Duke Hoop

We've Moved!

2010-08-11T00:15:00.000-04:00

Please follow our posts over at http://www.DukeHoopBlog.com. I considered keeping this site open as well, and the url will remain live for as long as Google will allow, but I now have a much more functional and hopefully more pleasing to the eye Wordpress site.

I also teamed up with YardBarker.com who promotes some fantastic sports-related blogs on their site, and hopefully one day mine will be included in the fantastic. Thank you very much for reading over here, and I hope you will continue to do so as I'm having fun writing.

Thanks for your support,

Adam

Boost Mobile Elite 24 Rosters

2010-08-09T17:15:00.000-04:00

The first 12 members of the Boost Mobile Elite 24 event taking place in Los Angeles’ Venice Beach Friday and Saturday, August 27 and 28 were announced on August 5th. This is a game between what ESPNRise.com considers the Top 24 players in the country, regardless of class. It is obviously quite an honor to be selected. The announced list as of now is quite impressive:

Adonis Thomas, Amir Garrett, Austin Rivers, Bradley Beal, Dajuan Coleman, James McAdoo, Johnny O'Bryant, LeBryan Nash, Myck Kabongo, Deuce Bello, Quincy Miller, and Rakeem Christmas.

We have learned today that 2012 prospect Shabazz Muhammad will be participating as well. Congratulations to what we believe is the best scorer in the Class of 2012. The complete list will come out later today and we want to offer our preemptive congratulations to the other 11 names that will be announced this afternoon. We will, of course, let you know when the rest of the list is released.

ACC/Big Ten Challenge Times Set

2010-08-09T16:59:00.000-04:00

Monday, Nov. 29

7:00 p.m. - ESPN2 - Virginia at Minnesota

Tuesday, Nov. 30

7:00 p.m. - ESPNU - Iowa at Wake Forest

7:00 p.m. - ESPN2 - Georgia Tech at Northwestern

7:30 p.m. - ESPN - Ohio State at Florida State

9:00 p.m. - ESPN2 - Michigan at Clemson

9:30 p.m. - ESPN - North Carolina at Illinois

Wednesday, Dec. 1

7:15 p.m. - ESPNU - Indiana at Boston College

7:15 p.m. - ESPN2 - N.C. State at Wisconsin

7:30 p.m. - ESPN - Purdue at Virginia Tech

9:15 p.m. - ESPN2 - Maryland at Penn State

9:30 p.m. - ESPN - Michigan State at Duke

Every year when this schedule is announced, it's a time for embarrassment for the one ACC team that doesn't make it into the Challenge, as the conference always has had more teams than the Big 10. Unfortunately for Miami, they will forever go down in infamy as the last team not to make it into the made for TV event as the Big 10 has now added Nebraska to it's ranks to make it the same size as the ACC. While the Big Ten stupidly refuses to change it's name even though it now has twelve members, the numbers will now add up if this event continues in the future.

Duke posted it's only loss in the event this past year at Wisconsin, and hopes to avenge that loss in Cameron vs. universally Top 5 ranked Michigan State. If the Devils can pull off the win, they will end with the best record of any team in the Challenge. The contract between the two power conferences is up this year, it remains to be seen if ESPN will continue extend the contract another time, as they did in 2005.

NC Pro-Am Highlights -- Andre Dawkins, Ryan Kelly

2010-08-08T23:09:00.002-04:00

D1 Sports/Charles Ryan Basketball won the 2010 NC Pro-Am Summer League Sunday, August 8th, 2010. Duke Sophomores Ryan Kelly and Andre Dawkins were two of the team's top scorers (Andre had 18 pts and Ryan had 16.) Since joining the Duke Blue Devils, Ryan and Andre have competed in 4 tournaments (2009 Preseason NIT, 2010 ACC Tournament, 2010 NCAA Tournament, 2010 NC Pro-Am) and won all 4. Let's hope that trend continues with the CBE Classic this Fall.

TV Alert: Adidas Nations Final -- USA 2012 vs. USA 2011

2010-08-08T21:29:00.003-04:00

We have the dream final tomorrow night on CBS College Sports TV. That is Channel 613 on DirecTV and 537 on Time Warner Cable in the Triangle Area. Watch as Duke recruits Marshall Plumlee, Quinn Cook, Rodney Purvis, Shabazz Muhammad, Alex Murphy, Kaleb Tarczewski, and Amile Jefferson compete on live TV at 8:45 PM EST.

Alex Murphy Throws Down on an And1

2010-08-07T11:53:00.003-04:00

Who said Alex Murphy wasn't athletic? Watch him take it to Hanner Perea at the Adidas Nations in Chicago:

Video via Dan Poneman of SwagAir.com

#8 Favorite Moment From '09-'10

2010-08-05T22:51:00.000-04:00

There were so many moments from last year's title run that made it so special to enjoy watching from the sidelines. One that most Duke fans I knew pegged as the one that needed to happen in order for Duke to be a true National Title Contender was for the Plumlee Brothers to be a consistent offensive force. While the Devils didn't end up needing that on a regular basis, it was always nice when it happened. One game in particular, both Plumlees had excellent games at the same time and here is what resulted:

NC Pro-Am Highlights 08.04.10

2010-08-05T01:52:00.003-04:00

Mason, Nolan, Ryan Kelly, Andre Dawkins, Miles Plumlee, Marshall Plumlee, Quincy Miller, and Deuce Bello. Enjoy!

Nearly Entire Duke Basketball Schedule

2010-08-04T23:43:00.002-04:00

Some dates are not finalized yet, but we have nearly every opponent in ink here:

15-Oct Countdown to Craziness 7PM
23-Oct St. Augustines (exh) 7PM
4-Nov Cal Poly Pomona (exh) 7PM
14-Nov Princeton (CBE)
16-Nov Miami OH (CBE)
19-Nov Colgate
22-Nov vs. Marquette (CBE-KC) 7:30PM
23-Nov vs.Gonzaga/Kansas State (CBE-KC) 10:15PM
27-Nov vs. Oregon (Rose Garden, Portland) 4PM
1-Dec Michigan State 9:15PM
4-Dec vs. Butler (Meadowlands) 3:30PM
Dec Bradley
Dec St. Louis
20-Dec Elon
29-Dec vs. UNC-G (at Greensboro Coliseum) 7PM
Jan Miami FL
5-Jan UAB
Jan Maryland
Jan at FSU
Jan Virginia
Jan at NC State
Jan at Wake
Jan Boston College
Jan at St. Johns
Feb at Maryland
Feb NC State
Feb UNC
Feb at Miami FL
Feb at Virginia
Feb Georgia Tech
Feb Temple
Feb at Virginia Tech
Mar Clemson
5-Mar at UNC 8PM
Mar 10-13 ACC Tournament (Greensboro)

Official release should come out soon, but hopefully this will help you plan your trips to Durham and elsewhere...

Originally posted at DukeBasketballReport.com

New Austin Rivers Highlights

2010-08-04T23:37:00.003-04:00

The kid can score in so many ways and is now adding defensive stalwart to his repertoire. If he can bring his defensive skills up anywhere close to his offensive game, it's gonna be hard not to put him as the #1 player in the Class of 2011... Watch him in this outstanding highlight video via OneEntertainmentHoops.com:

Click to play

Austin Rivers Interview via Scouts Focus

2010-08-04T23:22:00.004-04:00

Austin says he will take a "couple visits" and then make his decision before his high school season.

As he told Scout.com in an interview earlier this week, "Honestly I'm going to get it done before the beginning of my high school practices,". I spoke with someone recently who heard from the Winter Park AD (where Austin goes to high school) who told him their first official practice would be November 1st. I'd expect a decision sometime in October...

Austin Rivers and Michael Gbinije Make 1st Team

2010-08-04T22:35:00.005-04:00

Congrats to Duke commit Michael Gbinije and Duke recruit Austin Rivers for making the First Team of the AAU Super Showcase down in Orlando, Fla. Both of these youngsters continue to raise the level of their games as they move into their senior years of high school basketball.

ESPNRise.com All-Tourney Teams

Michael Gbinije, Team Takeover
Gbinije had a strong cast around him, which gave him plenty of opportunities to get looks. But the senior didn’t waste his chances. He showed a fluid jumper and a willingness to take the ball strong to the hoop, not to mention an ability to finish after contact. Gbinije, committed to Duke, is the nation’s No. 29 recruit in the ESPNU 100 and made a strong impression on the Boost Mobile Elite 24 selection committee.

Austin Rivers, Each 1 Teach 1
His team was beatable … until he showed up. Once Rivers was on the floor, the team didn’t lose again. The senior helped his squad win twice in the televised games, and his mere presence on the floor opened up opportunities for teammates. Rivers showed again why he's No. 2 in the ESPNU 100 with a legit chance to be No. 1 before the end of his senior season.

(Photo credit ESPNRise.com)

#9 Favorite Moment From '09-'10

2010-08-04T05:38:00.001-04:00

As you can tell, sometimes Duke news comes up and interrupts a planned Top 10 Countdown. I hope you've enjoyed the posts that have come between #10 on our Top 10 Favorite Moments from last season's title run and this one, as so many things have come up since then.

Without further adieu, here is #9 on the list...

Jon Scheyer's highly efficient night against Gardner-Webb in Cameron was a sight to see. While the Duke team was still finding it's legs, Jon showed his steady hand and pushed the ball in the hoop 11 times out of 13 with his trademark sideways spin. Going 7-9 from 3-point land, he notched 36 points in 30 minutes, totaling more points off less shots than anyone not named JJ Redick in the last ten years.

We'll miss ya Jon!

Adidas Nations Roster Announced

2010-08-03T18:59:00.000-04:00

Many of our 2011 and 2012 targets have been selected for the prestigious Adidas Nations Global Experience. From their press release here:

The world's elite 18-and-under players from six international teams including Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, US 2010 and US 2011, will train and compete in the prestigious annual program. Current NBA players, highly esteemed NBA veterans and collegiate players join the global program as head coaches, mentors and camp counselors.

NBA players Corey Brewer (Minnesota Timberwolves), Jrue Holiday (Philadelphia 76ers), Toney Douglas (New York Knicks), Robin Lopez (Phoenix Suns), Anthony Randolph (New York Knicks) and Serge Ibake (Oklahoma City Thunder) will counsel and mentor players throughout the weekend. Former players and head coaches Eddie Johnson, Detlef Schrempf, Tony Brown, Frank Johnson and Eric Musselman will act as regional head coaches.

If you are in the Chicago area and would like to attend this event,

The culmination of adidas Nations will feature a championship and third place game at UIC Pavilion with the top four teams. General admission tickets are available for $10 at www.ticketmaster.com or by calling (312) 413-5740. The final games will be broadcast live on CBS College Sports Network and exclusive same day video highlights will be available at www.maxpreps.com. Daily practices, workout rotations and early tournament games will be held at Attack Athletics Center located at 2641 West Harrison Street, Chicago.

Rosters can be found here: 2011 and 2012 USA Rosters

Congrats to Duke recruits and commits Quinn Cook, Rodney Purvis, Marshall Plumlee, Shabazz Muhammad, Amile Jefferson, Isaiah Austin, Alex Murphy, and Kaleb Tarczewski for making the team!

Tyler Adams Wavering On His Commitment?

2010-08-03T15:39:00.005-04:00

A new post from BullDawgJunction.com, a Mississippi State recruiting website, seems to allude that 2011 verbal commitment Tyler Adams is open to other schools. Specifically, that he is open to the Bulldogs:

He told me MSU and Georgetown are really the only two schools still recruiting him since his commitment to Duke. And interesting enough, he told me "Mississippi State is still in the mix and still an option".

We know that Tyler has had grades issues in the past and everyone knew this would be a possible hindrance to him playing basketball at Duke, but by all indications Tyler had accepted the challenge put forth to him by the Duke coaching staff and was making strides towards achieving those goals. It's possible he has not and is keeping his options open. Or, it's possible Tyler's quote was taken out of context. It just goes to show that in the crazy world of recruiting a verbal commitment isn't worth the paper it's written on. We will continue to monitor this situation as it unfolds...

NC Pro-Am Schedule Tuesday, Aug. 3rd

2010-08-03T00:26:00.001-04:00

6 pm Body Of Christ vs. Team Dreamworks

7 pm D1 Sports/C Ryan vs. Lucky 7

8 pm Team Jamison vs. Hendrick Of Durham

9 pm Coaches in Christ vs. Team 212/Trianglegi.com

Well, looks like this could be one of the last chances to catch a lot of Duke players at one time for this NC Pro-Am Summer League. With only two more regular season games and 3 playoff games remaining, get out to North Carolina Central ASAP if you want to see your favorite Devils compete before Countdown to Craziness on October 15th.

A lot of players are scheduled to compete Tuesday, Thursday, and into the weekend, including Kyrie Irving, Nolan Smith, Mason, Miles, and Marshall Plumlee, Tyler Thornton, Andre Dawkins, Seth Curry, Ryan Kelly, and Kyle Singler. As the playoffs wind up, you'll start to see more and more of the players make appearances, so don't be surprised if 2011 target Quincy Miller, last year's Freshman of the Year John Wall, and any number of pros listed on the rosters here show up sometime this week.

