Friday, May 13, 2011

It's time for DeAndre Daniels to make up his mind

(Ed. Note: Due to technical maintenance to Blogger's user interface, we have been unable to publish any posts for the last 36 hours. This post should have been published on Thursday afternoon. Thank you for your patience)

DeAndre Daniels recruitment took another surprising turn on Thursday, as Jeff Goodman of FOXSports.com broke the news that Duke was no longer an option for the athletic, 6'7" forward from IMG Academy. There was a growing buzz that Daniels would end up in Durham -- particularly after Kyrie Irving inferred as much in an interview last month -- but that is apparently no longer the case. Academics seem to have played a part in that decision.

That means that Daniels will end up at Kansas, Texas, or, frankly, anywhere. That's what makes this process so confusing. No one really knows. Not even Dave Telep of ESPN.com, who is probably the most connected media member when it comes to recruiting. From his insider blog on Thursday afternoon:

After speaking with a few people, I've settled on the phrase "paralysis by analysis." To be clear, I have no hard hitting inside knowledge. Frankly, I can't even tell who is really in the mix. Could it be Texas? Duke? Kansas? Someone we've never heard of? All of the above are possibilities. Since no one knows where he's going to go, I asked a simpler question: will he sign?
Like Daniels' recruitment, no one is really sure.

"If I had to guess, I'd say no," one assistant who is recruiting Daniels said. "There's no real rhyme or reason to anything. It's as bizarre as a decision as I've ever seen. It could change on an hourly basis."
The spring signing period ends on Wednesday, the 18th, but that deadline isn't as much of a deadline as you might believe. Daniels cannot sign a Letter of Intent after the 18th, but he is free to go to any school that would have him. And I'm sure that anyone -- Kansas and Texas included -- would be willing to allow the 18th ranked recruit in our consensus rating to come to join the team, LOI or no LOI.

Daniels recruitment has been a roller coaster to follow. He committed to Texas back in 2009 but backed off in 2010. Since then, he's been rumored to be headed to Kentucky, Kansas, and Duke, changing high schools during the process.

There is no question about Daniels' talent.

But at some point, indecision and a lack of commitment has to outweigh that talent. Can anyone really be excited about landing a player that could not decide on a college to attend by May 18th of his last year in high school -- and keep in mind, Daniels is a post grad, meaning this is his fifth year of high school?

Can any coach really feel comfortable relying on Daniels' commitment to their team when he's showed the lack of ability to commit to anything during his recruitment?

Its time to make a decision, young man.

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