Marshall Plumlee and The Post Rotation

(Photo credit to Asheville Citizen-Times)


Saturday night, Duke got a verbal commitment from the third of three Plumlee brothers, Marshall. While it had been rumored for quite some time:

This Marshall Plumlee to Duke train is rolling along faster than I thought. Quite a turn of events from a month ago. #recruitingiswild #dukeless than a minute ago via Twitter for BlackBerry®Adam Rowe
dukehoopblog

it finally became a reality as Marshall called the Duke staff with the good news. Those within the program actually expected this to be over earlier in the week, but good things come to those who wait...

With a 7'1", 208 lb frame, Marshall certainly has some room to put on some weight. He knows he has work to do, and clearly the Plumlee family feels as though Duke has done good things developing Marshall's two older brothers, Mason and Miles.

Welcome to Duke, Marshall Plumlee!

With the addition of Marshall to the 2011 recruiting class, Duke now has two solid big men (Tyler Adams too) to build around down low. Barring defections, here's what our post rotation is looking like for the 2012 season:

Freshmen
Tyler Adams --------- True Center
Marshall Plumlee ---- True Center

Sophomore
Josh Hairston ------- SF/PF

Juniors
Ryan Kelly ---------- PF/C
Mason Plumlee ------- PF/C

Senior
Miles Plumlee ------- PF/C

Many pundits, fans, and people within the program believe that Mason has the potential and skill to go pro after this year, including DraftExpress.com which has Mason at #10, just behind teammate Kyrie Irving at #9. Assuming Mason leaves, the addition of Marshall and Tyler in the Class of 2011 will give Duke enough flexibility down low for Josh Hairston to be able to slide over to the Small Forward position with 2011 recruit Michael Gbinije. At the Center position, you will see Miles backed up by Tyler and Marshall while the PF position will be manned by Ryan Kelly and backed up by Miles at times.

If Mason stays, Duke will have a solid 5-man rotation down low, which worked well for the Devils this past year. Speaking of this year, chemistry played a large part in the unexpected title run. You think the Duke staff feels like they know what they're going to get with Marshall and vice versa? I'm guessing there's a level of familiarity there that both parties are very comfortable with.