Everything That Is Wrong With College Basketball Recruiting In One Neat Package

I am tired of the A-Rod circus (I have even given up on calling him A-Roid because I am bored with that also...at least for today) and that is pretty much what everyone is writing about these days. It seems like I will have the rest of Spring Training to dissect articles about that.

I love college basketball but I hate college basketball recruiting. It is so dirty, I don't like to know anything about how my favorite basketball team lands recruits. John Wall is the consensus #1 recruit in the 2009 class and he is also the perfect example of why college basketball recruiting sucks. His story has got shady "advisors," a 18 year old with a massive ego, the brother of his high school coach being hired by a college team that is recruiting him, a "friend" of the student goes to a nearby college of said college team, and the student-athlete that will be in college for a maximum of 7 months. Pretty much everything I hate about college basketball.

Less than an hour earlier, the senior was, as usual, imposing his will on the basketball court. In his lean, 6-foot-4 frame is packed the ability to dribble a ball at a sprinter's speed before delivering a perfect pass, to throw down a one-handed jam from eye level with the rim, to weave through opposing players to get to the basket.

Think of Derrick Rose and that is what John Wall appears to be. Put in the questions I had last year about Michael Beasley's maturity and you have what John Wall is...at least in my mind. I am one of those traditional ol' guys who thinks a player should be able to go to the NBA out of high school, but if they choose to go to college, they have to stay for 2-3 years. Sort of like how baseball currently does it. I don't like one-and-done players because I think it is bad for the university and for the player. The university gets a student-athlete who is going to quit his classes in April to get ready for the NBA Draft and the player has to pretend like he actually wants to go to school for a year. It is a charade that I think doesn't create anything positive for either party.

I think a player has every right to go to the NBA after high school if that person would like, but I also think if he chooses to go to college, he has to stay there for a certain time period, and I don't think one year is enough.

Finishing a spectacular play, he will often smile, the game a means of expressing himself with absolute clarity and self-assurance.

This kid knows he can play basketball...and that is part of the problem because so does everyone around him.

After two years at Garner High and a brief stint at Broughton, which cut him from the team, he is in his fifth year at his third high school, having repeated his sophomore year.

This kid is a stud player, so it makes you wonder what he has done to get cut from his high school team.

Around him, Wall hears both the pitches of college coaches eager to land him and the suggestions of mentors eager to nudge him to the place they feel most suits him.

My favorite thing about his "mentors" is that they act as if they are looking out for him, by keeping out the bad elements, but they are really getting an ego trip out of helping a top athlete choose his college destination. They will probably use their experience with this player and parlay it into something lucrative for themselves when he goes to the NBA. Many of these "mentors" are actually looking to make a dime off the player for their advice and guidance. It's one of the few times taking advantage of a kid who has few role models is widely accepted.

"Yeah, it's all my decision," said the player, who's expected to announce his intentions sometime after his season, likely in April.

If you believe this....well, you shouldn't.

He is being primarily recruited by Baylor, Miami, Duke, Kansas, Memphis, Oregon and N.C. State. The only team among these that has not made him a scholarship offer is Duke.

But John Wall doesn't come without conditions. Like Rose, he will be "one-and-done," playing college ball as a freshman before jumping to the pros, he and his closest advisers say.

If Duke and Kansas were really serious about their programs being seen as having student-athletes, they would quit pursuing him based solely on this issue. That is my opinion. Both programs in the past have disliked recruiting one-and-done players because it takes up a scholarship for kids who actually want to play basketball AND be in school. Maybe they have changed their mind in this case.

At times, his attitude needs no adjective -- it suffices to say he has one -- so he needs a nurturing, thick-skinned coach, not a my-way-or-the-highway absolutist, say Beckwith and Brian Clifton, the director of D-One Sports, Wall's Greensboro- based summer-league team.

So basically his two main advisors don't want Wall to have a coach who is willing to put up with Wall's constant shitty attitude and play. Doesn't it sound like he is going to be an incredibly wonderful NBA player to build a team around? Directly in the line of Stephon Marbury and Steve Francis, we now have John Wall.

