From espn insider:
Duke-UNC attracting attention of recruits
November, 29, 2013
NOV 29
9:00
AM ET
By Jared Shanker | ESPN.com
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A spot in the ACC championship game is on the line when Duke plays North Carolina. Stop me if you’ve heard that before.
But double check the calendar -- this is November. not March; gridiron, not hardwood. A win over rival UNC and the Blue Devils finish the regular season 10-2, are Coastal Division champs and play Florida State for an ACC championship.
David Cutcliffe is doing it with a roster of players that did not garner many looks from other BCS schools coming out of high school. The Duke coach was forced to scour the ranks to find under-the-radar recruits who fit his system, had the grades and wanted to play at Duke. In such a large pool of players, he was casting a small net.
But a bowl appearance in 2012 and a 2013 campaign on the verge of double-digit wins is giving Duke visions of being Stanford’s East Coast equivalent. Duke has three four-star commitments in the 2014 class; its lone four-star commitment between the 2010-13 classes was a kicker.
“It’s been really big, and going back to last January, when it was most noticeable was when I was out of the region,” Cutcliffe said. “I went to California and Texas in January after the bowl game and everywhere I went people had just seen us and said ‘wow, you guys are good.’ You really sense a huge difference.”
The expedited recruiting process, as Cutcliffe points out, means a coach is recruiting for each of the next three classes every year. The effects of consecutive bowl appearances will be most felt in next year’s cycle, and early indications are that Duke is not going to be a pushover in 2015, especially with North Carolina’s top players.
[+] EnlargeCorey Bell Jr.
Tom Hauck/ESPN.com
Corey Bell Jr. is among a growing number of North Carolina recruits who are impressed by Duke's renaissance.
“It’s not a fluke season,” said 2015 cornerback Corey Bell Jr. (Cornelius, N.C./Hough), who visited for the Miami game. “This is how Duke is now. The general perception was it’s a nerdy basketball school, I can’t even lie. But now going up to [campus] you can tell it’s changing.”
On the other half of the field, UNC coach Larry Fedora could be poised for a strong 2015 class, too. A 1-5 start and a 24-point loss to East Carolina labeled the Tar Heels as the ACC’s most disappointing team through the first half of the season.
The Tar Heels are a more-than-respectable No. 20 in the class rankings, but the results are not as positive in the state of North Carolina. Of the top 20 players in the state that have UNC offers, only three are committed to the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels have not won nine games since 1997, and in-state players point to that as the reason outside programs are beating the state’s top football school for recruits.
“I don’t have much interest in North Carolina. It just hasn’t been one of the schools I want to attend,” ESPN Junior 300 cornerback Mark Fields (Cornelius, N.C./Hough) said. “The football hasn’t been particularly good the past couple of years.”
The ship has been righted in Chapel Hill, though, and the Tar Heels look to close out the season with a six-game winning streak and a bowl game.
Gunter Brewer, the Tar Heels’ top recruiter, is responsible for UNC’s top two commitments, which includes coveted running back Elijah Hood, who flipped from Notre Dame. Brewer said momentum is changing on the field and in recruiting, and sometimes all it takes is one big-time recruit to stay home to create a domino effect.
“The message is the culture is changing here,” Brewer said. “Changing the culture is more than just winning football games. It’s OK to stay home and be the guy.”
Brewer added that it has been a number of younger players who have lifted UNC out of the early hole and into bowl eligibility, which has resonated with recruits. The Tar Heels have not signed the state’s No. 1 player since 2007 (Greg Little). In a talent-rich state and where the local BCS competition is Duke, NC State and Wake Forest (a combined 116-141 since 2007), that’s hard to fathom.
Top in-state junior Shy Tuttle sees a renaissance on the horizon, though.
“I’ve always liked Chapel Hill,” said Tuttle, No. 12 in the ESPN Junior 300. “They’ve always recruited me pretty well. … They’re recruiting people to turn things around.”
Winning is the first step, and wins on the field need to translate to wins on the trail. No doubt the Duke faithful -- and no word might be more fitting to characterize Duke football fans -- are basking in the Belk Bowl and potential ACC championship game in nearby Charlotte. But is 2013 the first or final chapter?
Wake Forest similarly surprised the ACC and country in 2006 and 2007. The Demon Deacons won 20 games and an ACC championship, but they are now wrapping up a fifth consecutive losing season. The recruiting spike from the Orange Bowl appearance was short lived.
Although Cutcliffe is on the verge of breaking new ground with a top 40 class, the sixth-year coach doesn’t mince words about whether his recruiting approach will change.
“We know exactly who fits what we believe in,” he said emphatically. “We will not compromise at all.”