Monthly Archives: October 2008

BDN Premium Articles, Duke Basketball, Duke Basketball Recruiting News

General Recruiting Update – Commitments and prospects news

Harrison Barnes is still on scheduled to visit next weekend.  This is one of two trips in which his family is taking before his junior season.  That means [private] they have paid for this visit (and Kansas) out of pocket.  I take that as meaning Duke is in good "early" shape for this talented young man's services.

The Duke staff awaits their shot at Kenny Boynton when he is scheduled to take his visit in November.

Look for Duke to turn up their efforts for Brandon Knight after the Boynton sweepstakes come to an end.  Duke wants more backcourt help and it will become a priority should they miss on Boynton.

It's pretty much status quo with Josh Smith.  Michael Parker may be in for a game soon.  The North Carolina native is being evaluated, but there is no room with the offers currently at hand.  Duke is also keeping an eye on Morris and will evaluate more players as time goes on.

Current commitments Josh Hairston and Tyler Thornton will attend the Blue-White game.  They will be joined by Mason Plumlee and he may be joined by younger brother, Marshall.

Ryan Kelly will be taking his official visit this weekend as well.  Kelly joins Mason Plumlee in the 2009 class and Boynton is the only other offer.  While another prospect could come to light if they miss Boynton, at this time it is unlikely.

The Football team will take the Blue Devil Walk through Cameron Indoor Stadium during the Men's Blue-White game.  Coaches Colllins and Wojo will lead thier inter-squad teams.

Duke Football has eight players they are looking at for the final few spots in the class of 2009.  We will be covering each of those guys in the next several weeks. [/private]

Duke Football

Thaddeus Lewis shares his thoughts with the Blue Devil Nation

[private]So, your hometown school is coming to town ...

Preparation.  That's the key.  You have to treat it like any other game.  Those guys are going to come out to play.

This is a huge game for both teams.  Miami has their back against the wall in that they are 0-2, meaning they'll be dangerous.  They also have a pretty solid defensive front, much like Tech - what are your feelings?

We have to match their intensity and match the play those guys are going to bring in here and bring the fight to them.  If you deliver a counter punch or don't give up, it can pan out.  We have to go out there and play all phases of the game.

Duke will have played three straight games on ESPNU.  What does that mean for Duke?

You have an opportunity to show people who you are.  Some people will tune in to see what you got, so you have a chance to show the world what you can do.  Some guys will take that like an opportunity to perform.

How many players do you know on the Miami team?

A lot!  I know a lot of them.  I grew up playing against them in the little league or in high school.  You grow up knowing each other just playing football in general.

Is this a big game for your Mom and family?

Everybody calls me back home.  They say you have them this week.  Some of my family members and even some media I know want to see me play well and win.  It's a great deal for the family, but it's not really personal for me.  It's about this (Duke) football team.

You have gone up against these guys a couple of times.  Is there a little bit of smack talk on their end?

If I played any other position beside quarterback, I would smack talk back (laughing).  Talking back to what those guys are saying can get you out of your game.  I don't smack talk, but maybe my lineman can for me.  Most of them are pretty stand up guys, so they just go our there and play hard all the time, but they'll call your name some and stuff like that.

The offense struggled a little bit the past two games.  What can you do as a quarterback to help?

We just have to go out there and practice and execute.  If you practice well, you generally play well.  We just need to get some first downs to get this offense rolling.

How do you deal with a defense that held Central Florida to 4 yards rushing and one that had Florida at bay for most of the game before losing?

We have to be aggressive and get the running game going.  It opens up the offense.

On fan support -

We need our fans and we need them to be loud and give them (Miami) a little trouble.  It means a lot to us when they turn out and I hope they support us like they do the basketball team.[/private]

Duke Football

Quick Hitter – Michael Tauiliili talks exams, moving forward

[private]How did you treat the off week?

I'm taking six classes right now.  So, I had a take home mid term that is due tomorrow.  It wasn't really a week off.

Did you get distracted by football on TV?

No, I tried to stay on it.  I try to go to the library for at least a couple of hours.  I did find some time to relax and the off week helped me get my legs back under.