New Shabazz Muhammad Highlights

2010-08-02T22:09:00.002-04:00

Floaters, threes, dunks, layups, the #1 Shooting Guard (#1 player according to some) in the Class of 2012 shows off a diverse repertoire of scoring abilities in this new highlight video from PremierBall.com. Watch Shabazz make defenders look stupid during the Adidas Super 64 Classic below.

New Recruiting Calendar -- August 1st

2010-08-02T21:26:00.004-04:00

As the new recruiting calendar turned over August 1st, prospects got one year older according to the NCAA and coaches began a whole new round of phone calls, text messages, emails, and social media connections.

Rising Juniors can receive telephone calls once per month through July 31st, 2011. Rising Seniors can be called twice per week, and off campus contact is only one month and a week away. There are obviously ways around this, but these are the guidelines put in place by the NCAA, however toothless they may be.

The Duke staff has surely contacted many of their primary targets and verbal commits today. You can be sure that Duke will do everything they can to stay in front of their uncommitted prospects and verbal commitments in this recruiting period and moving forward.

Alumni Update -- Paulus and Melchionni

2010-08-02T16:30:00.007-04:00

We have a couple of updates on former Duke Basketball Players.

First, Greg Paulus has been hired as an Assistant Men's Basketball coach at the Naval Academy. This is Greg's first foray into the coaching world, and he steps into a pretty good situation as Navy finished the year at 7-7 in the Patriot League, 13-17 Overall and return quite a few players. Good luck to Greg as we know it has long been a goal of Greg to become a basketball coach!

Second, Lee Melchionni landed former Villanova and Duke-Killer Scottie Reynolds a contract with Prima Veroli, a second-division Italian team. Good to see Lee staying motivated in his post-basketball career. If you don't remember Lee's contributions in the early 2000s, here's a refresher: http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&ATCLID=152121

Kyle and Nolan to Train With US Team

2010-08-02T12:47:00.000-04:00

Seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith were selected as two of the ten USA Select Team members to train against the USA Men's National Team in New York City for the World Basketball Festival.

See the rest of the list here.

This is quite an honor and should cap off an extremely busy Summer for both team captains. Kyle has attended the Chris Paul Guard Skills Camp, the Amare Stoudemire Skills Camp, the USA Training Camp, played a few games in the NC Pro-Am, and now will travel to New York to help send the USA Team off with a bang. Nolan participated in all of the above as well as the Deron Williams Camp.

Congratulations to both of our Senior Leaders!

The Festival concludes Sunday, Aug. 15, when the USA squad takes on France at Madison Square Garden, 1 p.m. (EDT), in the first game of an exhibition doubleheader. China will meet Puerto Rico at 3:30 p.m. (EDT) in the second contest. Tickets for the exhibition doubleheader, which start at $15, are available on the Web via www.Ticketmaster.com and www.thegarden.com, by phone at 1-800-4-NBA-TIX, and at the box office at Madison Square Garden.

Where Nolan and Kyle Might Rank After 2011

2010-08-01T00:22:00.002-04:00

Last year saw many milestones reached such as Cameron Indoor Stadium's 70th year, 754th victory, and 15th undefeated season. Duke fans also saw Coach K's 395th victory in Cameron, his 868th career victory, and his 1,000th game.

Jon Scheyer played his part and moved past 2,000 points on a Free Throw in the second half of the 2nd round Cal game, something only 9 other Duke players have done in their careers. Jon's 2,077 points put him at the #9 spot on the career scoring Ranks. Jon's 297 made 3-point FGs moved him into 3rd place on that list, just passing Bobby Hurley. He didn't stop there, also passing Hurley into 3rd place for Career AST-TO Ratio with 2.08:1.

While Jon has graduated, and can't move up the ranks any longer, Seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith have an opportunity to make their own history this coming season. Based on their career totals to this point, let's have a look at where they might end up after their senior seasons.

Kyle has a chance to pass the 2,000 point threshold quite easily next season. He currently sits at 1,767 after 3 seasons, and if he tops the 702 points he notched last year, he would join JJ Redick and Johnny Dawkins as the only two Duke players with over 2,500 career points. At 15.5 PPG, Kyle ranks 18th on the all-time scoring average list at Duke. We can only assume he'll improve on that percentage next season. By only repeating his 32 blocks from last year, Kyle will move into 9th place, but only 4 blocks would separate he and Grant Hill at 6th place.

Somewhat surprisingly, Kyle needs to play 38 games to move past Christian Laettner as the player to play the most Duke games in his career. If the expectations for this season are met, Kyle should be able to achieve this feat late in the NCAA Tournament. Kyle also has a chance to move into 1st place in minutes played, as he currently sits at 3,601 minutes and is 1,212 minutes behind Chris Duhon. By starting 30 more games, Kyle will also move into 1st place on that list.

By returning for his Senior Year, Kyle has the opportunity to move into some rare company among many Duke greats who have their jerseys in the rafters of 70 year old Cameron, and names burned in the minds of Duke fans for eternity. He wouldn't be back if not for Nolan's decision to return. Let's see where Nolan could end up next.

While Nolan doesn't have quite the numbers as Kyle, he can put himself into the upper echelon of a few statistical categories. Nolan more than doubled his scoring output from his Sophomore Season, and he shows now signs of slowing down this year. While he will have more company at the guard spots, with Seth Curry, Kyrie Irving, and Tyler Thornton joining the back court, and only Scheyer leaving, Duke's more uptempo pace will create many more scoring opportunities and shouldn't lead to a big drop off, if at all.

Nolan ended last season with 1,147 points after dropping 660 points in 40 games. If he matches that point total this year, Nolan will end up in 17th place, just between Jeff Mullins and Bob Verga.

These two Seniors turned down millions of dollars to return to Duke for their final year under Coach K. At the end of their fourth year, their names will be at or near the top of many statistical categories of past Duke greats. Let's enjoy these two special talents and their climbs up the Duke statistical ladders for (hopefully) 40 more games. This will be the last assault on the leaderboards for quite some time.

Vote For Blue Devils -- NC Pro-Am Style

2010-07-31T19:20:00.002-04:00

I'll admit, I first got the idea for Poll Skewing the fine folks at Duke Basketball Report, where I've spent more time than I care to admit talking about Duke Hoops. I want to pass along a poll I found where Duke fans should be able to make an impact.

The NC Pro-Am Blog is asking for fans to vote on the Top 5 players from the league so far. Do your part and vote for the Blue Devils:

http://greaterncproambasketballleague.blogspot.com/

DCA Classic This Weekend!

2010-07-29T22:36:00.004-04:00

If you are in the Washington DC Area this weekend, you will get a chance to see Duke's highest ranked commit for 2011 Michael Gbinije and one of the top 2011 Recruits in Quinn Cook battle in the last sanctioned event of the Summer AAU circuit.

For more details, go to the I95Ballerz website here.

If you're going to see these two Duke targets, be at St. Stephens High School for Gbinije's game at 2 PM as he and his Team Takeover DC battle Team Finesse.

Stick around for the 4:30 PM matchup as Quinn's DC Assault(Gold) team battles Atlas Basketball.

The schedule doesn't leave much room for pool play, so I'm assuming they'll add some more games tomorrow, but if not you'll at least get a chance to watch Michael and Quinn compete. Watch out for James Robinson (2012 guard) for Team Takeover and Torian Graham (2012 guard) for DC Assault (Gold) as they may get some Duke interest in the future...

The DC Assault website only has the schedules up for the younger kids, so check back tomorrow to see if there have been any updates: DC Assault

Here's a map for St. Stephen's High School if you're unfamiliar:

View Larger Map

Trip Durham Will Be New "Voice of Cameron"

2010-07-29T16:30:00.009-04:00

Last year was the final year of Dr. Art Chandler's magical 40 year run as the "Voice of Cameron". He leaves behind quite a legacy of missing only 3 games minus a short Army Reserves stint with the original Desert Storm Operation over 39 seasons of Duke Basketball in Cameron.

Dr. Chandler is best known for his "Here Comes Duke" introduction at the urging of former Duke player Alaa Abdelnaby. As he said in this GoDuke.com article towards the end of his career,

“I’ve always felt that a P.A. announcer is there to give information, be clear, be concise and not try to add anything to the atmosphere other than dignity and decorum,’’ Chandler said. “Referees and P.A. announcers should be noticed only if they make bad mistakes.”

While he can certainly not be replaced, all good things must come to an end eventually. Knowing this would be Dr. Chandler's final season as the PA Announcer at Duke, the program auditioned a select few candidates throughout the undefeated 17-0 home season last year, and one has been chosen to take Dr. Chandler's spot behind the microphone. Duke Hoop Blog has learned that Trip Durham has been tabbed as the new "Voice of Cameron".

If you are not familiar with Trip Durham the man, he has quite an impressive story. His professional career has allowed him to be intimately involved with college basketball in general, but more specifically at Elon University.

At Elon, Durham was not only the Associate Athletic Director, but also served as the Executive Producer and play-by-play announcer of Elon University’s commercial radio broadcasts for football and men’s basketball.

Trip has quite an impressive portfolio of audio clips if you want to get a taste of what's to come next year: http://tripdurham.com/portfolio.php

But according to his bio, Trip got his start in announcing as a Sophomore in High School, quite by chance:

In 1984, I was a sophomore at Walter M. Williams High School in Burlington when Ronnie Wall, then Director of Athletics, stopped me in the hallway and asked me a seemingly benign question. “Durham, can you handle doing public address at the JV football game tonight?” Even though I had never picked up a microphone, I did not want to disappoint a teacher.

My answer was simple. "Sure." The answer changed my life forever, because that October night was the start of an amazing twenty-five-year journey. I have since been the public address announcer for countless sporting events, including football, basketball, baseball, hockey, and even short-track auto racing. I have also served as a play-by-play broadcaster for over a hundred collegiate football and basketball games, calling thrilling come-from-behind victories and heart-breaking last-second losses. For each game, when I turn on the mic, I still have the same excitement that I had the very first time, a quarter of a century ago.

While Trip clearly had quite a memorable time announcing football and basketball games for the Elon Phoenix, his job didn't survive a departmental restructuring after 14 years of employment and he found himself unemployed in the middle of a down job market in March of 2009. Playing off his branding and marketing past, Trip did not take the road less traveled, but instead took out a billboard advertising himself and his website, TripDurham.com.

Read this story about Trip's ingenious attempts to brand himself and make lemons out of lemonade.

This kind of ingenuity and determination has clearly led Mr. Durham to become the PA Announcer in one of college basketball's most hallowed arenas, widely recognized as the best atmosphere for a basketball game. While the "Voice of Cameron" can never be replaced, we seem to be in some very good hands with Mr. Trip Durham.

Duke Players at the Pro-Am Thursday, July 28th

2010-07-28T23:27:00.004-04:00

Thursday, July 29

6 pm Team 212/Trianglegi.com vs. Team Navy

7 pm Coaches In Christ vs. Team McGladrey

8 pm Team Stackhouse/TRSC vs. Team Jamison

9 pm Lucky 7 vs. Body of Christ

Should be a pretty light evening for Duke guys in action tonight. As you know by now, Team Navy does not actually consist of any Duke players, so do not attend the 6 PM game if you're expecting to see any of your Blue Devil ballers.

Honestly, other than that it's been pretty unpredictable as to who shows up when, and what team they'll be on. We'll try and confirm some players tomorrow via Twitter, so follow us there: twitter.com/dukehoopblog. In the meantime, check out our videos from last night's action: http://dukehoop.blogspot.com/2010/07/nc-pro-am-highlights-72710.html

Thanks as always for reading and even if you don't see every Devil you planned on seeing, at least you'll see some of them, unlike the Wolpfackers.

*****UPDATED*******

Kyrie Irving confirmed he would not be playing tonight.

NC Pro-Am Highlights 7/27/10

2010-07-28T12:04:00.004-04:00

Check out these highlights from the NC Pro-Am featuring Duke players: Mason Plumlee, Kyrie Irving, Josh Hairston, Tyler Thornton, Ryan Kelly, and Nolan Smith.

Even More Great USA Basketball Photos

2010-07-26T18:38:00.004-04:00

I bet you thought she was gone, but Lara Lee is still making her mark at Duke Hoop.

On the heels of the roster cut to 15 players, here is the final installment of USA Basketball Photos, this time from the Blue/White Scrimmage.

Have a look by clicking here.

Shabazz Muhammad, Alex Murphy, Kaleb Tarczewski Highlights

2010-07-26T13:39:00.009-04:00

Watch Alex Murphy, Shabazz Muhammad, and Kaleb Tarczewski compete at the Adidas Super 64 in Las Vegas, NV on July 2010.

At this point, getting all 3 of these guys would be a dream class for Duke fans. Make it happen, boys!

Shabazz is #15 in Blue/Orange (Dream Vision). On the opposing squad (New England Playaz), Alex Murphy is #35 and Kaleb Tarczewski is #33.

