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True but look at where all the 2004 1st round QBs are in the NFL. Eli is starting (poorly) for the Giants, Rivers is 2nd string behind the Frankenstine like Drew Brees and then Ben Rothelsberger is going to be the rookie of the year and should be one of the best QB's this year. Yet Dorsey has been in the NFL for a while and he is 3rd in the depth charts for one of the worst teams, the 49ers.

Schools like Duke, Kansas, UNC and Kentucky will always have great recruiting classes. They'll always field good basketball teams. Teams like NC State and Illinois would be hard pressed to come up with one of those schools "average" recruiting classes but that's the way it is. If you look at this year's Illinois team, there's actually only one McD AA and that's Dee Brown. At the same time, I believe everyone in the starting 5 was a top 100 prospect. If you can get 5 solid starters or 4 solid starters and a star, you'll be good.

The year we got Dee Brown, Deron Williams and James Augustine, UNC got McCants, Felton and May. That was a monster recruiting class for them but I like the way our team is turning out.

That same year, Duke picked up Dockery, Redick, Randolph, Williams, and Thompson. One transfer, three starters, and a defensive whiz. Plus they were within one bad three minute stretch of going to the NCAA Championship game (and likely winning it, although that is debatable). There were a few good hauls that year I guess. It would be nice if Randolph actually decided to show up for a game now though. He looks even worse than he did his freshman year out there, and that's saying something.

card, I think that Duke class was actually rated #1. I believe Dockery, Redick and Randolph were all McD AA's. Williams would have been a sure fire McD AA if he hadn't gotten into his trouble with the law. I don't really recall if Michael Thompson was. I know he was one of the highest rated center's in that class and certainly could have been.

That makes a class of pretty much all AA's except for Melchionni. What happened to that guy? Does he get any playing time?

Thompson was an All American, another one from instate that got away from your Illini. Williams' law trouble, which he was cleared of BTW, was the only real reason he wasn't on the team like you said.

Melchionni was a top 100 guy who walked on at Duke his first year and picked up his scholarship the next year. He comes off the bench this year, but doesn't necessarily play a ton. For the season, he's averaging 13 minutes a game, 6.2 points and 2.8 rebounds. He always plays tough thought, so I think K likes him. He's a decent outside shooter who might make a difference this year, but realistically he'll be a role player til the conclusion of his Duke career.

A couple more wins for Duke, 82-54 over Toledo Sunday for Coach K's 700th, and 88-55 over Illinois-Chicago last night. While maybe not the greatest competition, those two were both predicted to do well in their respective conferences (Toldeo 1st in MAC West and UIC 1st in Horizon). I didn't even get to see the highlights of Sunday's game, so I won't comment on it, but I did watch a bit of last evening's tilt. Last night, Duke looked simply brilliant in stretches and then really sloppy in others. JJ Redick and Danile Ewing, who are looking like a lethal scoring duo, did their part with 21 and 14 points, but the man of the match was Shelden Williams. UIC's tallest player was listed at 6'9", but when he stood next to Shelden, he looked about 2-3" shorter. Starting early in the second half, Duke made an effort to get the ball inside to him, and he dominated from then on. The final line for him was: 7-11, 23 pts, 14 reb, 7 blks. Great game for him.

The team is looking good, I think they may be better than I had originally thought as the bench is starting to take shape with Love and McClure playing tough, Melchionni hitting shots, and Nelson scoring a bit and rebounding from the guard spot. Next up is Oklahoma at MSG this weekend. I look forward to seeing how they match up.

Duke won their game this week over Oklahoma, 78-67. Redick was a monster again with 26 points. Williams had 14 and 13 I believe. The big news for them this week is that Shavlik Randolph, their starting PF, is going to be out indefinitely with mononucleosis. This is gonna leave a gaping hole in the front court for the Blue Devils and despite his relative ineffectiveness this year, casts doubt on our chances at competing in the ACC. If he had stepped up, we would be on par with any team in the nation IMO. Now, we can't seriously be considered as a contender. No idea how long he'll be out, but I hope for a speedy recovery so he can at least play some role on this team in 2005.

