This has been a huge week for Duke Basketball Recruiting and it all started when they got a commitment from Kyrie Irving on Thursday evening. Blue Devil fans are still celebrating and holding their breath until Harrison Barnes makes his decision. Barnes of course, is on campus this weekend.
The Barnes family arrived at 9:00 today and will spend 48 hours on campus. In fact, today's open practice featured Barnes and his mom and sister. BDN was on hand to check out our current players and naturally, take a look at what was going on around Barnes. We have also included a few photo's from the event below.
Anyhow, here's what happened - [private] Barnes came into the practice after it started and got a large applause from the many fans on hand. He initially sat with his family, but later moved to the bench area, where he unzipped his navy blue Nike sweat suit to reveal a Duke T-Shirt.
Just before that, a single yell of, "Harrison Barnes come to Duke," rang out and Barnes immediately smiled and waved in the direction of the fan.
The Barnes family seemed relaxed and likely a little tired after arriving early this morning. Duke Assistant coaches Nate James and Chris Collins each talked with Barnes as the practice went on.
Krzyzewski talked to Barnes on three occasions, but the last twenty five minutes of the practice, he had a one on one discussion with an attentive Barnes.
At the two hour mark much of the crowd had left, but Barnes got another ovation as he left Cameron and headed for the locker room.
For the record, my understanding is that smoke and mirror or speculation articles are out there on other sites. Barnes is not allowed to play pick up games after practice has started per NCAA guidelines. So, be careful who you listen to.
It's also worth noting, that no web site or media outlet is allowed to contact or talk to Barnes in any way while on campus. These rules apply for boosters too, so please be careful if you see him out and about. A passing comment of encouragement is okay, just don't engage him in conversation.
Don't look for too much information to come out on this one other than sightings. Duke has a full schedule for Barnes and he'll likely take in some of the football game tomorrow, which is a big one for Duke. Hopefully the weather holds up as it did today. With the leaves changing colors on campus, it makes for a nice backdrop. [/private]
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