Quinn Cook and DC Assault Photos

2010-07-26T01:24:00.006-04:00

Lara Lee got a chance to catch 2011 recruit Quinn Cook and his DC Assault play while in Las Vegas. If you haven't been introduced to Quinn through our blog, or else where, you must be new here and to Duke recruiting. Check out a couple of our earlier stories on Quinn here:

Quinn Cook to Oak Hill Academy?

Quinn Cook Has Duke At the Top of His List

And the gallery from Vegas

Shabazz Muhammad and Dream Vision Photos

2010-07-26T01:07:00.005-04:00

Lara Lee (twitter.com/livehead16) has been lighting up DukeHoopBlog lately. Here's another of her galleries from the Adidas Super 64 Tournament on July 22nd out in Las Vegas. This one focuses on 2012's Shabazz Muhammad, one of Duke's highest priority recruits for the rising Junior class:

Dream Vision Photo Gallery

Shabazz Muhammad

More Great USA Basketball Photos

2010-07-25T21:49:00.002-04:00

Thanks again to Lara Lee (@livhead16) for some more great shots of the USA Basketball Training Camp in Las Vegas!

Check them out here:

USA Basketball Photos

Nolan driving through traffic

Kyle Singler is intense!

Coach K commanding respect

Coach Collins and Kyle Singler

Rodney Purvis Won't Stop Ballin'

2010-07-23T18:15:00.003-04:00

Just a rising Sophomore at Upper Room Christian Academy in Raleigh, NC, 6'2" SG Rodney Purvis has a lot on his plate. Juggling AAU responsibilities while playing at the NC Pro-Am in Durham, he took a few minutes out of his busy day today to speak with Duke Hoop Blog.

Only a few hours removed from a battle in the Orlando AAU Super Showcase Semi-Finals versus fellow Super Sophomore Julius Randle and the Texas Titans where he scored 23 points while shooting 11-15 from the Free Throw line, Rodney said "I just helped my team win today. We were down 16 heading into the 4th quarter, and we ended up winning by 6."

The Championship Game versus the NY Gauchos is tonight at 8 PM and can be found online at ESPN3.com streaming live. Be sure to watch Rodney and the rest of his CP3 All-Stars compete for the AAU U-15 Division crown. Rodney is 16, but all of his classmates and peers play for the U-15 team, so he does as well. "Playing with the 15s helps me become a better leader," Rodney says.

Before you think less of Rodney because he's playing down a division, he'll be playing up a division with the 17s next. After playing two games a day for the last 3 days, he'll take one day off and go right back at it again on Sunday at 1:20. "Playing with the 17s helps me become a better player and I get to compete against the best players." Watch him in action on ESPN3.com, as most of his games will be broadcast live.

Before this Super Showcase, Rodney was on a whirlwind tour of camps, tournaments, and events. One of those camps was the NBA Players Camp where he was the youngest camper invited to the event. It made quite an impression on him evidently "At first it was tough because we were in the gym from 6 in the morning to 10 at night. After the first couple of days my body got adjusted and it started to get a lot easier." While at the camp, Rodney had a chance to work out with noted strength and conditioning coach Alan Stein of StrongerTeam.com. Rodney had very kind words for Alan. "Yeah, he's pretty tough. He had me feeling like I've never felt before. After stretching with him I felt like I could jump out the gym and could move faster than I ever had. I didn't really understand why were doing some of the stretches we did, but now I stretch like that every day."

This Fall, Purvis will be playing at Upper Room Christian Academy. He wants to help get the word out about his fellow teammates Tyrek Coger, Waymond Wright, and Willie Gaston. He says they are a few of a small group of players committed to playing for the school this season. In between games, Rodney has quite a few visits lined up. He says "I'll definitely visit Duke and Carolina this Fall but I haven't set a date yet." Already scheduled are trips to "Miami, Virginia Tech, Louisville, Florida, and Alabama" for football games.

Purvis says he's hearing from "Xavier, UNC, Duke, Louisville, UK, Syracuse, Miami, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, NC State, and NC Central the most." While many of the bigger programs in college basketball will certainly get involved with the ultra-talented Shooting Guard, his Mom wants him to stay close to home. He says "She wants me close to home. At the end of the day she wants what's best for me. I want to be close to her too so I can go and see her whenever I can."

If he wants to stay close to home, Rodney will have no shortage of options. Expect UNC, Duke, and NC State to stay very involved with this rising star.

NE Playaz vs Dream Vision Photos

2010-07-22T23:35:00.002-04:00

Duke Hoop Blog is strangely becoming some sort of link dump for Lara Lee's (@livehead16) wonderful work in Vegas. Two days ago, she got exclusive 1-on-1 interviews with Kyle Singler (here) and Nolan Smith (here). Yesterday, she published 75 (USA Basketball's limit -- there are more where that came from) great photos of Duke's Coach K, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, and Chris Spatola (here).

Today, she follows all that up with a stacked photo gallery of three of Duke's biggest targets from the Class of 2012 -- Shabazz Muhammad, Alex Murphy, and Kaleb Tarczewski.

Please click the link to check out all 77 shots: 2012 Prospect Photos

Look out for some video from today's action tomorrow, as well as #9 on my countdown of favorite moments from the title run last year...

Here's a sampling:
Alex Murphy

Shabazz Muhammad

Kaleb Tarczewski

Bonus -- "International" Nate James

USA Training Camp Photo Gallery!

2010-07-22T00:06:00.007-04:00

We now have pictures from the Las Vegas USA Basketball Training Camp:
Click here to see the entire gallery

All pictures via Lara Lee (on Twitter at twitter.com/livehead16)

Duke's Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, Coach K, Chris Spatola are seen as well as Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Jason Kidd and more...

Quinn Cook Has Duke At The Top Of His List

2010-07-20T23:47:00.006-04:00

After reading our previous article regarding Kyrie Irving already being guaranteed a Top 5 spot in the 2011 NBA Draft, Duke fans may be weary of what is to come with unheralded (and inexperienced) Tyler Thornton and Seth Curry, who hasn't played the position in a live game. Many people within the Duke program are confident in Seth's ability to play the point, after watching him do so all of the past year in practice, but for those of us who didn't watch practice on a regular basis we can obviously be apprehensive.

The Duke staff is clearly not going to sit back and wait to see what happens with their point guard slot, the most important position on the floor. They are being very proactive as Nate James has been watching 2011 recruit Quinn Cook as he led the U-17 USA Olympic Team to victory in Hamburg, Germany and then the following weekend as his AAU squad, DC Assault, played in a tournament in Minnesota where he was voted to the All-Tournament First Team: http://minnesotapreps.rivals.co/content.asp?CID=1103861

Duke Hoop has learned that Nate James will again travel to see Quinn play, this time flying to Las Vegas, Nevada to watch DC Assault compete in the Adidas Super 64: http://www.adidassuper64.com/

A source close to Cook told us tonight: "Duke is on top of the list, that's for sure." and that "Nate is going out to Vegas." You can be sure that Quinn is noticing the Duke presence at his events as "InterNational Nate" has been putting some miles on Duke Air lately.

Photo credit to boxofmess.com

Kyrie Irving -- Here Today, Gone Tomorrow

2010-07-20T23:06:00.004-04:00

Going into the Summer, Duke thought they had the point guard position locked up for the immediate future with Kyrie Irving and Tyler Thornton in the bag and Seth Curry having spent a year practicing the position.

After Kyrie kept improving his game and after he impressed even those watching the pickup games in the K Center, those in the program began to think they may have too good of a solution at the position. A source has told Duke Hoop that NBA front office people have already guaranteed Duke that Kyrie will be a Top 5 pick in the upcoming draft barring injury or an unexpectedly poor showing this year. Duke fans, enjoy Kyrie at the helm while you can, because he will almost certainly be gone before you know it...

Photo credit to sports.chronicleblogs.com

Kyle Singler 1-on-1 Interview

2010-07-20T22:55:00.003-04:00

Part 2 of the USA Basketball Duke player interviews brings us Kyle Singler as he looks back on his busy Summer and looks forward to his Senior Year as Captain of the Duke Men's Basketball team. Duke Hoop Blog's Lara Lee sat down with Kyle before he joined the USA Select Team for training camp:

Duke Hoop Blog: What does it mean to you to be chosen for this Select Team?

Kyle Singler: It's a great honor. It's a good opportunity to play with and against great competition, and it's just a fun opportunity and experience to be part of.

DHB: What do you hope to take away from this week?

K: Hopefully I get better as a basketball player. Hopefully I have fun, and hopefully I learn some stuff. And so far, I've been doing all three.

DHB: You've had a really busy summer so far; it seems like you've been all over the place. What have you gained from the camps and the various things you've been up to?

K: You take away different things from different camps. But I think the main thing that has happened is just playing against good competition and just being away from Duke, I think, has helped, just being in different arenas and atmospheres. I think that's helped, and it's kind of mixed up the summer a little bit.

DHB: Have you got any plans to take a breather before you get into the season?

K: Yeah, I'll probably go home like the first part of August and stay there for about two weeks before school starts.

DHB: Speaking of home, what did you think when Coach first approached you with the idea of playing against EJ up in Portland this fall?

K: Yeah, I was really excited about it. You know, I was hoping that we would get the chance to at least go back to Oregon to play when I was at Duke. So now that I'm playing my brother, and it's in Oregon, it should be a really fun thing. A lot of people in Oregon are excited about it, so I'm excited to get back there.

DHB: You said that a big reason you decided to stay for your senior year was because you love Duke so much. What are some things that you love about the program and about the university that made you want to stick around?

K: Well, just those things. I love the program, I love being around the guys and Coach. The university and just the people at the school are fun to be around. Just the whole experience I’ve had a blast. Each year's been more fun so hopefully my senior year is even better than the last one. And that's pretty tough to do.

DHB: Speaking of next year, what does it mean to you to be a captain coming up this year?

K: Yeah, it's something new; it's something that I haven't done. I think it'll help Nolan and I as basketball players, just to become more of a leader, I guess, in our program. It'll just help us as basketball players, just become more complete.

DHB: It's going to be a very different year next year. Not only do you have a lot of personnel changes, but the outside expectations for the team are so different than they were last year. How do you tackle that as a captain?

K: Well, you kind of have to just be yourself. I think that's the main thing. Just like you said, it's going to be different. Every year's been different since I've been at Duke, so I think if Nolan and I are just ourselves, our instincts will take over. I mean, we're leaders already, so I think we'll just be ourselves and things just come natural.

DHB: You mentioned how it's been different every year... that's really been true for you, because you've been moving around on the court pretty much every year. What do you think your role this year will be on the court?

K: I have no idea, to be honest. It could be anything. I really can't see what it's going to be like. We're just going to work hard during the summer and hopefully we put ourselves in the right positions to be successful.

Nolan Smith 1-on-1 Interview

2010-07-20T22:35:00.003-04:00

Nolan Smith is in Las Vegas for a week with Duke teammate Kyle Singler and a number of other college players training with the USA Select team. This squad was hand selected by a panel of college coaches and USA Basketball Men’s Junior National Committee to train against the USA Men's National Team and gain valuable experience in the Olympic program.

Duke Hoop Blog's Lara Lee caught up with the two players before they set out on their second day of practice. Here's the first interview with Nolan:

Duke Hoop Blog: What does it mean for you to be chosen for this Select Team?

Nolan Smith: It's a huge honor to be out here, you know, to play alongside these great college guys and also get the opportunity to play against some of the best NBA players. It's a great honor, and it's very exciting to be out here.

DHB: What do you hope to take away from this week, for yourself?

N: Just learn a lot about my game. I'll really know what I have to do to improve, not only for next season in college basketball, but going forward in my game at the next level. To see myself against the NBA guys, I'll really get to test myself and test my game.

DHB: You've had a really busy summer so far. You said that yourself yesterday... you've been all over the place. What do you think you've gained from going to the different camps and things like that?

N: Oh, I've gained a lot. In my next blog coming out, I'm actually going to talk about that. I've gained a lot. Learning from guys like Chris Paul, Deron Williams, LeBron... all of them have really just given different pieces of their game that they have. And then all the trainers that I've been working with all summer, you know, I've tried to just soak it all in. Keep my game the way it is, but add different pieces that they have. I really feel like I've grown this summer.

DHB: Speaking of the blog... What brought that on?

N: You know, just my personality. Really wanting to become one with my fans, Duke fans, and basketball fans. I really think that they appreciate it. People that love sports love to hear what we're doing, love to hear and see our personalities. And I love giving out to them, so it's just something I want to do to really just spend my free time, you know, when I'm just sitting at the house, and really just do it for the fans.

DHB: So is that your ultimate goal with the blog, give more the insider view of your life off the court?

N: Oh yeah, definitely... give an insider's view, allow people to ask me questions, and I'll try to answer as many questions as I can, and really just try to connect with everybody. I'm a people person; I love putting a smile on people's faces. That's just me.

DHB: Most people were under the impression earlier in the spring that you had no thoughts of declaring for the draft this year. And then after the fact we got a little bit of a different story. How come you kind of kept your thoughts to yourself for a while there?

N: That was just the way I wanted it. You know, I really didn't want to deal with the questions, deal with the interviews asking me about it. I wanted to keep it inside Duke, and keep it with the coaches, keep everything just really low-key. If I would have decided [to leave], then I'd have been prepared for any questions. But then when I decided to stay, it was kind of like, everybody was expecting me to stay, and that's just the way I wanted it.

