Today, Harrison Barnes will make a decision that could shape the course of Duke men’s basketball for the next four seasons.
Barnes, this year’s No. 1 basketball recruit in the country on scout.com, will publicly announce his college decision at a ceremony held in his high school gymnasium at 3 p.m. Central time, according to DesMoinesRegister.com.
The recruit’s Oct. 23 visit to Duke, which included a meeting with the dean of the Fuqua School of Business, the senior associate dean for Academic Affairs, the secretary of Veteran Affairs, a stay at the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club and a lobster and steak dinner at Head basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski’s house, reflects the University’s treatment of high-profile recruits.
“It was just great to see more of the academic side [of Duke] and develop closer relationships with the players and spend more time with them,” Barnes wrote in an online diary on highschoolhoop.com—a Web site that follows high school basketball and college recruiting. Barnes added that dining with Krzyzewski was “just a really cool time,” and that the Washington Duke Inn was a “really nice hotel.”
The recruitment process was especially tailored to incorporate Barnes’ academic and athletic interests. Fuqua Dean Blair Sheppard met with Barnes to discuss how an undergraduate degree at Duke could prepare the basketball player to achieve his goal of starting his own business. Sheppard said he was asked to speak with Barnes by an alumnus friend.
“As I understood the goal, it was to help [Barnes] think through how you could achieve the same things at Duke that you could at a school with an undergraduate business major,” Sheppard said. “I was in the best position to say what he needs to achieve that.”
According to the Office of Undergraduate Financial Aid, Duke gave $13.4 million in athletic aid last academic year.
Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag described the admission process for varsity athletes as similar to that of non-athletes with a stronger emphasis on extracurricular athletics. “Athletics is one of the many things that is taken into account in the admission process for all students,” Guttentag said. “It is true that one of the many things we look carefully at is the ability to contribute to our athletic program. We pay very careful attention to the recommendation of coaches and their interests. For athletes that have accomplished at the level that they’re going to catch the interest of a program at Duke, their extracurricular activities are going to show some impressive areas in athletics.”
Not every athlete is recruited with the same vigor as Harrison Barnes. Freshman Alyssa Ogle, a member of the women’s lacrosse team, said her visit involved attending a basketball game and a lacrosse team practice and dinner.
Ogle said other women’s lacrosse players were recruited in the same way.
“It’s different for basketball and football because they’re the revenue sports for the school,” she said.
Students’ opinions of the athletic recruitment process are not always as enthusiastic as those of the athletic department.
“The sports add an atmosphere, but then again [a non-athlete] may work harder than [an athlete] while [the athlete] gets special treatment,” said freshman Bennie Padgett. “I think it should be more equal.”
Ogle said the work level of athletes is often misunderstood.
“A lot of the [non-athletes] think that everything is handed to athletes which is not the case. Being an athlete is like having a full time job,” she said. “We work so hard. Harrison Barnes had to work so hard to get where he is now, the special treatment is the reward he’s getting. He’s obviously earned that treatment. He’s the No. 1 recruit, I want him here so we win a national championship.”
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