What was your routine or thoughts in the off week?

It's a lot of fun knowing we are getting ready to hit this last seven game stretch. Especially for me in that it is my senior season.  Any time you have a bye week, you are anxious to get back out there.  As a team we are ready to get back out there and compete.  We want to get that bitter taste out.  Once we looked at film we started immediately looking toward the future.[/private]

Duke Football

Cutcliffe talks of the upcoming Miami game

[private]Duke Coach David Cutcliffe spoke to the media during his weekly teleconference Sunday evening.  The Blue Devil Nation was on hand to bring you his thoughts on the upcoming game with Miami.

Opening statement -

Coming off an open date I'm still not sure what our health is going to be like just yet.  It's unfortunate with just five games to this point.  Our first business is Miami and the second is getting our guys ready to play seven games in a row.  Miami is playing a lot of young and very talented players.  IMO, they are the most athletic team we'll see.  It's a huge challenge for us.  It seems like forever since we played and we are looking forward to the ballgame.

On the Miami defense holding Central Florida to 4 yards rushing and 74 total yards -

I have looked at that game and all the others.  It's not a fluke - they're that good.  They play a lot of people, they are extremely good up front, the linebackers and the secondary.  They actually took Central Florida and made their offense look inept. 

On practices in the off week -

Our practices have been good.  We're coming off a bitter defeat.  Our attitude has been good.  We're hungry and we had some enthusiasm and got better.  Again, we have some people that were out.  I won't get into the specifics of that until Thursday and we will then evaluate where we are with our team.  We wanted to see why we weren't a very productive offense.  We made some tweaks in the running game.  Of course, I'm not sure if anybody can run the ball against Miami. I think we are better than we are.  We practiced running the football and becoming more physical.  I think you have to be a physical football team at this stage in the game and we worked hard at that.  We had a lot of live work which is high risk for us with no more depth than we've got, but we hopefully got better.

On Duke playing three consecutive games on ESPNU -

I think it's been good for us.  There has been a lot of people talking about Duke Football.  We have brought attention to game day.  I've had a number of letters and e-mails from people around the country who are seeing Duke Football for the first time - lot of comments from Coaches around the country have been saying we saw you do this and we saw you do that.  So, it's been good for our program.

On the support for Duke Football -

I think people will be here.  I think there will be a good crowd here and I think there are a lot of people excited about football here at Duke again.  We will have a good football program.

A little bit and that's one thing I'm conscious of.  I will have a light workout on Monday and on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday we'll get into game speed.  We should be ready, rested and focused coming off the off week.[/private]

Duke Football

Struggling Miami up next for Duke

[private]The Duke Blue Devils play host to the struggling Miami Hurricanes on October 18th. Perennial powerhouse Miami enters the game at 3-3 and coming off a sloppy 20-14 victory over Central Florida. The Hurricanes turned the ball over three times and managed just 216 yards of offense in the victory. Miami is 11th in the ACC in total offense at 289.2 yards per game. Prior to the victory over Central Florida, the Canes suffered back-to-back home losses to North Carolina and Florida State.

The Blue Devils are coming off a bye week after losing at Georgia Tech 27-0 on October 4th. The 3-2 Blue Devils are averaging 24.6 points and 324.4 yards of offense per game. Duke's offense is spearheaded by Quarterback Thaddeus Lewis who has thrown seven touchdown passes against three interceptions this season. Six of those touchdown passes have gone to wide receiver Eron Riley who is third in the ACC with 5.4 receptions per game. After the Navy game, in which Lewis connected with Riley for three touchdowns, Coach David Cutcliffe stated, "They are pretty special friends. Eron - he is kind of climbing the ladder...If we can get him healthy, he could have a pretty special senior season."

At 0-2 in the ACC and with upcoming conference games against #21 Wake Forest and #18 Virginia Tech, the Duke game has developed into a must win game for the Canes. The pressure will be on Miami and they could come into the game tight. If Duke can force a turnover or execute a big play early, they could set the tone for the game and exert pressure on Miami.

