Working hard and taking classes. Working out and getting better for this upcoming season.
What is it like going into your second season under Coach Cutcliffe and his system?
Easy. This will be my first time going into a season with the same offensive coordinator and staff. I know the offense more and what they expect out of me, so I can go with the flow now.
Have you been working with some of your receivers?
We get together with all the recievers. After we run on Tuesday and Thursday running 707's, we interact with the defense a little bit to keep everybody going. Also, we get together sometimes by position and go watch film, so we can be on the same page and teach the younger guys the system. That way, once summer ball comes around, we'll be ready.
Will Duke have any new wrinkles in the offense this season?
I would think so. I haven't really talked to coach like that, but they're working hard and may have a few tricks up their sleeve. We'll see some new things with Duke Football this season ... I'm pretty sure, pretty sure. The mastermind Kurt Roper will have something up his sleeve this season.
How does it feel to have Brandon King back at the tight end spot?
That will help a lot. The tight end is the x-factor in the offense and a lot of people don't give them the credit. I mean, that guy blocks, catches balls, gets back at the fullback position. With Brandon King coming back and Brett Huffman and Danny Parker stepping up, that allows you to do different things with your offense. You can go a double tight end sets because you have that dual threat and that will help raise this offense to another level.
Have any new guys stepped up around you?
Johnny Williams and Donovan Varner have stepped up. The freshman Conner Vernon has come in and done a good job. The other freshman just got here. Corey Gattis has done a good job working out with us and Desmond Scott has come out there catching passes and he can run routes. So, everybody is contributing and we had a trial run today with the incoming freshman. Sean Schroeder went out there and threw it pretty well and the other freshman Tyree Watkins came in, so they sent out there and did a tremendous job. It looks like it'll be interesting with the competitive nature of this football team going into the summer camp. Everybody has to come and bring it and I'm pretty sure that will happen and we'll better ourselves as a team.
Duke suffered some key losses on the offensive front. Are you worried about some inexperience across the front?
The guys we have coming back actually played a little bit last season, so I'm not worried at all. With the addition of Brandon Harper there and the growth of Brian Moore and the rest of the guys on that line ... and the keys of the offensive line coming back, Bryan Morgan, he's kind of the captain of the ship down there. So with him coming back his knowledge and experience will help bring the other guys along. With this offense and how we operate you can't hold it longer than a few seconds and I think they'll do an outstanding job this upcoming season.
Check back in this weekend for several more questions and answers in part II of BDN's interview with Thaddeus Lewis.
In a recent poll with our members, our General Update was by far our most popular offering. Join Blue Devil Nation Premium today and see what the buzz is about. Our members overwhelmingly stated that Blue Devil Nation Premium was better than other subscription services. If you've been on the fence, it's time to jump in for our coverage on the AAU trail is about to explode.
Duke has put the full court press on Kyrie Irving of late and they [private] hope that their August camp will be the start to putting the nails in the coffin. Let me take a second to remind you that all of the information this update is sensitiveand by contract cannot be shared with e-mail groups, other message boards or reprinted in any way. Irving is not likely to pull the trigger early, but BDN Premium has learned that his Dad and uncle will make the trip as well.
The Blue Devils feel confident that they will close the deal with Harrison Barnes in due time. Do not look for other teams to get involved any further for in my opinion, Duke is the favorite with Kansas the only other alternative. Barnes will not participate in any more AAU events after the Peach Jam.
Duke will still look for a sixth player to add to the class and that will be a forward unlike the ones currently on the roster. Duke is also still highly interested in Ray McCallum.
Duke is still seeking to get involved with Fab Mello, but at this time they are not on his current list. Mello will receive an invite to the Elite camp. BDN will attempt to get a Q & A with Mello in the near future.
