Premium Update #21 Addressing the rumors – again

Our lastest Premium Update is up, formerly known as our General Update.  There are a few rumors floating about of late and while this site gets tired of setting them straight, we will attempt to clear the air on Ryan Kelly, Kenny Boynton, Jamil Wilson and Harrison Barnes.  Let's start with Kenny Boynton. [private] No decision has been made and he is expected to take all of his official visits.  While I'm sure Kenny enjoyed his visit to USC, the fact remains that Duke and Florida are running neck and neck down the stretch with teams like the aforementioned Trojans trying to sway his thinking.  Duke has put a lot of effort into Boynton and this will continue until he commits.  In fact, Duke will visit Kenny once a week until that decision which is the max allowed by NCAA rules.  Yes, this includes open gyms where the main players will all be in the stands.  Team Boynton has pretty much shut down any media contact of late, but that could change any day now.  He is still scheduled to visit Duke in his last visit.

While Ryan Kelly did visit Duke yesterday, he is not a solid Devil lean at this time.  In fact, Notre Dame is probably the slight leader.  Duke is in it and is one of two or three teams which are clearly at the top.  The Kelly family is said to be looking to go through the entire process, meaning they will think the decision through carefully.  Kelly took in some of the current Blue Devil players going through their workouts on Tuesday.

As I said earlier, Harrison Barnes has taken to Duke and wants to make an unofficial visit (tentative Va. Union game) if it is economically feasible for his family.  If he does come to Durham, he will have been to just two schools on unofficials, the other being Kansas during midnight madness.  Barnes has everybody in the country drooling and for good reason.  He is one heck of a player.  I will be adding the archives soon and suggest going back and read the earlier reports on him.  Our most recent interview is the most in depth you'll find anywhere on the web.

Finally, Jamil Wilson has not set up an official visit to Duke as has been reported by Scout, nor has Duke pushed for one of late.  Duke will follow through with their plans which include Kelly and Boynton and if they miss, they'll revisit some other options which could then include Wilson.

While no firm dates are set at this time, the Duke staff will be visiting a lot of open practices in the coming days.

A reminder, the early basketball signing date is this November 12th through the 19th.  The final date is April 15th through May 20th in 2009. [/private]

Lewis and Rey ACC Players of the Week

[private](From Official Duke University Press Release) DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke's Thaddeus Lewis and Vincent Rey have received ACC Player of the Week honors after leading the Blue Devils to a 41-31 win over Navy this past Saturday, the league office announced on Monday afternoon.
 
Lewis, a junior quarterback from Opa-Locka, Fla., was named the conference's Offensive Back of the Week after completing 25-of-35 pass attempts for 317 yards and three touchdowns while rushing for a career-high and team-best 41 yards on 12 attempts.  In addition to extending his school record streak of consecutive pass attempts without an interception to a nation's active best 206 tosses, Lewis and teammate Eron Riley became Duke's top touchdown-producing quarterback-wide receiver tandem with three scores on the day and 17 in their careers together.  Against the Midshipmen, Lewis and Riley hooked up for touchdown passes covering 27, five and 49 yards.
 
Rey, a junior outside linebacker from Far Rockaway, N.Y., was tabbed the league's Defensive Back of the Week following a 12-tackle performance that included four tackles for loss, one sack and one fumble return of 37 yards for a touchdown.  Rey helped the Blue Devil defense hold Navy to just 207 rushing yards -- 245 below their NCAA-leading average of 452 entering the contest.
 
Other weekly award winners included Clemson's Thomas Austin (Offensive Lineman), Virginia Tech's Brett Warren (Defensive Lineman) and Darren Evans (Rookie) and North Carolina's Jay Wooten (Specialist).[/private]

Josh Hairston talks of his visit and commitment to Duke

Duke hosted two prospects over the weekend and turned them into commitments before they left.  One of those commitments was talented front liner Josh Hairston.  "It feels great to be a Blue Devil," said Hairston.  He continued, "I've been down here a couple of times and I feel comfortable and excited about my decision to become a Blue Devil."

[private] Duke fans think it's great that Hairston is a Blue Devil too.  In fact, many were caught off guard when both Thornton and Hairston announced their decisions yesterday afternoon.  Of course, you as members saw this coming from my comments, but it always feels better when the decision is official.

"I told Coach K around three or four o'clock.  I was talking to him individually and told him of my decision," said Hairston.  "My family was real happy about it.  My Mom and Dad were real happy and my sister was too.  This is where they wanted me to go, so I'm close to them and it's a good thing."

As I continued the talk with Hairston, you could hear some others in the background.  "I'm in the room with Andre, Tyler, Mason and Elliot," said Hairston.  I then asked if Thornton and his decision was based on playing with one another and if they talked it over.  "Yes sir, we did talk.  I've played with Andre and Tyler and this was the place we wanted to be."

Hairtson said that he and the rest of the players gathered together around 11:00 for lunch and then played some pick up games.  They went to the football game in the second half before they returned and relaxed in the lounge.  "After that, Tyler and me made our decisions," said Hairston.  "I am glad it's over because I can now concentrate on my high schools season."

