Duke didn't recruit current Olympic team

DURHAM — Duke and U.S. national coach Mike Krzyzewski said, besides Kobe Bryant and Carlos Boozer, who played at Duke, he never recruited any of the current superstars on the U.S. team that will compete in Beijing.

Guys like LeBron James, Dwight Howard, and Carmelo Anthony weren't going to stay around college at all or long enough to make it worth Duke's trouble.

Krzyzewski said Wednesday that one look at Howard convinced him to leave it alone. James was an NBA target before the end of his junior year in high school. Bryant actually tried to visit but never did.

Chris Paul committed to Wake Forest so early, the chase ended before it began. Jason Kidd had expressed some interest in Duke and narrowed his choice to two schools before surprising everyone by picking Cal.

Dwyane Wade was never a Duke target, one, because he blossomed in college and two because he had academic problems before he arrived at Marquette. Don't know what happened with Michael Redd. And Duke didn't really have a marquee point guard during Deron Williams' time in college after Chris Duhon left so they had other worries.

Anthony was a Syracuse guy from the start, ditto for Chris Bosh with Georgia Tech.

Tayshaun Prince ended up at Kentucky but bears the distinction as the only U.S. team member who completed his degree and four years of college eligibility.