Remember the days when Duke's starting lineup was littered with future top 14 NBA lottery picks?

Duke's 1999 National Championship runner-up team had four first-round picks in the starting line-up. Starters that season included number one overall pick Elton Brand, as well as Trajen Langdon (13th overall), William Avery (14th overall) and Shane Battier (6th overall). Thirteenth-overall pick Corey Maggette was the team's sixth man.

Duke's 2001 National Championship team boasted three lottery picks in its starting line-up: Jason Williams (2nd overall) Mike Dunleavy (3rd overall) and Battier. Second round pick Carlos Boozer, an NBA All Star this year, is enjoying the most successful NBA career of any starter from that Duke team. Furthermore, the team's sixth man, Chris Duhon, is having a solid NBA career as well. Every one of the aforementioned Duke players has started a game in the NBA.

Dukes starting line-ups remained ripe with NBA talent in the years following its '01 National Championship. Every player in the starting line-up of Duke's '04 Final Four team is currently on a NBA roster. The '04 line-up included eventual lottery picks Luol Deng (7th overall), Sheldon Williams (5th overall) and J.J Redick (11th overall). Second round picks Daniel Ewing and Duhon filled out the starting line-up.

Current Duke roster lacks NBA talent

The NBA talent level on the current Duke roster pales in comparison to the great Blue Devil teams of the past. Sophomore Josh McRoberts is probably the only current Blue Devil who is likely to be a future NBA first round draft pick.

Is Coach Mike Krzyzewski fed up with elite high school players who use college as nothing more than a one or two-year tune-up for the NBA? Remember, Coach K did not have a single player declare early for the NBA until his National Championship runner-up team in '99. That team had three players declare early: Brand, Maggette and Avery. Since '99, Coach K has had three more players leave early for the NBA: Jason Williams, Dunleavy, and Deng, who left after his freshman season.

Every year there are probably anywhere from four to eight high school players who have a legitimate shot to go straight from high school to the NBA. Deng was certainly one of those players. Unfortunately, players of his caliber are unlikely to stay in college for more than a year or two before bolting for millions of dollars in the NBA.

After Deng's departure, Coach K has yet to recruit another player of his caliber. Is this a coincidence; just a couple of down recruiting years? Or could it represent an intentional shift in recruiting strategy? Perhaps Coach K has opted to focus his recruiting efforts on less talented players who are likely to stay in college for four years.

Duke dominated regular season in '05 and '06; but fell short in NCAA Tournament

Duke has failed to advance past the sweet sixteen since its Final Four run in '04. In both '05 and '06, the Blue Devils had great regular seasons and entered the NCAA Tournament as number one seeds. However in both instances, Duke was ousted by more physical, athletic teams. In '05, Duke was beaten by a physical, defensively hard nosed Michigan State team lead by Maurice Ager.

Last year, Duke fell short against LSU, a team whose undisciplined style of play would make any basketball purist cringe. Despite LSU's lack of basketball skills, the Tiger's athleticism lead by Tyrus Thomas (4th overall in '06 NBA draft), overwhelmed the Blue Devils. Thomas and Glen Davis outplayed Sheldon Williams, while LSU's athletic guards frustrated Redick, who looked one-dimensional and was ultimately ineffective.

How much NBA talent is necessary to win a National Championship?

To examine this question, let's take a look at the previous five National Champions in reverse chronological order: Florida, North Carolina, Connecticut, Syracuse, and Maryland.

The reigning National Champion Gators return last year's entire starting line-up. Joakim Noah appears a lock to be a top five NBA draft pick. Juniors Corey Brewer and Al Horford certainly have promising NBA futures as well.

The 2005 North Carolina team possessed a plethora of NBA talent. The Tar Heel starting line-up included three lottery picks: Raymond Felton (5th overall), Sean May (13th overall) and Rashad McCants (14th overall). Not mention Marvin Williams off the bench (2nd Overall).

Connecticut, who cut down the nets in 2004, had six NBA first round pick in its rotation. Starters included Emeka Okafor (2nd overall), Ben Gordon (3rd overall), and Josh Boone (22nd Overall). Charlie Villanueva (7th overall), Hilton Armstrong (12th overall) and Marcus Williams (22nd overall) came off the bench for the Huskies

The 2003 National Champion Syracuse Orangemen were lead by lottery pick Carmelo Anthony (3rd overall) and first round pick Hakim Warrick (19th overall).

The 2002 Maryland Terrapins had two first round picks in the starting line-up: Chris Willcox (8th overall) and Juan Dixon (17th overall). Second round picks Steve Blake and Lonnie Baxtor were also starters.

NBA talent more important than senior leadership?

Excluding Florida, each of the last four NCAA Champions had at least two starters who were NBA first round picks, and 14 first round picks in total. Maryland's Juan Dixon was the only senior.

Including Florida, only 7 of the 25 players that started for these teams were seniors (three were members of the '02 Maryland team). In summary, senior leadership is nice to talk about, However; at the end of the day, NBA caliber players win National Championships.

NCAA Tournament format favors athleticism

A team must win six straight games to win a National Championship. During a six-game span, an off shooting night is inevitable. Therefore, survival hinges on skills and factors that can be depended every night such as athleticism, defense, and depth. Recent Dukes teams have lacked these components.

If Coach K finds it more fulfilling to recruit players who are likely to stay in school for four years, more power to him. He's a Hall of Famer with three National Championships and certainly doesn't need anymore to cement his legacy as one of the greatest coaches ever. In fact, it would only enhance his legacy if he were able to win a NCAA Title with the talent level on his current team.

However, if he wants Duke to remain a perennial contender in March, he must go after the most talented high school players, even if it means coaching them for just a year a two. With the new NBA age limit, more of the top high school players are available. Players such as Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, who surely would have opted for the NBA in the past, will be available.

Current Blue Devils Jon Scheyer and Greg Paulus are nice players, and as upperclassmen, capable of being key contributors on a National Championship team. However, players such Oden and Durant, like Anthony, Jason Williams and Brand before them, are capable of leading a team to a National Championship as underclassmen.