Jay Williams is now an ESPN basketball analyst, but he was once the national player of the year at Duke and strongly considered attending North Carolina. When asked about UNC's recent drought of top-10 national recruiting talent in a group interview I was part of at the Smith Center on Friday, Williams had some interesting comments about the loss of what he called UNC's “mystique.”
“Kids used to be knocking on the door to go to school here, 24-7,” Williams said of North Carolina. “I was one of those kids, which is why I recognize it, right? And now it seems like between what Cal (coach John Calipari) has been able to build over at Kentucky, getting kids to be in that one-and-done society, what Coach K has been able to do with USA Basketball -- everybody has found a hook.