Certainly had some stuff going on with boosters as Bawlmer noted. Coach K claims plausible deniability, like Wooden. "nothing to see here, I don't know anything about it'. With his clout, NCAA was never going after him.
Much like Saban, the top talent wants to play for the best coaches. Do/did they skirt the rules some? Absolutely but a kid picking Duke isn’t mainly for being paid. Now a top 10 talent kid picking a program with an unproven coach with unproven success always smells fishy.
I actually am more of the mind that the Dukes, UK's of the world...probably weren't cheating much more than any number of other schools were. They were, most likely, using their ties to Nike, Coach K's ties to lots and lots of famous people and their influence/money, etc... to their advantage. But I don't think those schools had to actually "break" a bunch of rules to achieve the recruiting successes they did.
That's one way to look at it. Duke landing Zion Williamson was eye-opening, though. From what's come out from his "agent" at the time he was pretty clearly looking for a deal. Did Duke and Coach K just totally change his mind about his priorities? They certainly changed his family's living situation.
Sounds like coach K cheated smarter than the guys who allowed phone calls to be taped.
I guess my point is the time tested Kentucky fan argument that many, many schools were engaging in things like this before NIL...Duke and Kentucky probably were as well, alongside programs like Louisville, Kansas, Arizona, Memphis, UConn, on and on...They got Zion though because they are Duke. However Duke/Coach K facilitate such things, most likely through third parties...and now out in the open through NIL...there are dozens of other programs doing the same thing. Duke gets 3 out of the top 5 players because of the insulated NBA mini camp atmosphere they've created.
Dirty, since at least the Maggette and Boozer days.
I just remember how many Duke recruit parents suddenly got jobs in the Durham area. They definitely turned a blind eye to alumni involvement.
Speaking of Memphis …
Yeah, a UK fan I know is just as adamant about Coach K being a cheater as any of us, which I’ve always found quite ironic, to say the least.
I know of a 5 star who was paid as part of the recruitment … the HS coach and I are friends. Said there was a bag man engaged, even more so … I think he only took one class at Duke his entire freshman year … they were using NC Central or Durham Tech and then just transferring the credits.
It is a well-known fact on this board that anyone who runs a more successful basketball program than Indiana does it by cheating.
K and Dook gave Zion’s family a house they could not afford. Well, not directly. K like Wooden let 3rd parties do his dirty work.