Duke has struggled establishing a running game thus far this season. The Blue Devils are managing just 118.8 yards per game on the ground, and in the loss to Georgia Tech were held to 35 yards rushing. In discussing the running game, Coach Cutcliffe stated, "It's got to be fixed and get fixed quick." Miami is second in the ACC in Rushing Defense giving up just 95.7 yards per game, so Duke will need to figure out the adjustments that need to be made and execute them in order to establish a running game against the Canes.

The passing game has been the strength of Duke's offense this season. Duke is third in the ACC in Pass Offense at 205.6 yards per game. Miami's defense has yielded nine passing touchdowns this season including two in the fourth quarter against North Carolina. Look for Duke to attempt to exploit Miami's secondary in order to move the ball and establish offensive rhythm. Miami is last in the ACC with just three interceptions on the season. Thaddeus Lewis has completed passes to 14 different players this season with four receivers having double-digit receptions. The offensive line must give Lewis time to throw the ball as Miami is fifth in the ACC with 14 sacks for 123 yards.

On defense, Duke has played solid recording six interceptions and seven sacks. Linebackers Michael Tauiliiu and Vinnie Rey are number one and two in the ACC in tackles per game at 11.4 and 9.4 respectively. The Blue Devils are sixth in Scoring Defense and eigth in Total Defense in the ACC. Duke is third in the ACC, behind Virginia Tech and Florida State, in Time of Possession at 31:50 per game.

October 18th will be an exciting day in Durham. It is Homecoming Weekend and the basketball Blue-White Game will be held at 1:00 pm prior to the football game that is set to start at 3:30 pm and be televised by ESPNU. This year finds the situation in Durham a bit different as Duke fans are still excited about football even though basketball season is set to start. This coming Saturday, the Blue Devils have a legitimate opportunity to secure their second ACC victory of the season against the Hurricanes. Duke needs to execute the fundamentals: take care of the football, win the battle at the line of scrimmage, avoid penalties, and execute on special teams. If they can take care of those fundamentals, there is a very good chance Duke will send Miami back to Coral Gables with an 0-3 ACC record.[/private]

BDN Premium Articles, Duke Basketball, Duke Basketball Recruiting News

BDNP talks to Ryan Kelly and gets his thoughts on his commitment to Duke

I had an extensive interview with Ryan Kelly in A.E. Finley gym this morning about the recruiting process -

What was it about Duke you liked?

Duke academically and sports wise for basketball can't be beat.  The two of them together ... I felt very comfortable when I was at Duke with all the players which made it easier and I went with my gut feeling.

You have taken several visits to Duke of late ...

[private] Really, I haven't visited Duke that much.  I wanted to make the visits as equal as possible.  Going into this past weekend when I sat down and put it all out, all of the schools were even.  My parents and Coach Billerman told me to take my time and to let them know when I was ready to make a decision.

When did Duke get back involved with you?

It got a little sporadic.  Coach K was there to see my 1000th point at Durham Academy and then they came on pretty heavy this summer.  Especially with me being involved with Team USA in Vegas.

You have gone up against a future teammate several time in Mason Plumlee.  Are you looking forward to the match up this season?

Well he's a great player and it's going to be really fun playing with him.  We are different players and we do different things.  It will be neat going up against each other.  Hopefully, we will see each other in the state championships and then at Duke.  It'll be something we can look back on.  I had a great time with him in Argentina - he's a really great guy.

When did you actually make the call to Coach K telling him you wanted to be a Blue Devil?

It was Wednesday night.  He was excited for me and glad I made the decision.  He said he thought I made the best decision.  I told him I was certain and had no remorse and he was really proud I felt that way - feeling very comfortable with it, he was happy and looking forward to being my coach.  Coach K had basically told me to hold off and not make any decisions before he left for China, just so he could have the chance to sit down with me.  I was going to wait anyway.  It wasn't time to make a decision for me and once he came back we had a chance to sit down.

Has Coach already talked you about what he would like for you to work on?

Oh certainly.  The main thing is strength and just getting stronger.  He doesn't want me to build up too much.  He doesn't want me to be 250 pounds, just to be lean and strong.  Hips are very important  when it comes to talking defense - staying in a defensive stance, exploding, rebounding, exploding up for dunks.