I realize I am being hard on an 18 year old kid but I don't think coaches in the NBA or college should defer to their players. Mostly I believe college coaches should never defer because college is an opportunity to learn how to play basketball at a higher level and it prepares you for the NBA. Suffice to say I think college coaches should have it my-way-or-the-highway because they are the experts.

He will thrive in a fast-paced system that encourages rather than squashes individual creativity, they say.

Basically just let him do whatever the hell he wants to do and leave him alone.

More than anyone else, Wall said, he trusts Clifton and Beckwith to help him make the choice.

I see this as the problem. Not to mention just a few lines up Wall was quoted as saying the decision was completely his, but now his "advisors" are helping.

To any college coach who'd rather not deal with the two dominant male figures in Wall's life, the message is clear: No hard feelings, but that coach would be advised to look elsewhere.

It doesn't take a genius to see these "mentors" are leeching themselves to this poor kid. I don't give a shit if they are his high school coaches or what they are. No hard feelings but these coaches need to let the kid make the decision and quit "advising" him.

What's wrong with his mom, uncle, or some other family member advising him?

"I think he should go to Baylor," Clifton said.

There, he said, Wall would benefit from the team's fast, wide-open style of play and the "unassuming" nature of a head coach, Scott Drew, who wouldn't put his ego ahead of Wall's.

Yeah, you wouldn't want that coach, who knows a lot more about basketball, to put his ego ahead of his 18 year old student-athlete who is going to be there for exactly one year and then leave for the NBA. If I were Scott Drew, I would read this quote and immediately stop recruiting Wall. Of course, I am sure he has a great reason he is recruiting him that doesn't have anything to do with the fact he wants to keep his job and win games.

It also happens that Clifton's younger brother and former D-One coach, Dwon, was hired last summer as Baylor's director of player development, and one of Wall's best friends, former Garner High and D-One teammate Tyrone "T.Y." Williams, has enrolled at nearby McLennan Community College in Waco, Texas, as a scholarship player.

This is laughable. Baylor could have looked for ANY high school coach, college administrator, or any person in the world to fill this position, and it just so happened they chose the ex-coach of Wall's team, who also happens to be one of his "advisor's" relatives. This is such horseshit. I have no problem with Wall, I have a problem with how slimy the system is and how these "advisors" weasel their way into the system. It makes me root against this kid.

Dwon Clifton, 28, also has another tie to Baylor: assistant coach Matt Driscoll coached him at Clemson.

Well that explains it then. Even though Clifton graduated from UNC-Greensboro and played his last two years of college basketball there, Driscoll was so impressed by Clifton's two seasons at Clemson and his ability to coach a roaming HS team for 2 year, he felt he was qualified to be Director of Player Development at a major program three years after graduating college. I don't have any statistics but at Oklahoma in a similar position there is a guy who has more experience than having coached a roaming HS team for two years. The other site I went to, Texas A&M chose an alumni who was a distinguished basketball player and has coached in college or high school basketball since 1977. I have a feeling if I looked up some statistics they would say that Clifton is one of the most underqualified people for this job compared to the background of other people who have a similar position at other schools.

I'm just saying...

Clearly, Clifton is offended by the assumption that colleges and fans who don't know the player at all belong on a higher moral plain than he does.

I have no idea how this pertains. When in doubt, get morally offended I guess.

"If John Wall right now stopped playing basketball, and he was no longer the prospect that people thought, there would be no concern whatsoever over where he went to college or if he went to college," Clifton said.

He would be treated exactly like every other person trying to get in college in the United States and around the world. The fact that Wall would be normal without college basketball does not make Clifton's "advice" that much more necessary.

But then you have people around him like my brother and myself and his high school coach, who do care about him, who are concerned about whether he is successful in life or not, and just because other people recognize and notice him now, you're supposed to relinquish any types of thoughts and hopes and dreams that you have for this kid and step back and listen to somebody who knows nothing about him?

