DICK knows dick
OU basketball recruiting has had a fantastic fall with OU receiving a verbal from one five star in Cameron Clark, visits from the following five star plays
- Harrison Barnes 6-7 F (generally regarded as the top player in 2010)
- Doron Lamb 6-5 SG (top 20 by most services)
- Terrence Jones 6-8 F (top 20 by most services)
So I was a little confused when I was reading the great basketball message board for Sooner fans, OUHoops.com that I was directed to this article by DICK Vitale.
In this article, Vitale is writing about how the recruitment of Harrison Barnes may come down to UNC v Duke.
Now here’s my real issue, in the article published 10/14, Vitale states
-
“We all know that Duke and North Carolina have a phenomenal rivalry…I think it is the best in college sports! I know, fans in Columbus and Ann Arbor, or at Auburn and Alabama may disagree.
The Duke-North Carolina rivalry won’t be contested on the hardwood for several months. Right now, they are going head-to-head, battling big time. This showdown is at a neutral site, not in Chapel Hill or Durham.
Come on, are you wondering what I am talking about?
This battle is taking place in Ames, Iowa, home of Iowa State. It is also the home of the top recruit in the minds of many, 6-8 Harrison Barnes. He is very athletic, and he has tantalized many.
Barnes has narrowed down his choice between a number of powerful programs: North Carolina, Duke, UCLA and Kansas. He also has the local school, the Cyclones of Iowa State, in contention too.”
So ignoring his usual slobbering over ACC powers Duke and UNC, he has clearly ignored the fact that Harrison Barnes is considering OU and had already completed his official visit to Norman back on October 3rd.
Perhaps this piece of information that Barnes is considering OU is not well known. However, ESPN.com’s basketball recruiting profile for Harrison Barnes has this update posted on 10/8:
“ESPNU’s top-ranked player Harrison Barnes has changed one of his official visits, his mother, Shirley, confirmed to www.TheShiver.com. Barnes will now visit UCLA on Oct. 30. The 6-7 small forward has already visited North Carolina and Oklahoma, and will take trips to Kansas (Oct. 16), Duke (Oct. 23) the Bruins and an unofficial visit to Iowa State on Nov. 6. “
So clearly it’s well known to his own website that Barnes “officially” visited OU. Barnes used one of his five official visits to go to OU that’s not a low level of interest that’s a legitimate shot to sign him level of interest.
So why not mention of OU in his article?
1. Vitale is deliberately leaving OU out of the article for some reason? His personal bias towards ACC powers Duke and UNC alters how he reports a story.
2. Vitale didn’t do any research whatsoever into this article. His level of incompetence is so high that he cannot do some simple fact checking from his own website’s resources.
Now, should I really be surprised at this shoddy journalism from DICK? Not really, let’s recall this is the same guru/expert in college hoops that had 3 preseason All American teams and somehow managed to leave off, unanimous Player of the Year Blake Griffin. Yes, the voice of college basketball for the worldwide leader in sports thought that there were 6 frontcourt players better than Blake Griffin. He came to this conclusion despite the fact that Blake was number one or two on almost every NBA mock draft before the season started, including his own website’s mock draft.
The really offensive thing about this article is that Vitale doesn’t even interview Harrison Barnes at all, he makes some odd reference to a conversation that they had several years ago. What’s really happening is that Vitale is being a recruiting mouthpiece for his two beloved ACC programs. Nothing more.
It’s not well researched, it provides no insight into where Barnes is going other than he should choose between his hall of famer coaching friends Williams and Krzyzewski.
So DICK stick to your clownish antics at basketball games and leave writing on basketball recruiting to someone that actually talks to recruits and isn’t biased about the programs involved.
