Tag Archives: Brian Clifton

BDN Premium chats with Brian Clifton about John Wall and his recruitment

misc-challenge-065BDN deals in facts, not rumors.  Everybody wants to know the latest on John Wall and what is going on in his camp.  I talked with Brian Clifton last evening and he broke down the process of the hottest recruiting battle in the nation.  If you are not a member of BDN Premium, then you're simply missing the best Duke subscription service available.

Will John Wall trim his list? [private] Maybe not according to Clifton.  At this point all the teams may be in there until the end.

Baylor - That's where Clifton preferred John Wall to go.  The reasoning was that he could be with his brother,  but Clifton admitted that it would raise some eyebrows and that Wall is not seriously considering them.

"I will go where John Wall goes," said Clifton.  No matter where John Wall goes, Clifton will be there with him.  This has already been discussed with Wall's Mom, who gave her blessing.

How will Wall's choice affect his D-One program? Clifton said he had a good staff and could run it from afar, but he also mentioned that it would be nice to stay in the area and that he preferred that.  Still, he would go wherever he needs to go for the benefit of Wall.

"The process is flawed," said Clifton.  He mentioned that coaches could only meet with John one time officially and that all they could do now was send e-mails and such.  He feels a prospect needs more time to evaluate what a coach is really like, meaning he might realize more from extended contacts bettering relationships.

"He's what's important and it is important that he feels that," said Clifton.  This means he wants to support Wall's decision.

Making a wise choice - Clifton wants to make sure that Wall examines all angles of the possibilities at hand.

How important is proximity to home for Wall? It's not at the top of the list.  Wall knows he will have Clifton no matter where he goes.

Kentucky -  Wall loves Calipari and has talked to him the most, but there is a question as to whether it's the best situation for John.

Florida - Glowing reviews for Florida where Clifton knows Donovan personally and his brother played for Larry Shyatt.

Miami - "They have some good players down there," said Clifton.  He admitted there were worse places to spend a year than South Beach.

Duke - "They've got some good players," said Clifton, who then rattled off the names on the roster.  Also mentioned was Ryan Kelly who is a D-One product.  Wall and Kelly were a one-two punch last season.

Will Wall visit Duke again? "Maybe, we'll see," said Clifton, who then went on to say that John feels like he has enough information to make a decision.  They have gathered a lot of information and continue to go over it.

Tough question - Would Wall have already committed had you not been involved as a mentor?  "John is an emotional guy.  He would have probably committed twice already."

Tough question two - Would Wall have already committed to Kentucky if it were not for taking a long look at the process?  "Probably."

Another fact about Wall - He likes to please the people around him.

When will a decision be made - "Who knows," said Clifton.

SAT Scores - "We feel real good about the test he took this past Saturday," said a confident Clifton.

There is more which I will discuss on the message board after this weekend's tournament coverage.  To read too much into these statements would be unwise, but this is the very latest information out there on Wall from a person very, very close to him. [/private]

BDN talks to John Wall about his visit with Coach K, “It was great!”

Wall posed for BDN at last years TOC event
Wall posed for BDN at last years TOC event

John Wall was able to sit down with Coach Mike Krzyzewski on Sunday evening.  Wall is the nation's top point guard prospect, and he will be making one of the biggest decisions in his young life by April 30th.  Blue Devil Nation Premium spoke to Wall about his visit and the first thing said was, "It was great," when questioned about the visit. [private]

Wall visited with his Mom and AAU Coach Brian Clifton of D-One Sports.   The three of them arrived around 6:00 and he talked to Coach K  just over an hour.  "A lot of people have told me a lot of things about him (Coach K) and he wasn't exactly what I expected, but I got to see for myself," said Wall of Krzyzewski.  Wall continued, "He told me how he would use me in his system and I like what I heard."

When asked if he could see himself in a Duke uniform running the show, Wall exclaimed, "Yes, I can see that."  The visit was a long time coming and many were starting to wonder if it would ever take place.  Wall said that he was able to tour the basketball facilities and that they were really nice.  "I felt comfortable and really liked what I saw," said Wall.

I asked if Wall had discussed the visit with his Mom and Clifton and he replied, "I really haven't had a chance to sit down and discuss it yet."  Wall did say that Clifton thought it was a great place.  He mentioned that he would be concentrating on the Nike Hoop Summit and that he may have taken all of his visits, which pretty much means Miami is out.  "Right now, my list is still the same," said Wall.

Wall was very upbeat during the conversation, but stopped short of saying he was offered.  "Well, not really, but I think it's there.  I know it's there if I wanted to come.  I'm pretty sure it's there."  It was clear that John was still processing the visit, but for all those who think he is not taking the Blue Devil's seriously, think again.  "The visit definitely helped, I feel better about them after talking with Coach K."

When asked what was the best part of the visit, Wall stated, "Just being able to sit down and talk to Coach K."

The Blue Devil Nation was the first to report of the pending visit and you can bet we'll keep you informed.  With the Curry addition and good vibes coming from Wall's visit, this has been a good day for Duke. I will have more on this article on the message board.  NEW MEMBERS -  Be sure to register for the members only message board.  If you are not up and running within 8 hours, drop us a line.  If you use a different e-mail address than on your paypal account, it may not stand out.  We have to manualy check off members as they join for we cannot keep non-members from registering at this time.   I will have more on the visit by noon tomorrow.  We will also bring you some news and quotes on from 2011 kids on the radar. [/private]