Since his time at Memphis, the “one-and-done” college basketball player has been John Calipari’s mantra. His most successful teams have been led by one-and-done star freshmen who have gone on to be lottery picks in the NBA draft.
For example, Derrick Rose, John Wall, Demarcus Cousins, Anthony Davis, Julius Randle, Karl-Anthony Towns, De’Aaron Fox, etc. The list goes on and on.
For a long time, Calipari was alone at the top recruiting these one-year players. Many college coaches stayed away from recruiting these kinds of players in search of more “long-term” investments, a.k.a. guys who would stay with a program for 3-4 years. However, there was no denying the success that Coach Cal was having with his one-and-done type of players.
In 2013, legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski stepped onto the one-and-done scene and began recruiting these kinds of players to Duke. After resisting the one-and-done trend for a while, he did a 180 and brought a ton of one-and-done talent to Duke until he retired after last season.
When Coach K embraced the one-and-done, he definitely gave Coach Cal a run for his money as they competed for many of the same highly touted recruits. In many cases, Coach K ended up with the upper hand in those battles.
Players that Kentucky missed out on that ended up at Duke include Zion Williamson (2018), RJ Barrett (2018), Paolo Banchero (2021), Harry Giles (2016), Vernon Carey Jr. (2019), Brandon Ingram (2015), etc.
For a while, it seemed like Coach K had stolen Coach Cal’s recruiting mojo.
This year marks the first year that Mike Krzyzewski won’t be coaching the Duke Blue Devils since 1979. With Coach K out of the picture, it would be a prime opportunity for Coach Cal to resume his domination in recruiting.
The “Jon Scheyer Era” of Duke Basketball
In a recent interview with The Athletic, first-year Duke head basketball coach, Jon Scheyer, informed that a culture change was due for their program, starting with recruiting.
“I feel really good about what we’ve done, and what we’re doing, but going forward, to me, it’s important that we have continuity from season to season,’’ Scheyer told the Athletic. “From a culture perspective, it’s hard to do in college basketball, but we feel we can do it in a really good way, while still recruiting differently. I don’t think we’ll recruit as many freshmen in a class going forward.’’
“Unpack your bags,’’ he says. “It’s not a pit stop. You have to be all in.’’
If this is the route that Duke decides to go with recruiting going forward, the opportunity for John Calipari to dominate recruiting one-and-done players once again is right there for the taking.
It does need to be noted that the article says, “Calipari, the mastermind of one-and-done winning, has hit the portal hard to get old.” However, this is primarily because of the increased competition in recruiting elite prospects.
Other programs have done well recruiting the one-and-done’s also, but Duke has by-and-far been Kentucky’s greatest competition. More teams are now also taking advantage of the revamped transfer portal, trying to cash in on talented players with division 1 experience.
With the revamped transfer portal and Kentucky’s largest recruiting competition intending to make a change with their recruiting, Coach Cal’s recruitment of the one-and-done stars may run unopposed.
Kentucky fans may see John Calipari and the Wildcats rule college basketball once again, sooner rather than later.
Related