Notice in this whole quote there was absolutely nothing about what John Wall wants or the hopes and dreams he may have for himself. It's all about the hopes and dreams three grown adults have for John Wall and how they want him to be successful. If they were really concerned about him being successful in life, they would encourage him to attend four years of college. That goes without saying though, even though I did just say it.

So, the hiring wasn't done to lure him to Baylor?

"Oh, I think it was," Wall said. "You know, whichever AAU coach gets a job in college is hoping that he gets the point guard or the best player from that organization with him."

I get the feeling Wall doesn't know who to trust. He knows Dwon was hired to get him to Baylor, so how can he feel like his "mentors" are giving him the correct advice? He can't.

Although the NCAA prohibits the hiring of a high school or prep school coach with the intent of enrolling an athlete, intent is difficult to prove, and in fact, college head coaches routinely hire assistants with ties to recruits.

This is near impossible to prove.

Tiffany Williams said her son, one of four players on McLennan's 15-man roster from outside Texas, found out about the school "through John and his D-One coach."

This is John's good friend who goes to school near Baylor. He found out about the school through John and Clifton, whose brother works for Baylor now and Baylor is just down the road from the school Williams is currently attending. I feel dirty just writing this.

There is nothing inherently wrong with going to a school near to where your friend goes to school, but I have a feeling this was all set up. Why would a kid from North Carolina go to a junior college in Texas?

What concerns Clifton and Beckwith more than others' interpretation of their motives is the prospect of their protege winding up somewhere they feel he might not fit.

To put it another way: They're worried about him going to Duke.

That would be awful. Why go to a school 30 miles from where your entire family is located that has a tradition of winning and actually graduating players when you can go to a school 1,500 miles away that is mostly known for having a player that killed another player?

"It would behoove him to be in a situation that he would be able to play for a coach who has a more free-flowing offense, who is going to afford him the opportunity to be expressive and to do the things that he needs to do [to prepare for the NBA]," Clifton said.

Because in the NBA, they play completely like it is street ball. You see players throwing the ball off seats into the basket, players get street nicknames, and they go on tour around the country showing off their moves. Wait, that's not the NBA? They actually run plays and have an offense that the point guard has to stay within in the NBA? And Wall will have no choice about what team chooses him, so he is probably going to have to get used to doing things a coach's way and not free lancing any chance he gets?

Shhhh.....don't tell Brian Clifton, I want this to be a huge surprise for him in two years.

"I'm going to say, 'Look, this is what John's going to do. Now, what are you going to do when he does that?' " Beckwith said. "When you're playing Carolina and things aren't going well, when you take him out of the game and he mumbles, 'I shoulda gone to Carolina,' which to you is disrespectful and it's not the right thing to say ... how long are you going to sit him out? If he's going to be done for the year, then don't take him."

I don't think a coach would sit a player for the rest of the year based on one mistake. I like how Beckwith says that mumbling under your breath at the coach MAY BE considered disrespectful by the coach. I think that IS disrespectful to any coach. At some point a player has to take ownership of his mistakes and admit there are things he doesn't know about the game of basketball. Players who don't want to be taught are not going to succeed in my opinion.

Duke point guard Nolan Smith, a sophomore, was asked what he would tell a prospect used to creating individually in high school.

"The main thing I'd tell him is, 'Get ready to play team basketball, but keep your style of play. Yet, play your style of play within the Duke style of play.' It's something you have to learn while you're here. You can't really tell somebody how it is until they get here."

Yeah, ask Nolan Smith what it takes. Take it from the guy who had 9 assists in 7 conference games, he really knows what to do. I think Nolan Smith is transferring after this year. That is just a side note.

"If we have J.J. Redick, we're going to look to get him the ball, get him shots," Collins said. "If we've got Jason Williams, we're going to [let him create].

"If we have DeMarcus Nelson, we're never going to teach him to shoot a jump shot or shoot foul shots. If we have Kyle Singler we will never take him out of the game and will force him to guard guys who he absolutely can not guard under the basket, then encourage him to take jump shots and not drive to the basket because he is too tired from playing defense...oh and we are going to play him 38 minutes per game, even though we have a perfectly good freshman on the bench who can spell him for a few minutes. We're Duke and apparently lost a clue on how to design a rotation of players to put in the game back in 2004."

