The four McDonald's AA unsigned players, all are considering Duke. You know Capel is at work.
Couldn't find a straight link, but worth the read:
Recruiting Q&A: Hall of Fame coach Morgan Wootten
Mar 30, 2016
Paul Biancardi
Basketball Recruiting
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Morgan Wootten is an unquestioned legend within the game of basketball. A Naismith Hall of Famer, Wootten coached fabled DeMatha Catholic in Hyattsville, Maryland from 1956 to 2002, retiring with a record of 1,274-192. Wootten coached a number of future college and pro stars, won five national championships at the high school level, and has authored six books about the game. Wootten currently serves as selection committee chair for the McDonald’s All-America Games, with the highly anticipated boys’ game set to take place Wednesday night (9 p.m. ET, ESPN). On the eve of that event, ESPN's Paul Biancardi sat down with the 84-year-old Wootten to discuss how both the recruiting world and the game of basketball have changed over the years, as well as the changes he’d make to keep the game on course.
Morgan Wootten (here announcing his retirement in 2002) has been involved with the McDonald's All-American Game since 1978. AP Photo/Nick Wass
When it came to the star players you coached at DeMatha (Adrian Dantley, Kenny Carr, Danny Ferry, Sidney Lowe and Adrian Branch among them), how involved did you get with their recruitments and what kind of advice did you give them?
I developed my recruiting philosophy for my players in 1969. One of my players, James Brown (later the CBS and FOX broadcaster), collapsed during a game and the reason he collapsed was because he was so inundated with the recruiting process, with coaches calling and visiting him. Back then there was no limit on how much you could call or visit. Every night people called him on the phone and kept him up late at night, [he was] so fatigued during a game that he collapsed.
After that moment I decided we needed to have a game plan for recruiting, so from that point on all the recruiting went through our basketball office. Myself and my coaches would set up the calls and visits for the recruit based on who they wanted to talk to and visit with. If schools and coaches didn't agree to this system, then they wouldn't be involved with my players. We would facilitate and set it up, whatever the player and his parents wanted. We would not interfere with the process of schools, but we controlled the communication. From that point on we implemented our system and never had a problem with a player being worn out from the recruiting process.
The other thing we told our players is never to commit on a visit. I always told my players to wait until they came back home and had a chance to talk to their parents about it. It's a honeymoon when you are on a campus visit, and you could be influenced to make a decision you may regret.
I remember back with James Brown, that he told Dean Smith he couldn't commit on his visit but was 99% sure he would go to North Carolina. When he came home, Senator Ted Kennedy (a Harvard alumnus) wanted to have lunch with [Brown] and myself. We sat down, went to lunch, and days later James Brown decided to go to Harvard. That's the reason you don't commit on the visit.
How do you think AAU and summer leagues have impacted the role high school coaches have in the recruiting process? Is the high school coach's role different than it was 20-30 years ago?
Summer coaches are outside influences, and I would ask why are they involving themselves in the process and what is their objective? With regard to the high school coach and athletic director, they have to report to a principal and a superintendent -- they have a direct responsibility to a higher figurehead, which makes their actions accountable.
Outside influences don't report to anyone else, so to me it raises the questions on their influence and why they're doing it. For the high school coach, the biggest problem can be outside influences. How many people can the player and family listen to and trust? I really believe a good high school coach and athletic director can serve that purpose in recruiting.
If a coach is not helping a player in the recruiting process to try to help them get to college or help them with the recruiting process, then shame on them. It's a coach's responsibility. Joe Lapchick (former St. John's and New York Knicks coach) told me a long time ago that a kid will always remember his coach, and how he treated them. So for me and my staff it was always our responsibility to help them, whether that was in the recruiting process or to be recruited. One of my biggest pieces of advice we gave our kids was to treat everyone the same and give everyone the respect who's recruiting you. But you need to control your process.
There are many observers of the game who believe fundamentals have declined among U.S. players in the last couple of decades ... do you agree with that? What one fundamental skill would you teach to every 16- or 17-year-old basketball player if you could?
When it comes to fundamentals I really believe defense and a defensive stance is lacking. The ability to pressure the opponent individually and dictate where that offensive player should go with the ball. What direction he goes, whether it's right or left baseline or middle, is lacking.
It’s not happening, it's not being emphasized to a large degree because of shooting threes and [the] focus on individual offense -- which is important. Being a good defensive player means sitting in your stance and staying in the stance while putting pressure on your opponent and sending him in a certain direction on the floor. Defense is the equalizer when teams don’t shoot the ball well. My hope is that every player becomes a complete player, but I would like to see individual defense taught more.
Do you have an opinion on the one-and-done phenomenon in college basketball? Do you think megastars should be able to jump straight to the NBA if they have the talent?
I remember when I was coaching, you had to wait until your class graduated before you could go to the NBA. That was the rule back in the 60's and 70's, and since then the NBA has continued to change the early entry draft rules. You know, since tennis and golf players can go pro anytime, there should be the freedom to choose, as long as today's basketball player makes an intelligent and informed decision. I do believe if you go to college, even for a year, you become more mature. Bottom line is the freedom to choose should be there for these special players, and hopefully they would make the right decisions.
Some basketball minds think rules at all levels of U.S. basketball should be consistent with international rules (wider lanes, 24 second shot clock, extended three-point line). Do you agree?
I like the idea of opening the lane, because it would create even more freedom of movement in the game. Whoever can control the lane wins the game. I'm not sure why we need to go to 24 seconds in the college game -- I am fine with 30 seconds.
Extending the three-point line would be great, because it may bring back the mid-range jump shot. With a deeper line there won't be as many people shooting threes because it will be further away. Players would have to work on their shooting even more, but the mid-range jump shot would come back.
You are the chairman of the McDonald's All American game. Talk about how the game has evolved and where it’s going.
The game continues to get better and better and better! When the [players] go to the Ronald McDonald house, it's powerful to see the way they interact with everyone. They see how they can help others and make a difference. It's truly such a worthy cause. As far as the game goes, we have the best players in the high school game with excellent coaches. It’s the only high-level, vote-in all-star game with a blue ribbon committee, which makes it special. Don’t forget it’s the first time the NBA gets to lay their eyes on the high school prospects, live in a setting where they go against other players of their caliber. The 24 best go head-to-head in practice, scrimmage and in a game -- it’s a great evaluation tool for the NBA. [Atlanta Hawks GM] Danny Ferry, who played for me, said one time when they're in the draft room meeting and talking about drafting young players the question always comes up -- was he a McDonald's All-American?
