Brett Nelson, the 6-foot-3 men's basketball recruit who visited Duke last weekend, has been likened to Pete Maravich and touted as the best West Virginia hoopster since Jerry West.
Yet recruiting analysts aren't convinced that he is the best player in the nation. Or the best junior in the nation. Or the best junior point guard in the nation. Or the best junior point guard being recruited by Duke.
While most schools scramble to piece together next year's freshman class, the Blue Devils have taken a different approach to recruiting. With nine scholarship players due back next year, plus high school All-American Corey Maggette slated to enroll in the fall, the Duke coaches have focused almost all of their efforts on a superior class of high-school juniors.
"To get to these guys early, that's such a big advantage, it's not even funny," said recruiting guru Clark Francis, editor of The Hoop Scoop. "They're a year ahead of everybody else. It's not a phenomenon that Duke does so well with recruiting."
The current Duke roster is living proof of Francis' statement. The recruitment of freshmen Elton Brand, Shane Battier, William Avery and Chris Burgess-generally regarded as one of the best recruiting classes in history-began in earnest while the four were high-school juniors.
Compared with the current crop of juniors, though, the class that produced Brand, Battier, Avery and Burgess is considered ordinary. Some recruiting analysts see as much potential in the current high-school juniors as in any class in recent memory.
"The current junior class is a great class," Francis said, citing many of the top juniors as potential NBA all-stars. "There are 10 guys in that class who are that good."
In contrast, Francis said, "the senior class sucks."
The Blue Devils have been involved with five of the nation's top juniors, four of whom have made unofficial visits to Duke. Nelson, the most recent visitor, was impressed by the campus, the coaching staff and the atmosphere at Duke's 120-84 win over UCLA.
He is rated among the top 10 juniors in America, but most analysts debate whether he is better than 5-11 Jason Gardner, a point guard from Indianapolis who visited Duke last fall.
The two have different styles; Nelson is taller, rangier and a better shooter, while the lightning-quick Gardner "is kind of like [North Carolina's] Ed Cota with a better jump shot," according to Brick Oettinger, who covers recruiting for Prep Stars Recruiter's Handbook and the ACC Area Sports Journal.
Francis raved about both Nelson and Gardner, but said, "I'd rather have Jason Gardner because he's quicker, a true point guard all the way, and he shoots well enough. In terms of a pure point guard running a team, I think Jason Gardner is just fabulous."
Gardner is apparently looking at Arizona, Duke, Kentucky and UNC, among others. Nelson was believed to be leaning toward Florida until last weekend, but after his campus visit, he ranked Duke "right at the top now."
Although Gardner and Nelson are both viewed as top-10 prospects, neither has wowed analysts as much as 6-11 center Casey Sanders of Tampa. Duke is reportedly in the lead for Sanders, an athletic post player who most observers rank among the top five juniors.
"He's terrific," Oettinger said. "He has agility and body control that most kids don't have at any size, let alone his size."
Sanders came to Duke for Midnight Madness, as did Gardner and 6-10 forward Nick Horvath of Arden Hills, Minn. Three weeks later, 6-9 1/2 power forward Matt Bonner of Concord, N.H., watched the Duke-Australian National Team exhibition game.
Like Sanders, Bonner, a top-15 prospect, is believed to be leaning toward Duke.
"For being big-bodied and at least a 6-9 kid, he's a really good shooter," said Oettinger, who believes that Bonner could grow to as tall as 6-11. "He's also a very good ballhandler. His fundamentals are very good."
Oettinger added that Bonner's on-court appearance hides his athleticism, claiming that "he doesn't look like that good an athlete if you watch him play," but that Bonner has proven otherwise with impressive moves in dunk contests.
Speaking of dunkers, the Blue Devils have received interest from shooting guard Keith Bogans, a 6-4 skywalker from storied DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Md. Bogans boasts an explosive first step and a deadly outside shot, attributes present in a certain UNC graduate.
"Keith Bogans is the closest thing to Michael Jordan that a lot of guys have seen," Francis said. "Keith Bogans is phenomenal. You don't find many classes with any guys like that.
"The only way to stop Keith Bogans is to hopefully be quick enough make him stop and pull up for a 10- to 15-foot jumper, because you let him get to the basket or shoot the three, and he'll kill you."
Francis insisted that the Michael Jordan comparison should not make anyone expect Bogans to be "the next Michael Jordan." Bogans apparently will not follow Jordan's path to Chapel Hill; after former UNC coach Dean Smith retired in October, the 6-4 guard reportedly narrowed his list of colleges to Duke, Kentucky and Georgia Tech.
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