Horse Race for Brian Zoubek

On the weekend of the Kentucky Derby, it's only fitting that the recruiting battle for Brian Zoubek, #3 on the list of centers in the HS class of 2006, has come down to a horse race between Duke and Stanford. Click here for a very recent article at bootleg.com, a website dedicated to Stanford Cardinal athletics. Click here for links to my prior posts on Brian Zoubek's recruitment.

This is a choice between good versus good, Duke versus Stanford, with Wake Forest, another good choice, rounding the post as a dark horse, trying to eke out a victory at the finish line.

It's also a choice between the dynasty, where Zoubek would be one in a long line of outstanding players, versus a good program that has flirted with greatness, where he probably could make a bigger impact if he's as good as people think he could be.

What would you do? Go with the dynasty or go where you'd have a better chance, probably, to be a star?

But it's hard to turn down a shot to play for the Yankees, isn't it? The Yankees just don't call anyone, do they?

Then again, as evidenced by this year's 11-18 start, the Yankees don't always win, either.

And even then again, isn't the Yankee concept I'm trying to evoke one that says it's up to the individuals involved to make theirs a championship experience, regardless of whether the laundry reads Duke or Stanford? If that's the case, who's to say that Brian Zoubek can't help Stanford to a Final Four appearance and perhaps a national title?

Duke or Stanford. What would you advise an eighteen year-old with Brian Zoubek's combination of brains and basketball ability to do? What would you do?