Austin Rivers: A Player We’d Like To See In the ACC

It seemed like Austin Rivers was destined to stay near his home in Florida.

After he committed to the in-state Florida Gators, it seemed like a done deal. The Gators would get one of the best point guards in the 2011 class, Austin would stay close to home (Gainesville is relatively close to Winter Park, FL) and everything seemed settled.

But as Rivers continued to improve, he began to consider that he may have committed too early, and after mulling it over, eventually de-committed from the Gators and decided to weigh other offers. He still is considering Florida as a high possibility, but the full court press from other schools such as UNC and Duke is now in full effect.

Rivers, whose father is the famed ex-Atlanta Hawks PG, Doc Rivers, knows all about the world of basketball from his father’s current job as coach of the Boston Celtics, and an older brother who plays for Indiana:

“[Doc Rivers’] four kids like the idea of having a father who coaches in the NBA. Spencer loves shooting baskets at TD Garden before games. Austin Rivers is accustomed to seeing his father at a lot of his Winter Park High School games and fully understood that he had other responsibilities. Jeremiah Rivers will be a redshirt senior guard at Indiana.”

So where will Austin Rivers end up? Right now it’s still up in the air, but he is a special talent that we’d love to see in the ACC.

Desmond Hubert: Heavy ACC Interest

Desmond Hubert is one of the better big men available in the 2011 class, a pure post player who comes in at 6’9″ and plays his high school basketball in New Jersey.

Desmond has said he will probably land in the Big East or the ACC, and in our related story on BasketballElite.com, Alex Kline reports that he has offers and interest from plenty of those schools.

Desmond is a big man who “plays” big, meaning he’s not drifting outside to shoot from the perimeter and works hard to get garbage buckets, or be in the right position for a slashing guard to feed.

Austin Rivers Loves Duke, But…

So Austin Rivers (PG, 6’4″, 2011), who has officially opened his recruitment back up and immediately mentioned Duke as a possible destination, has now visited Duke. No, that’s not so much news, but what is novel in the age of Twitter and blogging is that Austin has blogged about his visit to Duke on DimeMag.com:

That was really cool to see everything there. It was a major event! Just the history and the campus and seeing all my boys down there was really fun. I was actually feeling a little under the weather that night of the banquet, but there was so much going on that it didn’t stop me from having a good time.

What’s even more interesting is that Dime Magazine chose to give this story the headline “AUSTIN RIVERS H.S. HOOP DIARY: VISITING (AND LOVING) DUKE”. The meme that’s been repeated is that Austin loves Duke so much that he’s already a lock for Coach K, but nothing in the story indicates that. In fact, Austin states that his visit to Duke was extremely brief, and a more accurate representation of his visit would seem that he will need more information.

Austin goes on to give a timetable for his final decision:

My goal is to have a decision around August. I want to have it done before my high school season for sure, but I’m shooting for August. That looks doable right now.

This entire process could mirror the C.J. Leslie saga, where the hometown player commits to the local team early, then de-commits, then finally, after considering other options, goes with his first choice.

The reasons for Austin, or any player to go somewhere other than their original choice is either that they did not realize all of the options they might have or something could have changed with the original choice. For example, a coaching change. However, in many cases, the reasons that a player committed early are the same reasons available later.

Austin also states he will visit North Carolina soon.

North Carolina is Recruiting Austin Rivers

It seems that it is official, despite what Austin Rivers (PG/SG, 6’4″, 2011) says about being committed to Florida, he isn’t. After saying he was still committed to the Gators, he started entertaining discussions with the Duke Blue Devils and even took an unofficial visit to Durham. While it isn’t clear if Rivers is just looking around, or if there are real problems in Gainesville that might be giving him pause, one thing is for sure: Austin Rivers is not really committed to Florida, and he might end up somewhere else.

Now that has come to fruition as the news that the North Carolina Tar Heels are also in the mix for Rivers, and he told Scout.com that he was listening. UNC has already lined up to see Rivers play and Rivers seems ready to add them to his ‘list’, which is an odd discussion for someone to have if they are committed.

This recruitment is now back in full swing it seems, with the old rivalry between the Heels and the Devils right on the front lines.

Rivers, a slight-of-build player from Florida, has really started to come into his own as possibly the top SG of the 2011 class. The son of Doc Rivers, he’s developed into a very prolific big guard.

Austin Rivers video:

Brandon Knight Creates New Duke Recruiting Battle

Brandon Knight (PG/SG, 6’3″, 2010) is no longer considered an ACC prospect, having eliminated the Miami Hurricanes a couple of weeks ago, but that doesn’t mean he can’t affect the ACC in terms of recruiting.

The Florida Gators, one of Knight’s final schools, have pulled themselves out of the running and are no longer recruiting the star shooter, which means that even more signs are pointing towards Brandon ending up playing for the Kentucky Wildcats, although all bets are off.

