Don't Expect Quick Recruiting to Replace the Wears

A lot of the commentary on the Wears' transfer has touched on the question of who can be recruited to fill the hole in the post on short notice. Terrence Jones, already committed to Washington, is being mentioned, as is undecided Kadeem Jack. Don't hold your breath, however.

Roy Williams' recruiting style is to slowly build up a relationship with a kid and their family before an offer is made. He doesn't impulse shop, he doesn't poach, and he doesn't keep a large number of players on the line in case of emergencies. This is what you want in a coach, and if it means he's occasionally left in the lurch by unforeseen events, so be it. I'll point you to some of the reported comments from the Tar Heel Tour of coaches a few weeks back in Charlotte:

Asked about a backup center…Roy talked about the Kanter (sp?) kid that committed to Kentucky. He got a call about him a while back from a connection in Europe telling him the kid was going to decommit from UW. Roy said they were interested but at the time did not have a schollie. In the 8 weeks or so that they heard about the decommit until Ed decided to go pro, it was too late, as UK was all over him. The team we have is the team we have at this point.

If there was no one available to replace Ed Davis, there's no one available now to replace Davis and the Wears.His 2011 recruiting focus may change a bit, but this is what the Heels have for next season. Which might not be too bad, if it involves shifting Graves to more of an interior role, which could mitigate his shooting streakiness and play more to his strengths. The team may resemble the Duke squads of the two seasons prior to this one actually, except with a center more likely to stay home than the wandering Kyle Singler (and therefore better rebounding). I'm rather excited as to how this could play out.