When asked what the best part of the visit was, he responded, "All of it was good, talking to the players, talking to Coach K ... that was probably the best part of the visit, but I had a good time doing everything."

Josh admitted that it was a little tired and that he would return home with his family sometime tomorrow.  Tired or not, he was probably headed out to hang out with his new friends and future teammates.[/private]

Duke stifles the Middies attack in the 2nd half for a 41-31 win

[private]There is one thing for certain three games into the 2008 Duke Football season, that being Cutcliffe and his staff make masterful adjustments at the half.  The Blue Devils have outscored each opponent after the break,  Today they throttled the Navy offense in the second half by adjusting the Midshipman's crafty running attack.

Take away one big pass play for Navy and Duke would have shut them out.  Still, they outscored them behind the arm of Lewis and the hands of Riley 21-7 to take a 41-31 win. Lewis had a great game going 25 of 35 for 317 yards, three TD's and added another 49 yards on the ground.

Thad was only as good as Eron Riley.  Navy had no answers for the star senior receiver who made 8 catches, all three of the passing TD's, for 137 yards.  When Duke needed a big play, the combination of Lewis to Riley was dependable.  Lewis also found 9 different receivers in the game.

Duke opened the game on a 12 play 78 yard drive ending with, of course, a Lewis to Riley hook up.  Navy came back with a huge 73 yard scamper by White.  From that point on the game was nip and tuck with Navy taking a 24-20 lead at the half.

But Duke got some huge momentum from Joe Surgan who nailed a 52 yard field goal which cut into the half time lead.  Unlike the SI cover jinx, Surgan made one of the biggest kicks of his career on a day he graced the cover of the Duke Football Game Day program.

As mentioned earlier, Duke came out ready in the second half, especially the defense.  Linebackers Vinnie Rey and Michael Tauliili combined for 23 tackles, making the occasional vicious hit.  Rey made the biggest defensive play of the game when he scooped up a Navy fumble scampering into the end zone.

All in all, it was a huge day for Duke Football and they now have two weeks to prepare for Virginia.  On a hot and humid day, the resilient Devils gave the Wallace Wade crowd a good show making their fans proud. 

Whether you talk chants like "We are Duke!," or you look to the slogan "Dawn of a new day," it's clear that Duke Football is turning the corner. 

Be sure to check back to the Blue Devil Nation for more coverage of this big win, including some photos from the event!

[/private]

Josh Hairston and Tyler Thornton commit to Duke

[private]Josh Hairston and Tyler Thornton have committed to Duke University!  The BDN has learned from sources close to the situation that the two standout prospects from the class of 2010 made their selection today.  Welcome aboard guys!  Good job staff! 

Josh Hairston - (2010) 6-7, 200, Spotsylvania, Va.  Courtland HS

Josh continues to improve his game, having developed more and more over the AAU summer.  He has a nice inside-outside game and Duke will use him much like they did Roshown McLeod.  Josh picked Duke over Virginia Tech, Ohio State and Georgetown.

Tyler Thornton - (2010) 6-2, 180, Gonzaga HS  Washington, DC - Tyler is a true PG ranked hin the top fifty players in the class of 2010.  He is a hard nosed leader who loves to win.  He is Josh Hairstons teammate for DC Assault on the AAU circuit.  Thornton chose Duke over Georgetown, Stanford and Wake Forest.

"We got them," said Duke commitment Andre Dawkins.

"We're very happy to have them aboard," said a source close to the team.

The members of BDN Premium get reliable information and are often tipped off long before the real deal goes down.  I will have interviews with Hairston, Thornton, Dawkins and Plumlee up starting late tonight.  Why not join us on the inside by becoming a member of BDN Premium today![/private]

Quick Hitter #8 – Thaddeus Lewis talks Navy, getting over Northwestern

[private]On Navy - 

They will come at us hard every down.  You'll never play against anyone that comes at you harder. They are disciplined and sound and they do all the little things correctly.  They will use the cut block, so we'll have to stay up and fight all the time.

On the Northwestern game -

We were very upset with last week.  The guys ... nobody had their heads down, we just all said "next week."  We are going to practice well and make sure that doesn't happen again.  The guys aren't going to let anybody slack and that's a great thing.

We learned if you are there you have to make the play.  A couple of things happened during the game ... finger tipped balls ... problems in the open field.  We're a real good offense right now but if we make those big plays we could be a great offense

We could have easily gone into a shell, bit that's not happening.  Guys are confident in what we're doing and we have to go out there and come together as a team and show this week and play better and get us over the hump.

On the Seniors - 

The seniors are not going to let anybody slack up and we'll have to help them out.  We've had some guys in the past moping around, but that's not it - they say are you ready to go watch some film?  Coach Cutcliffe challenged them after the game and they will make sure we get better this week.

What was Cut's message? 

He just said two turnovers to none and if you didn't turn the ball over the outcome of the Northwestern game would have been different.[/private]