Did your family help with the decison making process?

It was my decision.  I'm sure if he hadn't sold my parents it would have been different, but they're happy.

Now that you are part of the Duke family, will you hang on campus, play in the practice facility, etc.?

Oh yeah.  I'm sure I will go over there to play in an open gym - to talk to the guys and get more comfortable.

Have you heard from any players since last night?

Elliot called to congratulate me ... Gerald Henderson.  I'm sure I will hear from more of them.

I know you have played with Kenny Boynton and he's at the top of Duke's list.  What are your thoughts on him?

I would love to play with him.  He's a great kid and a great player.  We played twice out in Vegas and we split.  I would love to play with him and see him come on out to Duke?

How did the games pick up games go?

They were really intense ... just more intense than anyone else to be honest.  They wanted to win more than anything and I saw that.  When guys are trying that hard in a pick up game you are going to get better quicker than anywhere else.  I can see myself becoming the best player I can be over there.

Do you have a go to move?

When I really want to score a basket, I go inside and go with a baby hook.  When I go outside, the move that I use the most is a pull up jump shot or a spin move.  I have a decent array of moves ... I work on different shots in different spots, like with the gun (passing machine) I do a lot of off the dribble, go to moves ...

Is there a sense of relief?

You know, it's relief, but it is also excitement.  I have laid a pretty good path out for myself and it's exciting.

So, your family is okay with the decision?

I did and my family was excited.  They would have been happy wherever I went.  My friends are excited that they will be able to watch me.  I'm sure there are some fans out there who won't like me ...

Carolina fans?

Well, they will stick to Ryan two games of the year. (laughing)

What three words would best describe Ryan Kelly as a person?

Nouns or adjectives, here? (laughing)  What I said to ESPN, was my integrity, my drive to excel and my faith.  I bring those to the table and they won't go away.

Tell me a little about what faith means to you?

For me it's a belief in God.  He's going to put me in the right place.  When I come into the gym or into a game, I pick out two seats.  One for where Jesus is watching me and one for where my Grandpa is watching me.  No matter how good or how bad I will do they will always be there.  I prayed for it was the most important decision I have made in my life so far.  The next is my wife ... (laughing).  It was important for me to pray and people prayed with me about my decision and I was led to the right place.

Did this translate at Duke?

Um, I know there will be some different beliefs or religions.  But moral character is important as well and Coach K certainly had that.

Why make the decision on ESPNU?

It just kind of worked out.  Amazingly it was good timing.  They had wanted to get the notice for it was their first show.

What three words or phrases describe you on the basketball court?

Hard working, a good teammate and I hope I can say a good player.

There was a lot of surprise when you announced Duke as the sixth team on the list when they haven't been there for awhile ...

They had been talking to me for a long time.  There was a renewed interest.  They saw I had developed quite a bit and my ability to play the 4-3 spot like Mike Dunleavy.  When they got to see me in an open gym, Coach K just saw a different player and it moved from there.

What are your team's prospects for the coming season?

I am looking forward to this season.  We're going to be really good.  We have Matt Wilson, a 6-11 center who just committed to UNC-W.  We have some more guys including Billerman's son, a shooter.  We also have a Broughton transfer Luke Davis who will play the point and anchor us a little bit.  We are trying to win a state championship.

Describe Coach K for me?

For me I'm still getting to know him.  I think he is very truthful and honest and very Father like.  He runs around and does a lot of stuff, but he still takes the time to show you everything.  I've dealt with some really great coaches, but he's the best coach.  It was hard to tell the other coaches but they all handled it really well.  Once the decision was made, it was a real relief.

Did getting to know the Duke players play a big role?

It was very big, but I thought it was going to be a lot bigger.  I learned a lot about myself in that I can get along with a lot of different people.  When you go on visits, they all act like they like you.  In the end it comes down to getting that feeling of being comfortable and I felt that with Duke.

You were able to attend some classes.  Were you comfortable in that environment?

It's very similar to Ravenscroft.  I knew how great everybodies academics were in the final six, so it really came down to feeling comfortable. [/private]