NCAA Basketball ACC BasketballDuke Blue Devils

Mike Krzyzewski’s World Cup Gold Will Only Strengthen Duke Recruiting Machine

Fresh Videos

By @writered21

K

Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports

It’s not like the Duke Blue Devils needed any more ammunition to recruit the top high school basketball talent in the country, but with the United States dominating at the FIBA World Cup and winning the gold medal with a 129-92 demolition of Serbia, Mike Krzyzewski has raised his profile to an even higher level in the ACC and nationally.

What makes the World Cup triumph so interesting for Coach K is not who he won the tournament with, but who he won it without. He didn’t have Kevin Durant, who chose not to play. He didn’t have Paul George, who got injured in the run-up to the tournament. He won this gold medal with a new set of American stars, including recent college standouts like Anthony Davis (Kentucky) and Kyrie Irving, whom Krzyzewski coached at Duke.

All of the players on the team were 26 or younger, with Davis and Andre Drummond being just 21.

The success was another way to show how Krzyzewski can blend talent into a team that is dangerous when titles are on the line. While Duke has faltered at times recently against the likes of Lehigh and Mercer in the NCAA tournament, it wouldn’t be wise to expect a down year in Durham despite the Blue Devils having to replace Jabari Parker among others.

Not only do they have the top recruiting class that includes four McDonald’s All-Americans, but any high school player who watched this World Cup had to be impressed with how Krzyzewski constructed this team, got everyone to play together, and got the results.

All of which means there is now a whole new class of current high school players thinking to themselves how much they would want to be a part of a Krzyzewski-coached program. Some will have already made their minds up that if Duke comes calling, they are going to answer by committing to and signing for the Blue Devils.

It may not be fair to the rest of the ACC, but Krzyzewski’s long and successful tenure at the helm of USA Basketball is definitely a bargaining chip that helps put Duke past other schools in recruiting races.

With this year’s top group of freshmen about to start practice in a month or so, it will be interesting now to see how Krzyzewski parlays this latest international success into a significant recruiting haul that will put Duke back into the national title conversation over the next several years to come.

Ed Morgans is an ACC Basketball Writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @writered21 and add him to your network on Google.

Share Tweet
Trending Now on