The Blue Devils are also hoping to close the deal on Quincy Miller soon rather than later. Miller soared in the rankings after Duke offered. Of course, anyone who looks at early rankings in the class of 2011, may be disappointed as time goes on for not even the gurus have had that many views of the kids. In fact, it's alarming to see how some of the rankings come about and some certainly do a better job of it than others. Anyhow, Miller is a Duke type of kid and getting a verbal from him by the end of summer would allow Duke to concentrate their efforts on the team.
The Men's staff is about to hit the road big time. They will have a high profile at all of the events with Krzyzewski attending LeBron James, Peach Jam and the Vegas tournaments. I am pretty sure he'll end up in Orlando if there are enough kids of interest and an early look at the south Florida events shows that they have more talent than in past years. We are talking of the Showcase and AAU Nationals. Duke Assistant Coach, Nate James and his wife are expecting a baby in mid July, so he will not attend the Peach Jam nor the Vegas events.
Many of you have asked about Duke possibly filling a lost in 2009. There is a possibility, but only if certain prospects seek them out. Duke will likely close out the class as it stands now, but a final move is a possibility.
Our own Andrew Slater will be covering the LeBron James Skills Academy this week and I will be at the Peach Jam later this month. You can count on coverage from Las Vegas as well. In short, BDN Premium will continue to show you that this is "the" place for the best basketball recruiting coverage. Kyle Singler will be attending the James Academy and Coach Krzyzewski, Wojo and Nate will attend this event. They'll also take in the Adidas Take Five where Chris Collins will replace James. Nate will then spend one day at the Reebok event.
Speaking of Nate "Dogg" James, I had a one-on-one interview with him which will go up this weekend. There will be little rest for the coaches as Krzyzewski, Wojo and Collins will then head to a loaded Peach Jam event in Augusta.
On the football front, Coach Cutcliffe welcomed the incoming freshman class yesterday and they were put through the now infamous running drills. According to Thaddeus Lewis all the freshman did well and took it, so to speak. He said that Desmond Scott had been looking good and that he would get some playing time from day one. When talking of his strength, Thad said that he had the best hands of any back coming out of the backfield.
BDN will continue to cover the football preseason as it has in the past. IOW, we'll regularly attend any function made available to us and will update you on the practices leading into the opener with Richmond. We have long been dedicated to football and hope to expand our coverage with some key additions. In an effort to put a brighter light on the program, BDN will keep 90% of it's football information free.
You may have noticed thatt GoDuke has gone to a new cleaner look and that they are more user friendly. BDN has had some changes in the works as well. We are redoing our front page and will be going to a new message board which is synchronized with the site, meaning you do not need to register for both. The changes should help streamline your experience.
Also, I will be addressing the survey questions on our message board and we appreciate the responses, complaints and props. I am happy to announce that members were overwhelmingly happy with the site with almost all who participated saying BDNP was better than other subscription sites which cover recruiting. We will strive to keep this site ahead of the curve and when I say that, I am mainly talking about information and not so much technology. Information was by far the one area in the survey which members pointed to time and time again.
Our site should be a good counterpart to GoDuke and free sites like DBR. We are not in competition with Duke's official site. In fact, we support them. BDN tries to fill the gaps in between and we'll always come up with new ideas along the way. That said, I want to thank members for their patience during the past year where I have battled some health issues and the site has found it's footing in the direction after a sudden move.
Changes will start to appear sooner rather than later. Jim Sumner will have his first article up next week and we hope to continue to work with writers you have come to know. BDN will expand the free content in that we plan on bringing you the news that you used to see in newspapers on a daily basis. We are the new or modern day beat writers in an ever changing media world and will strive be professional in our coverage.
I have put aside another project in an effort to make Blue Devil Nation the best it can be and I look forward to hearing your responses as this takes place. After all, it is the members and readers who make up the Blue Devil Nation for we are all in this together.
Addendum - Duke has offered Roscoe Smith. I meant to include this but kind of forgot about it. Nate James is the lead recruiter for Smith. Duke has invited him the their Elite Camp.[/private]
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