DHB: What does it mean to you to be a captain coming up this season?

N: It means a lot to me. You know, especially the captains that we had this year, they set a high bar. You know, Jon and Lance... and Zoubs wasn't a captain but he really was, just our senior leadership. This year it's going to be Kyle and myself, and we're ready to try and do the best we can, like last year's guys did. And we're ready for it, you know, leading by example but also being very vocal with our freshmen and our guys coming up. So, it's a huge task and we're ready for it.

DHB: Along that same line, it's a very different team coming in this year personnel-wise, but also the outside expectations for this team are very different this year from last year. How do you handle that, starting out?

N: Just try and be humble. You know, as long as we get everybody on the same page, and play to take it one game at a time. We know the expectations are going to be very high for us. But we just have to stay relaxed, and we got to expect that after winning a championship, the expectations are always going to be high. But even more so with the guys coming in, Kyrie Irving and Seth Curry, who was sitting out, you know people are expecting a lot out of those guys. So we're just going to have to all keep it together. If we play together, then everything will just fall into place.

DHB: Are you going to make it to any of the DC Assault games while you're out here?

N: I definitely plan to. Our workouts here are pretty much over by 2 or 3 o'clock every day, so I definitely plan to go support DC Assault kids and just watch my guys.

Countdown to Craziness October 15th

2010-07-19T19:49:00.002-04:00

Not sure if everyone saw this from Duke Blue Planet, but CTC is scheduled for October 15th:

Oct 15 RT @joeyl21: @dukeblueplanet r they goin to be a Countdown to Craziness if so you know the dateless than a minute ago via TweetDeckDuke Basketball
dukeblueplanet

Check Crazie-Talk for the rest of the confirmed schedule dates: http://www.crazie-talk.com/scores-schedule/2010-2011/

Duke's Players at NC Pro-Am Tuesday, July 20th

2010-07-19T19:25:00.003-04:00

Schedule is here:

Tuesday, July 20

6 pm Team Jamison vs. Team Navy

7 pm Lucky 7 vs. Hendrick Of Durham

8 pm D1 Sports/C Ryan vs. Team Dreamworks

9 pm Team Stackhouse vs. Team McGladrey

The Duke guys are not playing on Team Navy anymore and have switched to D1Sports. Adjust your viewing schedules accordingly.

Playing with Team Jamison, we'll get to see Miles Plumlee, Seth Curry, and Josh Hairston (possibly playing with Dexter Strickland and Justin Knox of unc) going up against a ragtag Team Navy. Note that Torian Graham, who we profiled here: http://dukehoop.blogspot.com/2010/07/torian-graham.html will be in Vegas with his DC Assault AAU Squad at the Adidas Super 64. Click here for more info on that tourney: http://dukehoop.blogspot.com/2010/07/vegas-aau-matchup-between-2012s-biggest.html

In the 7 PM game, we'll get another look at Kyrie Irving, although Kyle Singler will be absent as he is in Las Vegas with the USA Select Team. We will be covering the USA Training Camp beginning tomorrow, so check back tomorrow evening for some pictures from the action. Kyrie's squad will hopefully be joined by Durham Riverside's Class of 2012 standout TJ Warren.

The 8 PM game brings us Ryan Kelly, Tyler Thornton, and Andre Dawkins in their first game back since switching to the D1Sports Team 2 weeks ago. 2011 Standout Quincy Miller will be in Vegas with the rest of his D1Sports AAU Squad and we're assuming John Wall will not be present. They face off against Mason Plumlee's Team Dreamworks, who will be missing Nolan Smith as he is in Vegas with the USA Select Team with Kyle.

At 9 PM some unc guys will face some NC State guys...

We should be live tweeting from the event again and hope you are already following us on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dukehoopblog

Thanks for reading!

Adam

Vegas AAU Matchup Between 2012's Biggest Targets

2010-07-19T18:11:00.014-04:00

If you follow recruiting, you know that Duke's two biggest targets in the Class of 2012 are 6'5" lefty SG Shabazz Muhammad, and 6'8" WF Alex Murphy. Not only are they good friends, they will also be facing each other during the opening round of the Adidas Super 64.

The tournament matches some of the best Adidas-Affiliated AAU teams in the country. See the teams playing here: http://www.adidassuper64.com/Assets/Documents/2010-17-B-Pools.Pdf and the schedule here: http://www.adidassuper64.com/Assets/Documents/2010-17-B-Pool-Play.Pdf

While it's not the easiest thing to read, Pool B contains Shabazz' Dream Vision and Alex' NE Playaz. If you use your decoder glasses on the schedule, that 11:40 AM matchup between 17B1 and 17B2 will pit to possible future team mates at Duke against each other. Here's to hoping they like sharing the court, and wishing they were wearing the same color jersey...

Men's Basketball Roster Posted!

2010-07-19T17:17:00.003-04:00

http://www.goduke.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=4200&SPID=1845&SPSID=22727

Some interesting items:

Seth Curry has said he is now 6'2", 182 lbs. as of the posting of this article on May 2nd: http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2010/05/02/1410910/at-duke-a-curry-is-talk-of-the.html He is listed at 6'1" 175 on the roster.

Ryan Kelly is listed at 6'10" 220 lbs. We know from sources he's actually at 232 lbs.

Miles Plumlee, for anyone who's seen him this Summer, is much thicker than his 240 lbs. playing weight from last year.

It's definitely weird to not see Jon, Lance, and Zoubs on the roster. Jordan Davidson's name has also been up there for what seems like a decade. All good things...

10 Favorite Moments From '09-'10

2010-07-18T17:43:00.008-04:00

Duke Hoop 10 Favorite Moments From Last Year’s Title Run

It’s a lot easier to look back on last year, when it ended like it did. Some people have referred to the title run of ’09-’10 as a fairy tale scenario, and at times it certainly felt that way. There were the ups of 82-50, the downs of the NC State and Georgetown games, and the ultimate, nerve racking finish in Indianapolis as the Duke Blue Devils won their fourth National Title. We will look back at our 10 favorite moments from last year, not just because it’s a nice, round even number, but also because it’s Duke’s current winning streak. It’s good to be king…

We start our look back with #10:

#10 – Moments of Toughness

Cohesiveness, a true team, magical, fairy tale, all are words used for the ’09-’10 team from last year. One word you don’t typically hear to describe that team is tough. For whatever reason, and it’s curious to us, the outside perspective of that team was that of a finesse team who relied on outside jumpers to outscore their opponents. If you were paying attention though, you saw Miles Plumlee bleeding from his head in the Florida State game, you saw Lance Thomas go down with a knee injury in the second half of the Duke-UNC game in Chapel Hill, and you saw Kyle Singler’s black eye that he wore as a badge of badassedness for the majority of the second half of the season.

This first "moment" is actually three. The first was when Kyle came flying in for a dunk in the (Which game was it, Wake Forest at Cameron?) and landed flat on his back right underneath the basket. Without missing a beat, he popped right up and shook it off like he stubbed his toe. It was quite a fall for a 6’8” 230 lb small forward to take, especially at as fast of a speed as he was traveling. Didn’t phase him one bit. Well, maybe a little as he airballed his first free throw. Even the ref checked with Kyle to make sure he was okay as that was so uncharacteristic. Never the less, Kyle shook the miss off just like he had the fall and stepped up to the line to coolly sink his second free throw.

Here are the highlights from that game, unfortunately Kyle's show of toughness wasn't in here:

Second was when Kyle was going for a loose ball in the ACC Tournament Fianls vs. Georgia Tech and ended up flying over Dick Vitale and Dan Shulman, again shaking it off and going about his business.

Last, but certainly not least, was when Kyle got crushed by Matt Howard on a screen on the last shot of the '09-'10 College Basketball Season.

These were all emblematic of the team the entire year, as Zoubs would battle for rebounds, and Nolan would dive after the ball on the floor at a crucial moment during the Final Four matchup with West Virginia. Coach K’s teams are nothing but tough on defense, and it really showed throughout the year last year.
Stay tuned to Duke Hoop as we chronicle our 10 favorite moments from the magical season of ’09-’10.

--Adam

Duke Coaching Staff Heading to Vegas

2010-07-16T00:31:00.006-04:00

Photo credit about.com

Fresh off winning his fourth National Championship, Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski heads off to begin the defense of his other recent title, the Olympic Gold he won in Beijing in 2008.

Starting July 19th, Coach K, Coach Chris Collins, and Coach Steve Wojciechowski (Nate James will stay behind in Durham) will all head off to begin their second jobs, as coaches of the USA Olympic team. The following players are confirmed to be on the court from the 19th to the 24th:

Confirmed to be on the court in Las Vegas are Chauncey Billups (Denver Nuggets); Chandler; Stephen Curry (Golden State Warriors); Kevin Durant (Oklahoma City Thunder); Tyreke Evans (Sacramento Kings); Rudy Gay (Memphis Grizzlies); Eric Gordon (Los Angeles Clippers); Danny Granger (Indiana Pacers); Jeff Green (Oklahoma City Thunder); Andre Iguodala (Philadelphia 76ers); David Lee (Golden State Warriors); Brook Lopez (New Jersey Nets); Robin Lopez; Kevin Love (Minnesota Timberwolves); O.J. Mayo (Memphis Grizzlies); Lamar Odom (Los Angeles Lakers); Rondo; Derrick Rose (Chicago Bulls); Amar’e Stoudemire (New York Knicks); Gerald Wallace (Charlotte Bobcats); and Russell Westbrook (Oklahoma City Thunder).

During the USA Training Camp, there will be daily practice sessions from noon to 3 PM (PDT) at UNLV's Cox Pavilion. The five-day event will end with a "Blue-White" Intrasquad Scrimmage at 7 PM (PDT) on July 24th at the Thomas and Mack Center, also on the UNLV campus. If you're in the area, you can get tickets either by calling 866-388-FANS or visiting www.UNLVtickets.com.

August 12th, selected members of the USA Team reconvene in New York City for the very exciting World Basketball Festival. If you're in New York, you absolutely have to check this out: http://www.slamonline.com/online/news-rumors/other-news/2010/06/nike-usa-basketball-debut-world-basketball-festival/

WBF tips off with a showcase featuring members of the 2010 USA Basketball National Team on an open-air court in Times Square (Broadway between 47th & 48th), along with an unprecedented performance by a surprise musical act. (Yes, they’re laying down the hardwood in the center of Times Square.) From there, the next two days will feature games at the legendary Rucker Park in Harlem, where open-air practices and scrimmages by the National Teams from Brazil and Puerto Rico, and training by France, will be mixed with a grassroots youth tournament serving as the championships for some of New York’s top summer basketball leagues.

The Festival will conclude with an exciting exhibition double-header featuring the United States taking on France (1 p.m.) and China meeting Puerto Rico (3:30 p.m.) at famed Madison Square Garden. The exhibition games are being utilized as part of the teams’ preparation for the 2010 FIBA World Basketball Championship in Turkey, which runs August 28 to September 12.

WOW! Can Coach K defend the Olympic Gold while defending the 2010 National Championship? If there's a coach out there that can, it's him...

Duke Players at the Pro-Am Tonight

2010-07-15T17:27:00.000-04:00

Schedule for this evening: http://www.ncproam.com/schedule.html

Thursday, July 15

6 pm Lucky 7 vs. Team Navy

7 pm Body of Christ vs. Team Stackhouse/TRSC

8 pm Team Jamison vs. Team McGladrey

9 pm Team Dreamworks vs. Team 212/Trianglegi.com

http://www.ncproam.com/rosters.html

***Although Ryan Kelly, Andre Dawkins, and Tyler Thornton are all on the Team Navy roster, they have moved over to D1 Sports because as my friend Ryan said "Team Navy looked like a middle school team out there."

Looks like Team Stackhouse with some carolina guys on it are playing at 7, if you're into that sort of thing.

At 8, you can watch Seth Curry, Miles Plumlee, and Josh Hairston go up against the NCSU contingent of Ryan Harrow, Tracy Smith, Zo Brown, and CJ Leslie. Not sure how many of those guys will show up. It's always a crapshoot.

The 9 PM game features Mason Plumlee and Nolan Smith of Duke. I seriously doubt Nolan will be there as he was up partying last night at the ESPY's aftershow in LA.

We have received confirmation that all Duke players will be at the Pro-Am except for Nolan!

Duke Signee Michael Gbinije on ESPNU at 7 PM!

2010-07-15T11:52:00.002-04:00

His Team Takeover DC made it to the Peach Jam Finals and the game which is live at 3 PM today will be replayed tonight at 7!

__

Torian Graham

2010-07-14T17:30:00.009-04:00

Photo credit to Scout.com

Duke Hoop has spoken with 2012 SG Torian Graham's father, Len Lilly. Torian has a pretty long list of potential suitors at this time. Len named the following schools that were pursuing the Oak Hill Academy and DC Assault stud the hardest:

Boston College, Xavier, NC State, Rutgers, Kansas State, Miami, Oregon, Depaul, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Maryland, VCU, Richmond, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Cincinnatie, and Indiana

As you can see, there are some high major schools interested in the rising Junior and they would all be lucky to get his services. At this time, Boston College, NC State, Xavier, and Kansas State have offered scholarships. He does not have a leader at this time.