I am surprised Coach K did not play 8 guys from the U.S. Olympic team and just bench the rest of the guys. The team dodged a bullet because I bet he wanted Kobe Bryant guarding power forwards. I wonder who talked Coach K out of that idea.

Beckwith said he likes Memphis, Baylor and N.C. State as good fits for Wall, who noted that his mother, Frances Pulley, has been a State fan "since she was born."

So Beckwith and Clifton like Baylor and his mom likes N.C. State. I wonder who John Wall likes? Sadly, we may never find out.

"At N.C. State, I think they've got to get a little bit better. I don't see any way around that," he said. "The personnel they have now, I can't see them [running] baseline to baseline. They just can't do it with the guys that they have."

The one thing N.C. State has been missing that would make them a great team is a point guard and John Wall could be that guy. Wall can't go there because they don't run the offense he likes to run and apparently his "mentors" have no interest in him learning a different way to run the offense.

Wall better hope he gets drafted by the New York Knicks or else he is going to be lost in the NBA if he only wants to run an up tempo offense. Basically he is going to have to learn to run a half court offense at some point and I think college would be a great chance to do that.

I think he should go to N.C. State.

For example, Clifton said North Carolina was interested in Wall but tersely noted that D-One has no relationship with UNC.

So Clifton doesn't think Wall should go to UNC, which is one of the most if not the most prestigious basketball school in the country, because his AAU team has no relationship with the team. This is clearly in the best interest of John.

When he brought a previous prospect to Chapel Hill, he said, "the feedback I got was, 'Roy [Williams] doesn't want to deal with you because he doesn't deal with AAU guys.' "

I respect ol' Roy Boy for this. He recruits players, and recruits those players exceptionally well. He doesn't need to talk to AAU guys because they are not the player or the player's family.

I realize this is how it is now in college basketball but it still feels slimy to me. I am not the biggest UNC fan in the world but if I got interest from there, I would have interest in them regardless of who my AAU coach is. Not considering UNC because D-One doesn't have a relationship with them does not sound like it is in the best interest of John Wall.

If they really cared about Wall, they would step back from being his main advisors so UNC or another school that may be a good fit for him could have more interest in him...but that would never happen because that is not what is in the best interest of Clifton or Beckwith.

Broughton coach Jeff Ferrell declined to discuss why he cut Wall. Brock Young, a guard on the team and now at East Carolina, said it was a behavior issue, adding that he and other players felt Wall should not have been cut.

He may look like Derrick Rose but my concern is that he has Michael Beasley's immaturity and attitude problems. Or he may not, his "advisors" and his past at Broughton make it seem that way.

Since when are players going to want the best player on the team to be cut anyway? A quote from a former teammate doesn't really change my opinion.

Wall said he's looking mainly for a team that runs and a coach with whom he can get along.

"If you go to a school where you don't get along with the coaches, y'all are having a lot of arguments, you're not going to play, you might take more years than you expect to go to the next level," he said. "I need a coach to push me to make sure I get to the next level as soon as possible."

Wall is lying here. He doesn't want a coach that can push him to make sure he gets to the NBA as soon as possible. He and his "advisors" want a coach that will let Wall do whatever he wants, design the offense around him, and not cause him any problems that could affect his draft stock. If they really wanted a coach that would push him, they would not rule out any programs with coaches that are tough minded and are able to expand his basketball skills by running a different offense from the one he is used to.

A college basketball coach needs to be able to put his/her players in the position to succeed and any coach worth his money would do that for John Wall. A recruit needs to choose the right school for him, but that recruit also can't expect to run the same offense his entire life and play for a coach that won't have a bigger ego than him for the rest of his life. College basketball is about a player learning how to better play the game and learning to adapt to different situations. It seems Wall's handler's have no interest in him learning how to do either or these two things.

A recruit has to do what is best for him when it comes to choosing a college, I think it is hard to do that when that recruit has "advisors" who are not looking out for the player and his best interests. This is the part of college basketball recruiting I don't enjoy hearing about.