October 30, 2002

John Watson

The saga continues

Thanks to the influence of the Internet today's recruiting for the high major programs is often filled with disinformation and unfounded rumors.  Often fans have to take the time to not only evaluate the information, but also the source of their information.  Too often those factors don't add up to anything that could be considered reliable.  The latest example of this phenomenon shows up in the recruitment of the nation's top college bound prospect Luol Deng, who will end one of the longest running recruitments in the country on Tuesday.  TDD takes a moment to answer some of the latest rumors.

Early on Tuesday morning the rumor mill started to crank up regarding Deng's decision.  Some said the choice had already been made, while others said Deng was waiting for his father to arrive from Europe in order to make his decision.  The next rumor to surface was that at least one or two of the teams on Deng's list had been eliminated.  This trend would continue for most of the day before finally fizzling out in a cloud of confusion late in the day.

Deng sat down with RivalsHoops.com yesterday and gave an interview with Russ Blake () to clear the air on a number of situations.

Deng gave a recap of each visit and explained just what is appealing about each program.  When asked about Duke and playing time thanks to the recent signing of the famed 'Super Six' recruiting class, Deng said that the Blue Devils explained and showed how he would fit in and be a unique asset to the program thanks to his versatility.  Deng also indicated that he felt very comfortable with the freshman class at Duke.

The 6-foot-8 Blair Academy standout also said that he was looking for a program with a family atmosphere and a coach he could maintain contact with no matter where he was in his hoops career.

November 5th appears to be the day when the world will know where the nation's top college bound prospect will be enrolling next fall.  For the rest of the week, Deng will discussing the pros and cons of each program with head coach Joe Mantegna, his older brother Ajou and his father who's coming over from London.

Rated as a five star prospect (), Deng is one of the most versatile players to come out of high school in recent memory.  He can play any position on the floor with relative ease, and will even be running the point guard slot for head coach Joe Mantegna and Blair Academy this year.

Note:  Premium Subscribers can follow the Deng recruitment by taking advantage of our Premium Ticket service and logging into the Premium Message Boards.  There subscribers have enjoyed a minute-to-minute account of all the latest developments including the latest rumors, insider tidbits, and analysis. 

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Latest News on Deng from TDD and Rivals.com

• Luol Deng Q&A -- Oct. 29, 11:02 am
• Deng Discusses His Recruiting -- Oct. 29, 8:55 am
• Getting Close to the End of Deng's Saga -- Oct. 29, 6:56 am
• TheDevilsDen.com Members Only War Room