But. it also means that Florida can focus more energy on Austin Rivers (PG/SG, 6’4″, 2010), a player who originally committed to the Florida Gators but has since visited Duke and says they are in the running. Don’t believe Rivers when he says he’s committed to the Gators; Duke is definitely in the mix and now that Florida is pulling off of Knight, expect the full court press from the Gators to finalize Rivers’ decision.

Kyrie Irving picks Duke; Update on Harrison Barnes

Kyrie Irving (6’1″, PG/SG, 2010) has officially committed to Duke, giving Coach K another guard to run the offense and adds a great passer to the Blue Devils. This recruit was needed by the Devils and many in Durham will be breathing easier with him in the fold.

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Harrison Barnes (SF, 6′ 7″, 2010) is now officially a much watched ACC recruit, with his top three reportedly UNC, Duke and Kansas. While the Iowa high school star has taken an official visit to UNC and Oklahoma, he’s also taken one to Kansas among several ‘unofficial’ visits. So the question is, where would Barnes fit in the best? There’s no doubt that this battle for Barnes is heating up.

ACC Players in the Draft; UNC Offers McAdoo

A quick rundown of ACC players taken in the NBA draft last night:

First Round

#12, Charlotte – Gerald Henderson , Duke
#13, Indiana – Tyler Hansbrough, UNC
#16, Chicago – James Johnson, Wake Forest
#18, Minnesota – Ty Lawson, UNC (traded to Denver)
#19, Atlanta – Jeff Teague, Wake Forest
#28, Minnesota – Wayne Ellington, UNC
#29, New York – Toney Douglas, Florida State

Second Round

#46, Phoenix – Danny Green, UNC
#51, San Antonio – Jack McClinton, Miami

Some initial head scratches in the overall draft, such as why Jack McClinton wasn’t drafted higher or why the Bobcats took a guard when when they need post players so badly.

James McAdoo offered by UNC

James McAdoo (PF, 6’8″, 2011) now has another offer from an ACC school, and it’s a big one. The UNC Tar Heels have offered McAdoo according to Scout.com, and this offer is added to the existing ones he has from Virginia, Clemson, Kentucky and Florida. McAdoo is one of the top ranked recruits for 2011 and has several big schools after him. He’s also strongly considering Duke at this time.

McAdoo is a strong player with good patience and timing. That timing allows him to be both a shot blocker and a scorer when combined with his solid 10 foot floater and ability to wade through traffic to get through the hoop. Definitely a big time prospect.

Here’s some video of McAdoo:

Tyler Thornton Video

Tyler Thornton (PG/SG, 6’2″, 2010) might be a guard but he does know how to post up two bigger players as evidenced by this video clip, in which he goes to the hoop and gets the bucket and the foul.

Thornton is a Duke Blue Devil basketball commitment and can handle the ball, slashing to the rim as seen in this video. I think Thornton will fit in well with the Duke style of play and should work his way into significant minutes.

Big Games Help Basketball Recruiting

Adam Zagoria has a post about the Duke Xavier game and how it helps recruiting, and that’s why it was scheduled:

Both teams want to continue to draw on the rich talent pool in the New York/New Jersey area…

Xavier’s emergence this season as a power team (which they’ll get a chance to prove when they take on the Blue Devils) is due in part to their ability to recruit the NY/NJ region.

Meanwhile, Mater Dei High School in Santa Ana, CA, tops the PrepNation.com poll:

1. Santa Ana, Calif., Mater Dei
2. Newark, N.J., St. Benedict’s
3. Mouth of Wilson, Va., Oak Hill
4. Elizabeth, N.J., St. Patrick
5. Los Angeles, Calif., Fairfax
6. Duncanville, Texas
7. Henderson, Nev., Findlay
8. Brooklyn, N.Y., Lincoln
9. Minnetonka, Minn., Hopkins
10. Rockville, Md., Montrose Christian

Of course, Mater Dei boasts Travis Wear (PF, 6’9″, 2009) and David Wear (PF, 6’9″, 2009), both of whom have committed to UNC, as well as Andy Brown (PF, 6’8″, 2009), a big man who has committed to Stanford.

Tyler Thornton Video & Tony Wroten

Tyler Thornton (PG/SG,6’2″, 2010), the Duke commit who will likely be coming in and run some point after Nolan Smith, is shown in this video accepting an All-Tournament Award. No basketball action in the video, though.

Tony Wroten ruled ineligible

Tony Wroten (SG, 6’4″, 2011), considered by some to be the #1 player in the 2011 class, has been ruled ineligible to play at his current high school:

“We’re fighting because it’s wrong what’s happening,” Wroten’s father, Tony Wroten Sr., said Monday. “We’re disputing what the district claims, and we’ll handle it in a legal manner.”

Wroten doesn’t seem likely to end up in the ACC but he’s still one of the premier players in the class and one to definitely keep an eye on.