Len informed us that Torian's goal is to be recruited by Duke and UNC and if he continues to develop as he already has, we are guessing that goal will become a reality.

Watch him at the NC Pro-Am on Team Navy this Thursday here in Durham as he is one of only a few 2012 players invited to perform in the Summer League composed of mainly pros and college stars.

Pro-Am Last Night

2010-07-14T16:28:00.006-04:00

Well, last night was quite an experience. I got to see Josh and Kyrie play live for the first time, witnessed a transformed Miles Plumlee (physically and folically),
and got to see a team of Duke players up close and personal who have an unbelievable amount of team chemistry.

Nolan Smith, Ryan Kelly, Andre Dawkins, and Tyler Thornton were all on hand to watch their teammates play at the Greater Rucker NC Pro-Am on NCCU's campus just down the road from Duke. They, along with the rest of the 3,200 person (may have been a few more than that, but don't tell the fire marshalls) capacity crowd were not disappointed. The action started off with Team Hendrick vs. Team Navy featuring Kyrie Irving in his debut performance at the Summer League. Kyle Singler is normally on his team, but was apparently resting up for his appearance on the Espys tonight (set your DVRs!) Kyle's absence did not stop Kyrie from having a breakout performance in his first Pro-Am. See video from our friends at Crazie-Talk here: http://www.crazie-talk.com/2010/07/14/video-duke-at-the-nc-pro-am/ I haven't seen a player with Kyrie's ability to handle the ball and change directions at his breakneck speed since Chris Paul's days at Wake Forest. Kyrie can stop and start on a dime, using a nice hesitation move to freeze his defender and giving him an opening to make one of his patented moves to the basket. Needless to say, I'm very excited to watch Kyrie over the rest of the league, and of course for the next year at Duke. Enjoy him while you can, because if he plays like expected, he won't be around Durham very long...

The next game featured Miles Plumlee, Seth Curry, and Josh Hairston. Their team dominated a much smaller squad as Miles and Josh were beasts on the boards all evening. Miles had a litany of dunks, one-handed, two-handed, from up close, and from a few feet out. He was a monster. Not really too much you can take from such a mismatch, but I was very impressed with Miles' ability to stay in front of smaller, quicker guards, and he recovered nicely for blocks when he did get beat off the dribble. Rumors of a much more chiseled Miles from last year are true, as I'd say he's put on 10 lbs of pure muscle.

Josh also used his size to his advantage on the boards, and had a number of rebounds. He had a little trouble finishing though and will need to work more on his ability to put the ball in the basket from up close. While his work down low left something to be desired, he showed a much better handle in the open court than I expected and had a very nice touch on his turnaround jumpers from 10-15 feet. For those Duke fans expected Josh to play more of a PF/C role, I think you should be expecting more of a SF/PF player a la Battier or Singler (this past year.) Josh simply doesn't have the body to bang down low yet and hasn't learned how use his sturdy frame to bang around down low. Duke's 2011 recruits (Marshall Plumlee and Tyler Adams) will allow Josh to slide over to a more perimeter-oriented role.

Seth Curry was definitely my standout player of the night. While he wasn't as flashy as Kyrie, Seth showed a patience you don't normally see in these games. He allowed the game to come to him and found ways to score that I didn't know he had in his arsenal. From dribble penetration to step back threes, to steals and breakaway scores, Seth did it all. It's easy not to notice him putting up points, as he does it in such a quiet way. I was very impressed with Seth's ability to be a facilitator of his team and saw some "floor general" qualities that should allow him to step into the leadership role that will certainly be left after Nolan graduates.

I don't generally take too much away from these glorified pickup games, but a backcourt of Kyrie Irving and Nolan would be Top 5 in the nation. Add in the Nation's leading scoring Freshman from two years ago in Seth Curry, rising Sophomore Andre Dawkins, and incoming Freshman Tyler Thornton and it's just not fair how deep and talented Duke will be in the back court next year. As we all know, elite talented guards make big guys look a lot better than they are, so look out for the Plumlee Brothers Dunking Company to wow some people next year as well.

I think some carolina and state guys played after Duke did, but I'm not sure. You can probably find something online about it somewhere. Someone said there would be a matchup between Leslie and Harriett but I didn't think girls were playing in this league. Who knows?!?

I'll be attending the league for the rest of the season, so look back here for reports -- Adam

Don't forget to check our twitter for live tweets from last night's and subsequent games: http://twitter.com/dukehoopblog

NC Pro-AM Tonight!

2010-07-13T15:18:00.004-04:00

Very excited about tonight's NC Pro-Am as it's the first time I get to see Kyrie Irving and Josh Hairston live.

We will be tweeting from the games at http://twitter.com/dukehoopblog Give us a follow if you haven't already.

We also will be shooting video and should have it up on the site later this week. If we get lucky, we'll get some interviews and hope to do them on camera...

On tap for this evening is Hendrick of Durham (Kyrie Irving and Kyle Singler's team) at 6 PM. Nolan recently tweeted that he may be their team as well! Also on that team is Duke recruit TJ Warren, a rising Junior.

At 7, we'll get to check out Seth Curry, Josh Hairston, and Miles Plumlee's team. It will be my first time seeing Josh live also. Very excited as I think he'll surprise some people over the next four years.

For rosters, click here: http://ncproam.com/rosters.html

For schedule, click here: http://www.ncproam.com/schedule.html

The players in attendance are subject to change at any time and you often see guys play for two different teams in one night or even switch teams all together. Part of the fun of Summer League, I guess...

From Adam's Twitter

2010-07-12T17:50:00.008-04:00

I'm gonna try to start posting a daily roundup of my Twitter Feed here, as it looks like not everyone who comes to the blog is following me there and I don't want you people missing out on all the Duke haps from throughout the day.

Derek Fisher has said no to the Heat and will remain with the Lakers. This can only be good for Jon Scheyer in his attempts to make the team.

Speaking of Jon Scheyer, he received some praise from Miami Head Coach Erik Spoelstra in a recent interview: http://www.palmbeachpost.com/sports/heat/jon-scheyer-earns-praise-from-heats-erik-spoelstra-797458.html

Spoelstra also went out of his way to praise undrafted Duke guard Jon Scheyer.

"We wanted him because we thought he'd be a guy that would stretch the floor," Spoelstra said. "A lot of what we do offensively is predicated on spacing and 3-point shooting really helps. He's been a pleasant surprise with other aspects of his game. He has an extremely high basketball IQ. He does a better job of putting the ball on the floor, making plays, than I anticipated."

If you want to follow Jon in his quest to make an NBA Title-contender, check out the Heat's Summer League schedule: http://www.nba.com/summerleague2010/teams/heat/
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Anthony Davis expects to garner offers from UNC and Duke following the Peach Jam: http://www.zagsblog.com/2010/07/12/carolina-pursuing-anthony-davis/ We agree with Zagoria that Duke is done recruiting bigs for the Class of 2011. Yes, that includes Quincy Miller although Duke certainly wouldn't turn down a commitment from him...

Speaking of the Peach Jam, Austin Rivers went off for 29 points today in front of 50 to 100 college coaches. Included in that contingent was Coach K and Coach Collins. Notably absent was Roy Williams and unc's other assistant in town, Jerrod Haase. They are reportedly in attendance for Austin's 6 PM game.

Here's the Peach Jam Schedule if you're interested: http://inside.nikebasketball.com/news/wp-content/themes/inside_bb/images/elite-youth/pdfs/PeachJamSchedule.pdf
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If you're wondering how Duke got lucky enough for both Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith to return to Duke, check out this article where Nolan attributes the decision to Kyle Singler's wanting to return: http://www.cbssports.com/collegebasketball/story/13615837/duke-senior-duo-returned-together-to-return-devils-to-top Thanks Kyle!

If you missed Kyle "The Standard Package" Singler on The Dan Patrick Show today, go here and click the red button: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/blog/119741/index.html
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Duke has contacted 6'3" Guard Josiah Turner from the Class of 2011. He says in this Zagsblog.com article that

“There’s a lot of schools coming out hard now,” Turner said. “Duke called [Sunday] night. They said they need a guard to come in after Kyrie [Irving]. They think he’s going to be one-and-done so they’re trying to find a guard to come in.”

Duke fans should enjoy Kyrie while he's here, cause he'll probably be gone before you can say "threepeat".

Kyrie will make his debut performance tomorrow (Tuesday night at the NC Pro-Am on NCCU's campus at 6 PM with fellow teammate Kyle Singler. Other Duke players including Seth Curry, Miles Plumlee, Tyler Thornton, and Andre Dawkins will also play tomorrow. For rosters and schedules, go to http://www.ncproam.com/
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Also, after Nate James followed recruits Quinn Cook and Chasson Randle to Germany for the U-17 World Championships, he will stay with Quinn as he travels to Minnesota for a tourney. Newest Duke commit Marshall Plumlee will also be at this tournament.

Thanks for following!

Adam

Marshall Plumlee and The Post Rotation

2010-07-11T14:31:00.014-04:00

(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.

9 Golden Years Of Duke Basketball To Come?

2010-07-10T13:12:00.005-04:00

Duke under Mike Krzyzewski has been one of the most stable programs over a 30 year run NCAA Basketball has ever seen. Though there have been some lows, they were always followed by highs immediately after. My friend Kedsy crunched the numbers and found an extremely exciting pattern for Duke fans to look forward to over the next 9 years or so. While last year's team exceeded nearly everyone's expectations except the most optimistic of Duke fans and those within the locker room, what's to come may just keep Duke on top of the college basketball world where it belongs:

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The summer of 2009 was tough on Duke fans. The powderpuff blue team from down the road had won the national championship, and Duke had failed to advance past the Sweet 16 for the fifth straight year. A whole lot of journalists and more than a few of the Blue Devil faithful were yammering on about Duke's five year downward spiral pattern after twenty years of high-flying success.

Of course, you could only see a downward spiral if you believe a team's last game defines its season. Because Duke had outstanding seasons in every season from 2005 (really 2004-05, but for this post I'll use the shorthand) to 2009, with the exception of one down year in 2007. Yet, the ignominious endings, especially in 2008 and 2009, left an impression with even the most optimistic fan that those fine regular seasons had been a bit of a mirage.

But was this a new, negative pattern after a twenty year party? I was sitting at my computer in the summer of 2009 and something was off. It didn't seem new; I remember feeling much the same way in the mid-1990s, and also in the mid-1980s, before the 1986 team propelled Duke's historic run. I decided to look more closely at the entirety of K's career at Duke instead of just the previous five years.

A huge part of the perception issue was 2006, but as I thought about it I realized that was mostly due to a single piece of bad luck. LSU won their game before Duke by one point against a #12 seed on a last second desperation three-point heave. If that shot clanked off the rim, Duke would have played #12 seed Texas A&M in a game Duke almost certainly wins, and then Duke's next game would have been against Texas, who Duke matched up well with and had blown out by 31 earlier in the year. So if not for a halfcourt prayer, Duke probably makes the Final Four in 2006.

Looking at it that way, with 2006 as an "up" year, the alleged downward spiral was only three years, and seemed hauntingly familiar, centered around the one down year of 2007.

Coach K's first real recruiting class came to campus for the 1983 season. Including that season (but not his first two years with Bill Foster's recruits), under Coach K Duke has only three times experienced what an objective observer would classify as "down years." Those were 1983, 1995, and 2007. Focusing the analysis on those three years, a larger pattern emerges over the course of K's entire Duke career, and the recent years fit right in:

1983 -- DOWN year (11-17)
1984 -- Rebuilding year; #14 in final AP poll but probably overrated; lost first NCAA game.
1985 -- Frustrating year; solid #10 in final AP poll. Lost 2nd game in NCAAT.

and then nine golden years:
1986 -- #1 in final AP poll, NCAA final game
1987 -- #17, lost in Sweet 16 to eventual national champion
1988 -- #5, Final Four
1989 -- #9, Final Four
1990 -- #15, final game
1991 -- #6, national champs
1992 -- #1, national champs
1993 -- #10, upset in 2nd round of NCAAT
1994 -- #6, final game

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1995 -- DOWN year (13-18)
1996 -- Rebuilding year; unranked; lost first NCAA game
1997 -- Frustrating year; #8 in Final AP poll; barely beat Murray State before losing to Providence in 2nd round of NCAAT

and then nine golden years:
1998 -- #3 in Final AP poll; Elite Eight, with only a late game collapse against eventual national champion keeping team from the Final Four
1999 -- #1, final game
2000 -- #1, upset in Sweet 16
2001 -- #1, national champion
2002 -- #1, upset in Sweet 16
2003 -- #7, lost in Sweet 16
2004 -- #6, Final Four
2005 -- #3, upset in Sweet 16
2006 -- #1, see above

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2007 -- Down year; not nearly as awful as the previous down years, but still...
2008 -- Rebuilding year; #9 in Final AP poll; barely beat Belmont before losing to West Virginia in 2nd round
2009 -- Frustrating year; #6 in Final AP poll; lost in Sweet 16

...and then nine golden years? Well obviously the national championship in 2010 was a pretty good start.

