That hasn't always been the case as far as multiple top 10s. Typically, Coach K would dip into one top 10-15 player (A Ferry, Laettner, Hill, etc.) while getting several other talented players but not top 10 to surround that player. It worked well with the top player staying 3-4 seasons. The '82 & '98 classes were exceptional, similar to the more recent classes, but '82 stayed 4; '98 had some leave and some stay.
Rather than recruit the best players in the country and win the recruiting class wars every year, I'd rather Duke get to the FF with a slightly more veteran team and win.
It takes something very special for a group of freshmen to lead a team to an NCAA title, and it's not just the top 5 recruits. 2015 had Quin Cook as a great leader; and 3 non-freshmen getting over 21 mpg (Cook, Jefferson, Matt Jones). Jefferson and Jones and Cook were just more mature and better team leaders (even if not uber talented) than Grayson, Delaurier, and Bolden. Not denigrating the latter 3 at all. Duke also had a very special pg in Tyus Jones. Both super unselfish (I think Cook's example helped) but also humble and willing to defer to others for scoring, yet with the ability to take over a game at any time and score from both 3 and 2.
I don't really disagree with what you're saying, per se, but it doesn't change the fact that we do recruit the best players in the country. We just haven't always gotten all of them. K is as hot as he's ever been recruiting. Just 10 years ago we'd barely get some of the top 10 guys to even flirt with us. And if they did flirt, that was all they did.
There's definitely a happy medium....and I understand that. But I think we always tend to have top-of-mind awareness. It's easier to live in the moment than it is to live in the past. In the mid-2000s, our recruiting was down. Then, fans thought K's involvement with USA basketball was a detriment to the program and it was taking him away from his Duke responsibilities.
Back then, we weren't getting enough talent. Today, one could argue we're getting too much. I, too, pine for the college basketball of old, where players stay three and four years and we get the opportunity to see them grow throughout their career. Times change, though.
People point to UNC and Villanova and say that's the model they'd like to see Duke follow. I get that. But both those programs have had their struggles, too. In a six-year span from 2010 through 2015, Villanova never reached the second weekend of the tournament and missed the tournament all together once. North Carolina, one of the most storied programs in college basketball, had a seven-year absence from the Final Four. Duke has never gone more than six without playing in the Final Four since K took over in 1980-81. Again, it's top-of-mind awareness.
I'm as frustrated as everyone here about the loss on Sunday, seeing the year-to-year turnover and not doing as well as we should in the postseason with our talent. But perspective tells me we still have it pretty damn good. It's not perfect....but it's damn impressive to stay as consistent as we have.
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