Is that Oklahoma game the one they were down at halftime? I'll have to admit, I was cheering for the Sooners but Redick really caught fire in the second half. Shelden was a monster on the boards. He's certainly one I would have loved to see in an Illini uniform.

The Illini had a week off for finals but I'm looking forward to some of their upcoming games. They have the annual "Braggin' Rights" contest against Missouri in St. Louis. They don't have as strong a team as in the past few years but it's still a highly anticipated game. It's one of those games where the crowd is split 50/50 in the arena. At halftime a couple of year's back, one of their fans ran on the court and tackled our mascot, ahem, symbol.

I'd say that even with the loss to Shavlik, Duke has a solid team. I still like their starting 5 a lot with Shelden anchoring the middle and Redick on the outside. Ewing's a great player, too. I think they lack in depth but K usually likes a 7 or 8 man rotation anyway, right?

Yeah, OU led by 10 at the half, but they stormed back. As for losing Randolph, K likes 7 or 8 but they only had 8 guys on scholarship this year, so losing one, especially one of their only two effective big guys, hits them hard. Hopefully he is not out too long, because they need him to have a chance in the NCAA Tourney. Redick, Williams, and Ewing can handle the scoring but somone's gonna have to pick up the slack on the boards, whether it be Reggie Love or David McClure, or G Demarcus Nelson, because they can't depend on JJ going for 26 a night to get them by in the ACC.

Well, the Braggin' Rights game is on right now. It's 11-8 Illinois after 9 minutes and the game has been pretty ugly thus far. The ball movement has been terrible and they're taking forced and contested outside shots. Hopefully, they'll find their way soon.

Illinois pulled out a win for ya victory, 70-64. It wasn't pretty, but as they say, a win is a win. 11-0 they are.

Yeah, it was a sloppy win but I'll take it. The Illini were giving something like 16 to 18 points in Vegas. I heard this right before tip off and I wish I could have placed a bet. That's just way too much for a rivalry game. I don't care if it's the #1 ranked team in the nation vs. an unranked team. Then the Illini pulled to a 16 point lead in the 2nd half and I thought it was a good thing I didn't make a bet.

In any case, I'll probably stay away from betting on the Illini for a while. I got hurt real bad in the 2001 Elite 8 against Arizona. The Illini were taking 1 1/2 points and I put all of my winnings and my principle thus far in the tournament on the Illini. The sting of the Illini losing hurt twice as bad as I also lost a boatload (in my terms) of money.

It's tempted me to bet against the Illini at times to hedge my interests but I can never bring myself to it. So I'll stay away from betting on college basketball for now.

What was with that squeaking out a 26 pt win over Longwood the other night Victory? Anyway, that win over Gonzaga is looking better and better after the Zags have beaten the #3 team in the country two weeks in a row (last week Georgia Tech, this week Oklahoma State, 78-75 this evening).

No Duke games this week, but a recruiting bit on Duke/Illinois target Jon Scheyer....he's narrowed his list to 4 schools-Illinois, Duke, Wisconsin, and Arizona. Here's an article on it for ya victory: link He'll look really nice in the Duke uniform I bet.

You know, the team has been taking a lot of criticism over those talk radio shows over that win. I think one of Longwoods players scored 30 points on us. That Gonzaga win is looking pretty good, though. I was cheering for them tonight and was glad they pulled it off.

I'm sure he'd look good in any uniform but he'd look best suiting up for the Illini. I dread the thought of coming to this thread if you guys get him. We've lost far too many Chicago players to you guys.

Alright, Victory-what's your take on the game this Friday? My Cats a are a little better and deeper than last year, although they're a bit banged up now. I hate to say this, but I'd almost be happy with a 10 point loss after the debacle in last year's tourney. Is there any concern at all in the Illini camp, or are we just another small bump in your road to the FF?