In part because of this pattern I was convinced all year that Duke was going to the Final Four this season. Sure it could have been just a clever bit of data-fitting mixed with a healthy dose of wishful thinking, but it also might be that a Coach K team needs a certain amount of time to "recover" from a down year and be able to play with enough confidence to advance in the NCAA Tournament. It could be the frustration of 2008 and 2009 was exactly what history predicted.

With this year's experience and the new players we have coming in next year, here's hoping we truly have started another nine year run.

We're Baaaaaaack!

2010-07-10T12:07:00.002-04:00

Hey folks, big thanks to Big Pappa for all of his hard work down in San Antonio at the FIBA U-18s. For a young blogger such as myself with little resources and no journalism experience, it's nice to get a little help from my friends. We hope you all thoroughly enjoyed his reporting from down there, both on the blog and on Twitter. If you're not following us yet, we do a lot of Duke-centric links and retweets on there as well as a lot of opinion from myself.

I've been out as I got married on Saturday, June 26th and was on my honeymoon from that Sunday through this past Thursday. My wonderful new wife got me a championship hat signed by both Coach K and Kyle Singler for my 0th anniversary present and allowed me to write Coach K and Duke into our vows. Here's an excerpt:

"Because I love you, I promise to respect your unhealthy obsession with Duke Basketball, and join you in that obsession. I promise to love them even in the seasons they do not win their 4th National Championship, which made Mike Krzyzewski the greatest coach in college basketball history, especially after going to 11 Final Fours, winning two Olympic Gold Medals, and being the only coach to ever go through an ACC season 16-0. In addition, by the end of next season, he will be the all time winningest head coach in NCAA history, and will be forever, just like our love for each other."

I've got a keeper.

An article on Coach K's stretch of dominance will be put up shortly, and will be live tweeting from the NC Pro-Am on Tuesday. Thanks for all of your support and we will continue to do all we can on the little budget we have.

Adam

USA vs. Mexico - Post Game Interviews

2010-06-29T13:20:00.006-04:00

USA Assistant Coach and Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Hewitt

What kind of guys are Kyrie Irving and Josh Hairston on and off the floor?

“They’ve both conducted themselves great here. They play very hard and I’ve been very impressed with both of them. Kyrie [Irving] has an unbelievably high level of talent, while Josh [Hairston] is a very smart player who is hard-nosed and does all the right things. Josh is a good glue guy and Kyrie is a difference maker. Off the floor, I’ve been very impressed with how they’ve conducted themselves.”

Are you looking forward to seeing them in the ACC next year?

“No, not at all [laughing], not for one second, but I don’t think I have a choice.”

How do you plan to replace inside after losing Derrick Favors and Gani Lawal to the draft and Zachary Peacock to graduation?

“Well we’ve got two kids who red-shirted this year, Kammeon Holsey and Daniel Miller. Certainly, I don’t think they will put up the same numbers as the guys from last year did inside, but we’ll be a little bit different. Our perimeter will be stronger this year given the experience they gained last year; in particular Brian Oliver and Glen Rice [Jr.] I expect to make a big jump. We hope to be very competitive in the league again.”

USA Head Coach and Oklahoma Head Coach Jeff Capel

What are your expectations for this team?

“I have high expectations. I want guys to come in and work hard and be very proud and honored to represent their country. They have each done a great job of that. We selected twelve guys and the next step was to make those twelve guys a team. We have had some really intense practices and some really long days, because of that, you see camaraderie with our guys. These guys have put their egos aside and have had one agenda: to win this championship for the USA.”

Does your career at Duke as player make coaching guys like Kyrie Irving and Josh Hairston a little more special?

“Well certainly, I’m very proud of my alma mater and I still have incredible relationships with just about everyone there and when those guys [Irving and Hairston] signed in the early period I reached out to them immediately and welcomed them to the family. It makes it very special and those are two guys that I will continue to follow and root for in the fall.”

What are some things you miss most about Duke University?

“The friendships and the relationships with all the folks there.”

Are you glad you don’t have to play them in conference next year?

“Oh yeah. They are going to be very good.”

Duke Commit Kyrie Irving

I know that the FIBA is smaller than a normal ball. Does that take a lot of adjusting for ball-handling and shooting?

“Yeah it really does. Yesterday, most of my shots were going in and out or staying right on the rim, but you just have to stay focused. You have to get used to the ball in practice and then when the big games start all that goes out the window and you just play.”

A lot has been made of your rapid improvement over the last year as you clearly took on a leadership role in your Senior season. How do you see that carrying over into your Freshman year at Duke?

“Yeah definitely. Coach K is expecting a lot from me, especially since he basically put the hype on me saying that he was going to change the whole offense. All that is great, but I’m going to go in there with my head on and take on the challenge.”

Basketball is a team sport, so obviously most of your goals will be team-oriented but what are some individual goals that you've set for yourself in this upcoming season?

“Aside from winning the National Championship and doing well in the NCAA tournament, I want to adjust to college basketball as quickly as possible. I don’t want to hit the freshman wall that most freshmen hit; I want to play great the whole year.”

Playing with Dexter Strickland at St. Patrick’s, you guys have developed a bond off the court. How do you plan on keeping that friendship alive while you guys are going to school 8 miles apart?

“Everybody talks about us hating each other on the court, but off the court we are really close friends. I’m also really close friends with Harrison [Barnes], Reggie [Bullock], and Kendall [Marshall], and it’s all love.”

What former Duke player do you think your game resembles the most?

“I don’t really like to make comparisons to any past Duke players. Everyone compares me to Jason [Williams] and Bobby [Hurley], but I want to go there and create my own legacy.”

The million dollar question for all the undergrad coeds at Duke, do you have a girlfriend? [Laughing] “No I don’t.”

Is it a goal of yours to go to the NBA after a year?

“No it’s not. It’s in the back of my mind, but it’s not a primary goal of mine at this point.”

Interviews Conducted and Written Up By: Big Pappa

FIBA Men's U-18 - USA vs. Mexico

2010-06-28T20:17:00.005-04:00

U.S. vs. Mexico
San Antonio, Texas – 7:41 pm CST:

Mexico was overmatched and undersized the entire game, but after getting the jitters out in the first quarter (only scoring 6 points), they ended with a respectable 32 points in the last three quarters. It looked like Team USA had gotten used to the smaller FIBA ball (only 29” in circumference) after their shooting performance. Coach Capel was also able to spread out the minutes with a comfortable lead the whole game, only one Team USA player (Amir Williams) played under 10 minutes. Amir looked a step slow tonight with a large wrap around his knee, no word on an injury though. After allowing USVI to score 63 points, Coach Capel’s bunch locked down their defense, only allowing 38 points and holding Mexico’s leading scorer (Pereda Quintero) to only 7 points.

The United States sends starters of 5-Kyrie Irving (Duke commit), 6-Vander Blue (Marquette commit), 11-Austin Rivers (Duke, Florida, and UNC recruit), 12-Josh Hairston (Duke commit), and 15-Pat Young (Florida commit) to meet Mexico. Young gets the tip back to Kyrie who gives it off to Austin, then runs around a screen to the corner and knocks down a 3. Kyrie looks much more comfortable shooting the ball tonight as he steps into the shot, in rhythm, and knocks it down. After a 24 second violation (FIBA rules have a shot-clock of only 24 seconds unlike the NCAA whose is 35) by Mexico, Josh Hairston hits a fade-away jumper after a nice post move, 5-0 USA. Mexico commits 24 second violations on three straight possessions and a after a steal and dunk, followed by an and-one dunk from Josh, Team USA’s lead is 16-0. More of the same, as the Mexico team looks nervous in the opening minutes of the game, committing careless fouls and rarely even getting a shot off on the offensive end. The first quarter closes with back to back 3-pointers from Syracuse commit Trevor Cooney, Team USA leads 36-6.

Amir Williams starts the second quarter for Young, but is quickly replaced by Young who joins Kyrie, Austin, Quincy Miller, and LeBryan Nash on the floor. Two layups on straight possessions for Quincy after air balls, on fall away 3-point attempts, by Mexico; Team USA leads 44-8. Great chemistry between Kyrie and Austin as Kyrie finds Austin in opposite corners for two open threes. A third three in under 1:30 for Austin followed by a post-move and layup from Josh and the USA lead is now 59-13. At half, Team USA leads Mexico 61-13 with Duke commits and recruits represented very well. Kyrie, Austin, and Josh are each 4/5 from the field for a total of 30 points; Kyrie also with 3 assists and 3 rebounds.

The third quarter begins with a quick drive and layup by Kyrie. The Mexican team is overmatched in every aspect of the game: size, strength, speed, and ability. Austin takes the ball to the rack on two straight possessions, one for an easy layup and he draws a foul on the other. Austin has absolutely no wasted movement in his smooth game. He plays the game effortlessly, much like his NBA idol Dwyane Wade. Kyrie stretches Team USA’s lead to 72-17 after a pull-up three from the top of the key. Great effort by Duke commits Kyrie and Josh as they continue to dive for loose balls even though Team USA is up 55 points. Mexico sends a rotation to the floor that includes three players under 6’ tall, with one guarding 6’7” Lebryan Nash. Nash quickly thanks them with a turn-around dunk and smile toward Coach Santos. The lead is 61 at the end of the third: Team USA 84, Mexico 23.

No starters play for Team USA in the fourth quarter, but Quincy Miller, Cooney, and Nash are still dominant. After a flurry of deep threes from Mexico cuts the lead to 58, Quincy answers with two flushes off misses by Cooney and Jereme Richmond. A Quincy Miller 3 from the corner puts USA up 99-38 and Richmond follows on the next possession with a layup. The final is Team USA 114, Mexico 38. Team USA finishes with 7 players (Irving, Cooney, Miller, Richmond, Nash, Rivers, and Hairston) in double-figures led by Rivers and Cooney with 16 a piece. Team USA shoots a staggering 62% from the field and holds Mexico to 21%. Duke commits play very well with Kyrie Irving finishes with 14 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists, while Hairston finishes with 11 points and 4 rebounds. Between them the missed a total of 3 shots and neither played in the fourth quarter.

Interviews with Coach Jeff Capel, Coach Paul Hewitt, and Kyrie Irving coming soon.

Written By: Big Pappa

USA vs. US Virgin Islands - Post Game Interviews

2010-06-27T17:29:00.010-04:00

POST GAME INTERVIEWS

Duke Commit Josh Hairston:

You've said many times in past interviews that Coach K wanted you to work on your perimeter and ball-handling skills during your Senior Year so you will be able to play multiple positions when you get to Duke. With the return of Kyle Singler, do you anticipate playing more of a Small Forward role or more in the paint next year?

"I see myself playing the role Kyle plays now. One thing Coach [Krzyzewski] has told me is that I'm going to be one of those guys who backs Kyle up, so when I get down there I want to get to know him, get to know the game with him, because Kyle is a contender for National Player of the Year next year and I just want to be able to do everything Kyle can do. He is a guy who can post guys up or take guys out on the perimeter and I want to be able to do the same thing."

He's obviously a great leader, but those around him know that Coach K has a great sense of humor. Was it easy to relate to him during the recruitment process because of this?

"Oh yeah, whenever I go down there or talk to him on the phone, he's a completely different guy than what people see on TV. People see him and they think he's mean because he's got this look on his face, but he just wants the best for his players. When I'm around him off the court he's a normal guy, he's funny, he jokes around with us and he's a great guy to be around."

What former Duke player do you think your game resembles the most?

"I've heard a lot of comparisons to Shane Battier and I can see that a lot, but there are so many great Duke players from the past and for me to even put my name up there with them is crazy for me to even think about. So I'm just trying to make a name for myself and play the best Josh Hairston can play."

The Cameron Crazies are notorious for coming up with nicknames for Duke players. Do you have a nickname now or is there something you want to be known as?

"I just got one from Kyrie [Irving]. He calls me 'Jiggy' when we are on the floor. If you pay attention tomorrow you will hear him call me 'Jiggy'. I think that may be the name, but as of right now that is the only one I have."

Playing with guys like Kyrie and Austin, are you excited about the chemistry and the possibility of playing with them at the next level?

"This is actually the most time I've spent with Kyrie and we have become like brothers. We talk all the time and we're always with each other and I can see the chemistry there. Even though he hasn't committed I'm still with Austin all day and I think Austin knows what's best for him. We would definitely love to have him at Duke"

The million dollar question for all the undergrad coeds at Duke, do you have a girlfriend?

Laughing - "No I do not"

How was the feel of tonights game? It looked like the refs were calling the game pretty tight, but what did you think?

"One thing playing with teams like the U.S., you have to be able to go outside yourself and not have to play the position you normally play. All of us on our high school teams were big time scorers, and that is one thing I kind of had to adjust to. I’m used to coming down the floor and touching the ball at least every play, but I don’t have to do that here. I’m just expected to play defense, rebound, you touch the ball score it. There are times when the game can get a little hectic and you can get down on yourself, and one thing you need to do is keep your head up with a team like this. You’re playing with a USA jersey on. That’s big time! I was sitting on the bench and thinking about it, and I looked down and saw everybody, and thought this is a big time thing. And looking at the score board, we just beat a team by 68 points…we are pretty good. You just gotta go outside yourself and know it’s bigger than the last name on the back of the jersey. It’s for all the people and this great country; that’s what we are out there playing for."

