t played basketball in the hood.
You're so right... Keenan hight school beat them that night by 3, no matter how many dunks Zion had..
Yea but to give him some credit he was doing the same thing to some REALLY good players with D1 offers on the AAU circuit.
Yes, he was never going to a SC school who could not, or would not match the cash Duke was willing to pay.
And remember, the crocodile tears about how much the state meant to him, as he told SC they could **** *** ***. Does not leave me with a good feeling about him.
He will sign up for two, can do poorly in first semester, be on academic probation in the second semester and then he is gone. Just a guess.
I hate to say this. I know I'll get ripped for it. The kid had a lottery ticket . what would you do ? No I don't want your 200000 thousand to come play . yeah right. it's easy to say negative things about a kids character when your playing couch God. while I do not agree with it. I very much understand it
I have worked with a few men who were experts at being "clean" but they set up a system that rewarded their subordinates for cheating. When the subordinates were busted for fraud, the boss was able to say he had no knowledge of the fraud. Coach K smells like that boss. I'm not saying it's the assistant coaches in this case, but if Coach K is as smart as he is supposed to be, he knows he's in the middle of a dirty system.
It was always a blue school and it will be in the future. You have to build a team of athletes that play Defense to knock out Blue schools, Right Thornwell
Why, certainly any coach who coaches D1 competitive BB is smart enough to know what is going on. Did the UNC coaches know about the academic cheating that enabled their star athletes to remain eligible throughout the the 17+ years of the overt dishonesty? Certainly.
It is all about plausible deniability.
At Duke he gets to see up close the bruises we put on Coach K's rear end in Greenville. I doubt they've completely healed yet despite all of the kissing it gets from ESPN, the ACC, and the NCAA
Here we go.....the only reason USC doesn't dominate every sport is because USC is the Lily white program while every one around is cheating. Please. Grow up. Kids have been getting extra benefits for years all over the place. The old adage of if you ain't cheatin'.......you ain't winnin', rings as true today as it did 50 years ago. Big time football and basketball isn't this idealistic avenue for the "student athlete", or the "kids", as some bleeding hearts want it to be. It is big business with coaches and athletic administrators making more money than they ever dreamed of. So if you want to win, you better make sure that your winning machine matches up with your opponents in every way. Or be satisfied to complain about everyone that has a better program as you have the integrity flag.