Duke Recruit Quincy Miller:

"Hola senor, chicas and chicos. I'm Quincy Miller."

How did you manage to pull down so many rebounds while you were playing on the perimeter tonight?

"I just went in harder than everyone else and made plays."

You grew so fast after your Freshman year, and have the height to play PF but the skills to play shooting guard, what position do you see yourself playing in college and the pros?

"I just play mis-matches, like if I got somebody small on me I'm gonna go to the post and if I got someone big on me I'm gonna go outside."

What kind of system do you see yourself playing in - a more uptempo style or a more halfcourt setting?

"Uptempo, but I play a little halfcourt too."

After being around guys like Kyrie, Josh, and Austin, have you been able to develop chemistry with them?

"Oh yeah, those three guys are some of the greatest guys I've ever been around. Off the court and on the court."

Is Kyrie good at getting you the ball in the right spots on the floor?

"Kyrie is definitely one of the best point guards I've ever played with. He and John Wall are the two best I've ever played with."

Could you see yourself playing with them in the future?

"Most definitely"

Duke Recruit Austin Rivers:

What are some things that have made Duke one of your top choices?

"Their success in winning and getting their players to the league and of course the coach, Coach K. I think it's only right to look at a school like that."

Who is the most influential person in your life regarding your decision of where to play college basketball?

"My older brother. I see him going through a tough college experience after picking the wrong school in Georgetown, nothing on Georgetown, it just wasn't the right fit for him. Now, he is having a tough time Indiana, so he has had a really tough time in college so I listen to him the most, because you only really get one chance to do it right."

Does your dad's decision to coach the Celtics next year play a role in your college decision?

"No, he has his own career so I let him do whatever he needs to do. Whatever he does has more to do with my little brother than me, because I'm almost out of high school anyway."

What are you looking for in a school?

"A school that plays fast-paced and a place that will let me flow a little bit; where I can get a rebound and push or catch it on the wing and drive. A school that gets up and down a lot and likes to shoot. I also really like guarding man to man press defense and playing defense full court."

What position do you see yourself playing in college?

"I see myself playing the 1 or 2. I've been playing mostly point in high school and tonight I played mostly 2, but I think I will get more time at the point tomorrow and the next few days. I want to be a combo guard, but I'm always a scorer."

Do you see yourself staying in college more than one year?

"No, that's not a goal of mine, but it's whatever is best for me. I'm not a guy that says 'I'll only be there a year' I could be there three if that's what's best. My goal is one and done and I think I can do that with my work ethic."

Do you have a leader right now?

"Not really, if I had to pick Duke would be the leader right now, there is nothing wrong with that school. Carolina is coming up and I just started getting a relationship with Coach Roy Williams, but it's kinda tough because whatever school I pick the other one is going to hate me."

Growing up around the NBA, who do you pattern your game after?

"I try to pattern my game after a little of Deron [Williams] and Dwyane [Wade]. Those are my two favorite players and I record all their games. I go on youtube all the time and watch D-Wade and try to copy him. I really like the way Deron is so smooth, so I try to be a combination of the two."

Interviews Conducted and Written Up By: Big Pappa

FIBA USA U-18 Basketall - USA vs. U.S. Virgin Islands

2010-06-27T15:09:00.010-04:00

Pre-game:

I was able to catch Doc Rivers in the stands for a quick pre-game interview. I didn't want to bother him with the same old, "Will you be coaching the Celtics next year?" questions, so I decided to inquire about Duke alum Shelden Williams:

How is coaching and being around Shelden Williams, on and off the court?

"He's terrific, he was great for us. Big Baby [Glen Davis] gets hurt early and he steps in for us. Then, Glen came back and he lost his minutes, but he kept doing his job everyday. He showed up, there were games where we put him in, but he always stayed ready and that's all you can hope for. I know he would have rather played more, but as far as being a professional, he's as good as I've had."

After a handshake and a short chat with his wife (Kristen), I went back to my seat on press row to begin watching the opening ceremonies. Each team was paraded out onto the floor led by their countries flag. The amusing part was that immediately after the ceremony ended, every team that wasn't playing (all except the USA and USVI) went to the stands to take pictures with Doc.

Game:

The starters take the floor for both teams with Duke well represented. Team USA starters were 5-Kyrie Irving (Duke), 6-Vander Blue (Marquette), 11-Austin Rivers (Duke, Florida, and UNC), 12-Josh Hairston (Duke), 15-Pat Young (Florida). The story of the first quarter is defense. USVI looks very nervous and it is easy to see that they haven't encountered a man to man press defense like Team USA plays. Great team defense from the USA - switches, helps, and backside blocks. USVI is undersized inside and is attempting to make up for it with quickness, but obviously didn’t count on the quicks of Kyrie, Austin, Washington's Gaddy, Blue, and others. Coach Capel is not content to sit back and watch his guys play though, as he is constantly out on the floor directing and instructing.

Big Pat Young is too much to handle inside for the USVI team, but after 4 quick points off two dunks, he has to sit with two fouls. Quincy Miller comes off the bench and plays very well, notching 7 points and 5 rebounds in the first quarter alone. After a deep 3 from Austin in the corner, Kyrie rips the USVI PG and sends a long pass to Mizzou commit Tony Mitchell who lobs up an alley-oop for LeBryan Nash. The USA lead now stretched to 24-6 with 2:25 remaining in the 1st. More of the same as the USA goes on another quick run to close the 1st quarter up 35-8.

The 2nd quarter begins with a flurry of threes from the USVI team and Coach Capel calls a quick timeout. Out of the TO, Capel sends the starters back. Austin answers the call with a 3 from the wing and the next possesion Pat Young overpowers his defender for an easy dunk. After going 0-4 from deep in the first quarter the USVI team shoots 4-6 in the 2nd. Team USA still with a big lead as the half closes 62-28. Quincy and Austin lead Team USA in the first half with 11 points each, while Quincy also pulled down 8 boards. Leading the USVI is Merwin Potter Jr. with 11 points.

After ending the first half with a strong drive and two free throws, Kyrie picks up right where he left off with a quick move by his defender and an uncontested layup, and follows it up with a jumper from the corner on the next possession. Pat Young is again relegated to the bench following his 4th foul, Capel doesn't look worried as he glances at the scoreboard to see his team up almost 40 points halfway through the 3rd quarter. After two more free throws from Kyrie, Quincy enters the game and immediately makes his presence felt with a bucket and a foul. A few minutes later, following two made free throws from Austin, Kyrie swats USVI's Jones' layup attempt and takes it coast to coast for a beautiful reverse layup. The 3rd quarter ends with Team USA up 95-48.

Pat Young back in the game to start the 4th quarter and delivers a no-look pass to
Richmond for a dunk to hit the 100 point mark for the USA. Syracuse commit Trevor Cooney coming alive in the 4th with back to back 3 pointers and shortly thereafter Rivers rips Jones for a quick layup followed by a deep 3 on a great look from Kyrie.
Josh Hairston makes a great move in the post with a power dribble and a dunk with two USVI defenders hanging on him; he then sinks the free throw. After yet another 3 from Austin, Team USA attempts to let up and finishes the game 131-63.

Austin ends the game as Team USA's leading scorer with 18 points followed by Quincy, Cooney, and Nash with 15. Kyrie finished with 11 points, 6 boards, and 3 dimes, while Quincy broke the USA Basketball record for rebounds with 17.

Written By: Big Pappa

Shabazz Muhammad and Alex Murphy

2010-06-21T14:55:00.000-04:00

These two 2012 wings are very coveted members of any recruiting class by themselves. After the Tournament of Champions Tournament in the Triangle, both received offers from the reigning National Champion Duke Blue Devils. Clearly, when looking at Duke's future, Coach Mike Krzyzewski and staff would love to see the two of them playing together for his squad.

While they both play small forward currently, it's really hard to slap a label on either player right now as they are both so young and versatile. Shabazz (called "Bazz" by his team mates) and his family see him as a Shooting Guard in college and professionally and at 6'5", he is the perfect size for that position on both levels. Alex stands 6'8" at this time, but seeing as his brother stands 6'10" and his Dad stood 6'9", many believe he will reach the same height. Alex is a bit more versatile than Erik who currently plays for the Florida Gators, can handle the ball well, and has a wonderful outside shot for a player his size.

There has been a recent flurry of activity regarding Alex Murphy on Twitter, starting with this @TheRecruitScoop tweet:

Check out this premium Scout.com piece which entails Coach K's pitch to Alex Murphy '12. It looks like a done deal at http://bit.ly/d8UYQ5less than a minute ago via TweetDeckAlex Kline
TheRecruitScoop

The piece he was referring to was a comment from a reader who reported having some talks with Alex's father, Jay Murphy and the talks were reportedly pro-Duke. I can't go into any other details regarding the post, as that information is property of the UCONN Premium Scout.com site. What we know here at Dukehoop is that Alex has always stood by the fact that he will commit when he it feels right. We do know that the visit went very well and that the Murphy family may not be as enthralled with Billy Donovan and staff as they are with Duke. A National Championship will do that.

As to the link between Murphy and Muhammad, the two are good friends, and both respect each other's games.

Alex even got Shabazz on Twitter recently: http://twitter.com/AlexMurphy5/status/16281261662

And calls him "my man": http://twitter.com/AlexMurphy5/status/16283826088

Duke is in very good shape with Murphy and will remain in the hunt for Shabazz as one of his leaders along with unc and Kansas. Landing Murphy would seemingly give them a leg up on the competition, and it may come before the Summer is over...

Here's some more reading on the two:

http://www.newenglandrecruitingreport.com/news/article/1444/Duke-Offers-Murphy.php

http://www.zagsblog.com/2010/06/01/duke-offers-2012-duo-of-murphy-muhammad/

http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2010/may/27/shabazz-muhammad-052710/

The Face and The Beard in the NBA?

2010-06-18T19:34:00.000-04:00

For all the talk of how these two would never catch on in the NBA, they sure are getting a lot of looks in the never ending cycle of NBA Pre-Draft camps. Depending on your mock draft site, you'll see Brian as the 13th pick in the 2nd round (43rd overall) at DraftExpress.com or Jon as the 22nd pick in the 2nd round to the Boston Celtics at nbadraft.net.

Their senior teammate, Lance Thomas worked out for his hometown Nets earlier this Summer, and we think he has a definite chance to either catch on to an NBA roster somewhere down the line or play for good money overseas. A player with Lance's tenacity on defense, leadership, and charisma will be a great addition to any collection of me-first athletes in the world.

Now, none of this matters until 5 days from now, when all it takes is for one team to fall in love with you. Here's some reading to tide you over until then:

Here's a realistic write-up on Jon's abilities and liabilities.

Is Brian Zoubek a sleeper?

Scheyer and Zoubek work out for the Nets.

Timberwolves work out Zoubek

The Jazz worked out Scheyer

Jon works out for the Blazers Friday, June 18th

Zoubs works out for the Blazers Thursday, June 17th

2010-11 Schedule Update

2010-06-17T23:06:00.000-04:00

Via Philly.com, the Temple Owls have scheduled a date with death to come into Cameron Indoor Stadium on February 23rd, 2011. Best known for John Chaney (my hero for his press conference tirade at Calimari) and Bill Cosby's Jello Pudding Pops, the Owls should have their hands full coming into Cameron. Duke carries a 77 game non conference home winning streak into the 2011 season, and as long as they can survive an early, tough test from the Michigan State Spartans, should have an even longer streak going.

See the rest of the schedule that we know so far here: http://dukehoop.blogspot.com/2010/06/2010-11-schedule-what-we-know.html

By that time, Coach K will have surpassed Deano for career wins and then some. February 23rd, 2009, Duke was at 23 wins. Hit that mark next year, and K will have twelve more wins than The Nose. Let's hope it happens on Coach K Court...

How Does Kyrie Irving Rank With Recent #1 Rated PG Recruits?

2010-06-17T11:45:00.000-04:00

Kyrie Irving became the first #1 Rated PG commitment for Duke that actually will enroll at Duke since Chris Duhon in the Class of 2000 (Shaun Livingston was a Duke commit and #1 rated PG in 2004, but never made it to Durham.)

While the expectations for Kyrie are sky-high, is it that much of a stretch to predict he will perform at least as well as the last 5 #1 rated PGs to go to college? Let's take a look at their Freshman years:

2002
Ray Felton -- UNC
GM MIN PTS REB AST TO A/T
35 35.4 12.9 4.1 6.7 3.7 1.81

2003
Chris Paul -- Wake Forest
GM MIN PTS REB AST TO A/T
31 33.6 14.8 3.3 5.9 2.6 2.23

2006
Ty Lawson -- UNC
GM MIN PTS REB AST TO A/T
38 25.7 10.2 2.9 5.6 2.2 2.57

2007
Derrick Rose -- Memphis
GM MIN PTS REB AST TO A/T
40 29.2 14.9 4.5 4.7 2.7 1.8/

2009
John Wall -- Kentucky
GM MIN PTS REB AST TO A/T
37 34.8 16.6 4.3 6.5 4.0 1.62

Just by averaging these numbers out, we can extrapolate the following.
**I am not an idiot. I don't expect these to be the actual numbers...

2010
Kyrie Irving -- Duke
GM MIN PTS REB AST TO A/T
36 31.7 13.9 3.8 5.9 3.0 2.01

Compare this to our PG from last year, Jon Scheyer:

2010
Jon Scheyer
GM MIN PTS REB AST TO A/T
40 36.8 18.2 3.6 4.9 1.6 2.98

While Kyrie will obviously not play as many minutes as Jon did last year, he should play more than the 25.7 played by Ty Lawson in 2005. Kyrie will have the ball in his hands from Day 1 and will play in a fast-paced offense more similar to the other #1 PG recruits than to the Duke offense of last year so he will have many opportunities to score and pad the assist numbers. If he can control the turnovers and bring down some rebounds in that high-paced offense, you should see Kyrie's numbers fall more in line with the top tier of these five players than the bottom.

Is it Countdown to Craziness time yet?

*all stats from ESPN.com
*all recruit rankings from rscihoops.com

Team USA U18 Team Update

2010-06-16T12:00:00.000-04:00

Congrats to Josh Hairston, Kyrie Irving, and Quincy Miller, Amir Williams, and Austin Rivers for making the U18 USA Olympic team.

2 of the five will definitely represent not only Duke in the future, but also their country in the FIBA Americas tournament. We're still waiting on Quincy and Amir to choose the right blue uniform to put on...

Here's an article about Kyrie's performance down in San Antonio: http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/duke_signee_irving_has_star_potential_96444609.html?ua=m&c=y

For the full team roster, go here: http://www.zagsblog.com/2010/06/16/usa-under-18-team-finalized/

The following guys made the team:

Vander Blue, Trevor Cooney, Abdul Gaddy, Josh Hairston, Kyrie Irving, Quincy Miller, Tony Mitchell, LeBryan Nash, Jereme Richmond, Austin Rivers, Amir Williams and Patric Young.

If you read our earlier post on the Team USA tryouts here: http://dukehoop.blogspot.com/2010/06/duke-recruits-this-weekend.html, you would know that Team USA has the following schedule:

Following the June 16 announcement of the 2010 USA U18 National Team that will compete in the FIBA Americas U18 Championship, the squad will train that afternoon starting at 4:00 p.m. The team is scheduled to remain in San Antonio and train twice a day starting at 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., with scrimmages scheduled against the 2010 USA Basketball Men’s U17 World Championship Team in the afternoons of June 21 and 22, and against the Brazil U18 National Team on June 23.

The FIBA Americas Men’s U18 Championship will feature eight national teams from North, South and Central America and the Caribbean. On March 5 the draw was held to determine the first round groups, and the USA was placed into Group A, along with Argentina, Mexico and the Virgin Islands. Group B includes Brazil, Canada, Puerto Rico and Uruguay. The U.S. will open preliminary play against the Virgin Islands on June 26 at 7:00 p.m. (all times listed are local, CDT). On June 27 the USA will face Mexico at 7:00 p.m. and will close preliminary play against South American rivals Argentina on June 28 at 7:00 p.m. The semifinals are slated for June 29, and the finals will be held June 30.

Congratulations again for all who made the team!

2010-11 Schedule -- What We Know

2010-06-15T15:26:00.001-04:00

November 22nd and 23rd CBE Basketball Tournament Semifinals and Finals in Kansas City, MO. This field is pretty loaded with Duke, Kansas State, Gonzaga, and Marquette all potentially matching up in KC.

November 29th Duke vs. Oregon Location TBA (Kyle's Homecoming Game with bonus of playing little brother EJ.)

December 1st Duke vs. Michigan State at Cameron Indoor Stadium.

December 4th vs. Butler in the IZOD Center E. Rutherford, NJ.

We'll also play Miami, NC State, and UVA twice as our home-and-home partners next year (in addition to the standard UNC-UMD pair). We'll play BC, GT, and Clemson only in Cameron, and FSU, VT, and WF only in their gyms.

Not a bad little schedule we've got on our hands next year. The early season stretch form November 22nd through December 4th should show the true measure of our team as Duke potentially plays two of Gonzaga, Marquette, and Kansas State, then goes home to eat Thanksgiving Dinner. The following Monday, we travel to Oregon to play the Ducks (maybe Kyle can stay out there) and with little rest, come back to play Michigan State in Cameron on December 1st. 3 days later we're in New Jersey for an encore of the National Title game against a tough Butler team.

So much for Duke not scheduling tough opponents...

Duke Recruits This Week

2010-06-14T11:52:00.001-04:00

As you all know, Summer is the busy time for AAU basketball. Coming up this weekend, a lot of the high-major prospects will take time off from playing with their traveling teams and travel up to the NBAPA Camp in Charlottesville, VA. For a list of all the invitees, check Scout.com here.

For all the Duke targets attending, stay right here:

Tyler Adams, Isiah Austin, Anthony Davis, Amir Garrett, Amile Jefferson, Tyler Lewis, Marshall Plumlee, JP Tokoto, and Deuce Bello.

Duke has recently turned up the heat again on Marshall Plumlee, and it will be interesting to see how Anthony Davis responds after his injury last weekend. Tyler Lewis is always an exciting player to watch, and it will be fun to see how he competes with all the talent on the UVA campus.

If you noticed a couple of names missing, they are probably going to be in San Antonio, Texas for two days starting today trying out for the USA U18 team. There were only 19 players invited, so it should be an honor for all those attending. See the full list here.

Duke has quite a few incoming Freshman and recruits trying out for the opportunity to represent their country:

Quincy Miller, Austin Rivers, Amir Williams, Michael Gbinije, Josh Hairston, and Kyrie Irving have all been invited to participate this weekend. 6 out of 19 ain't bad... Not to mention, former Duke player Jeff Capel is the head coach and Jay Williams will be assisting in picking out the team.

Kyrie actually had a tough decision to make, as he was born in Australia while his father, Drederick Irving was playing professionally down under. He could have played for USA or Australia, but chose to represent his father's birth country and should get to spend valuable time with one of his best friend's and potential Duke backcourt mate, Austin Rivers.

Congrats to all those mentioned as their hard work is paying off in a big way!

A. Rowe

Quinn Cook to Oak Hill Academy?

2010-06-14T00:58:00.002-04:00

Heard from a couple of reliable sources that Quinn Cook will follow in his godbrother Nolan Smith's footsteps and play for Coach Steve Smith at Oak Hill Academy in Mouth of Wilson, VA.

Oak Hill has a wonderful basketball program and has a great history of taking talented DMV guards (Smith, Ty Lawson) and placing them on a path to success in the ACC and then the NBA. We can all hope that Quinn has a similar career...

Chris Paul Skills Camp

2010-06-13T21:11:00.000-04:00

CP3 puts on an invitation-only camp for the top high school and collegiate guards in the country. A couple of forwards joined the camp this year, with local interest. Harrison Barnes and Kyle Singler were two of the non-guards to play at the camp and by all accounts, stood out head and shoulders above the rest (relatively and figuratively.)

For full coverage, see Ryan Feldman from The Hoops Report on his various online mediums:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/TheHoopsReport

TheHoopsReport.com: http://www.thehoopsreport.com/article.aspx?id=509

Marcus Shockley from accbasketballrecruiting.com has some solid coverage from early in the tournament as well:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/silverbax

ACCBasketballRecruiting.com: http://accbasketballrecruiting.wordpress.com/2010/06/11/chris-paul-elite-camp-2010-day-one/

K Academy

2010-06-12T18:20:00.000-04:00

One thing that's definitely on my bucket list is a trip to the K Academy. Here's more on the fantasy camp:

Now in its eighth year, K Academy will once again bring team-building techniques into an once-in-a-lifetime experience for the ultimate Duke or college basketball fan. Every camper will spend five days in America’s #1 college sports venue – Cameron Indoor Stadium – where they’ll go from opening day tryouts to Sunday’s championship tournament. Along the way campers will play numerous games on Coach K Court in Cameron and learn the inside scoop on Duke’s three-time national championship program.

A lively social program, including a charity auction benefiting Durham’s Emily Krzyzewski Center, completes the experience. All campers reside in the four-star and recently renovated Washington Duke Inn & Golf Course located on the Duke University campus. And by popular demand we have built in optional golf and an executive physical testing time into the program.

Tuition for the K Academy is $10,000. Enrollment is limited and participants must be 35 years or older.

For a more in-depth look at the camp, read Gene Wojciechowski's column on ESPN.com here.

2011 Recruiting

2010-06-11T21:32:00.000-04:00

Duke already has two commitments for the 2011 class in Michael Gbinije and Tyler Adams.

Michael Gbinije
A 6'6" Small Forward Prospect from Benedictine High School in Richmond, VA, Gbinije is known as a smooth and talented baller. His effortless skills on the court have often been confused for a lack of intensity, but he's so under control with little to no wasted motion that it could be just that, confusion. Nevertheless, Mike G. made a wonderful college choice if this is his only knock as the Duke staff commands full effort at all times. Following a short courtship, Gbinije became Duke's first commitment for the 2011 class, and the first recruit targeted by Nate James to sign with Duke.

Tyler Adams
The 6'9" 260lb back to the basket center from Mississippi was Nate James' second commitment and followed Gbinije's path of a short recruitment followed by a commitment to Duke. While raw physically, Tyler is quite a specimen for reportedly (according to him) spending little time in the weight room. Tyler will serve a role at Duke that was crucial to the 2010 run in rebounding and defense, but does not play much above the rim. If you are willing to accept that as his role, you will be very pleased with the contributions of this young man.

Austin Rivers
The ultra-talented shooting guard from Winter Park, Florida has reopened his recruitment recently after committing to the Florida Gators as a high school freshman. Duke is by far the leader for Rivers, but has some competition in UCLA, North Carolina, Kansas, and Texas. All reliable reports have Austin announcing his commitment in August, and as long as the Devils are able to seal the deal, he will join them for at least the 2012 season.

Quincy Miller
Quincy is going to be a serious matchup problem for whoever plays against him in the future. Depending on who you ask, he's anywhere from 6'8"-6'10" but plays like a guard. Standing 5'11" his Freshman year, he hit a chia pet style growth spurt but still maintains his guard skills from when he was shorter. With a solid outside shot, decent handle, and enough size to get his shot up around the rim, he's hard to guard for a SF and too quick for most PFs. Early reports had Duke in a strong position following their Elite Camp last year, but he seems to favor Kentucky more these days. Duke fans should hope for sanctions or the lure of the NBA for Calipari if they want to land "Q".

Anthony Davis
Like Quincy, Anthony had a recent 8 inch growth spurt. His happened a year later though and allowed Davis to stay under the radar until a few solid performances at AAU events earlier this year. With the skills of a guard, but the height of a forward, Davis has been the buzz of the AAU circuit this Summer. The Duke coaching staff is in the evaluation stage with Davis and are very interested in watching his ability to adjust to his new body.

Amir Williams
As you can see from the last two players mentioned, Power Forward is a position of importance for the 2011 recruiting class. Amir is a very talented, 6'9", 210 lbs post player from Detroit Country Day High School (former school of Shane Battier.) The staff is high on Amir and he believes he has a committable offer from Duke to play basketball. My sources tell me he has not been officially offered, but they would not turn him down if he wanted to commit, so maybe he does...

Chasson Randle
Chasson is a 2011 guard that reminds us a little of Nolan Smith. He's been compared to a number of past Duke guards and we can see a little of all of them (Sean Dockery, Daniel Ewing, Chris Duhon.) His versatility is something the staff is looking for in a number of their new prospects as he would be able to play either guard position in college. In the AAU games we saw him play this Summer, he tended to defer to his teammates a little more than we would have liked, but he is very talented. Not to mention, he's #1 in his High School class academically. Sounds like a Duke kid to us...

2010 Summer

2010-06-11T15:25:00.000-04:00

Coming off an unexpected title run and an elated feeling of satisfaction, I've decided to crank up a little blog to post my thoughts about Duke Basketball. I'm a longtime Duke fan who lives in Durham, has a few connections to the program, and is consumed by Duke Basketball and College Basketball in general in my free time. I decided to use that free time a little bit more productively and keeping my thoughts localized on the interwebs here for everyone to see. I'll update this as much as time will allow, most likely starting after my wedding and honeymoon, when I go to watch the Triangle's best ballers compete in the NC Pro-Am over on the NCCU campus.

Here's the link for the NC Pro-Am: http://www.ncproam.com/

Confirmed guests so far include CJ Leslie, Ryan Harrow, Tracy Smith, Lo Brown, Harrison Barnes, Reggie Bullock, Kendall Marshall, Kyrie Irving, Josh Hairston, Tyler Thornton, Mason Plumlee, Miles Plumlee, Ryan Kelly, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith, Andre Dawkins, Seth Curry, Jerry Stackhouse, and many, many others...

A. Rowe