Desmond Floyd is a 6’4” 240 pound defensive end from Union, South Carolina. He recently attended Duke’s summer football camp and has received a scholarship offer.
BDN: Can you describe some of your strengths and weaknesses as a player?
DF: My strength is definitely pass rushing, and my weakness is probably my strength right now.
BDN: What are some of the things you’re working on for your senior year?
DF: I’ve been working on my pass rush moves, getting faster and stronger, and coming off the block better.
BDN: As you approach your college decision, what are you looking for in a school?
DF: Good academics first and then the community around the school. For football, the facilities and coaching staff are most important.
BDN: When are you planning to make your college decision?
DF: Whenever I’m comfortable with my choice. I was hoping to maybe decide before the season, but I want to be sure of my decision.
BDN: Which camps have you recently attended?
DF: Wake Forest and Duke in the past month.
BDN: Can you tell me a little bit about those camps?
DF: I got an offer at the Wake Forest camp. I didn’t get to see much of the campuses or talk with the coaches at either camp. It was mostly just working and seeing how the coaching staff coaches.
BDN: Can you talk briefly about some of the ACC schools who are recruiting you?
DF: Wake Forest - their academics are very good and they have a winning reputation in football. Duke – has top of the line academics and a program on the rise. North Carolina State – I just got to see their stadium, I don’t know much about them academically. Maryland has offered me, but I haven’t visited.
BDN: Being from South Carolina, what have you heard from the in-state schools?
DF: I don’t have an offer from Clemson. I have an offer from South Carolina and I really like their coaching staff and they have nice facilities.
BDN: Is there anything else that college football fans should know about you?
DF: Academics come first and I’m a hard worker.
BDN: Thanks very much for your time and good luck with your college decision.
DF: Thank you, sir.
Shabazz Muhammad rattles the rim during the TOC. The Duke coaches will be out in force to see their major prospects in July and BDN Premium will be there to report firsthand the information you most covet. Our latest recruitng update is finished and you can enjoy it and much more by becoming a members of Blue Devil Nation Premium - Photo credit - BDN Photo and Rick Crank
The Duke Men's Basketball staff is in route to several locations today where they'll evaluate the countries top prospects. Coach Nate James will board a flight to Germany this afternoon where he will follow Team USA. His main focus will be on Quinn Cook, a PG prospect which you have surely heard a lot of lately. Sources say that Krzyzewski likes what he has seen of Cook who has yet to be tendered an official offer but that could change in the coming weeks.
Coach Krzyzewski and Chris Collins are headed to Indianapolis for the Adidas Nations event which starts tomorrow. There, they will focus in on several different prospects in an effort to fine tune their targets list. That list will begin to take shape quickly and probably solidify by the time the AAU National finish up. The pair will then travel to [private] Akron for the LeBron James Skills Academy and be a part of media mania surrounding James and his pending decision. Andre is already reporting a slew of media outlets hanging out which in short, means a circus atmosphere of fun. Well, hopefully, fun.
The reason for the surge in interest with Quinn Cook is that Duke expects a mass exodus in that they feel this is a pretty good team coming this fall. Singler and Smith will obviously go and they are expecting freshman Kyrie Irving to as well. Duke feels Irving could be a lottery pick. Also on the watch list to go pro will be Mason Plumlee.
We hinted to you that our feelings on Marshall Plumlee in past updates . The Duke brothers Plumlee of Mason and Miles were honored in me state for being a part of a national championship team. We will elaborate more once we make the appropriate contacts with concern to Marshall. The Plumlees are scheduled to return to Durham and participate in the NC Pro Am likely making it by Thursday at the latest. We have confirmed that you will see many Duke players at the event starting this week. Back to Marshall, Duke envisions him as a post player or center and with the aforementioned expected exodus of players to the pro's, scholarships should still be available for another player if necessary.
As I have said, Andrew Slater will be on the scene and he will check out Marshall in Indy. For the record,Plumlee was invited to the LeBron James Skills Academy but Adidas needed their best players. Coaches will turn out for the event tomorrow and we have already received reports that Eric Gordon is making the rounds. The coaches can check out the James camp on July the 7th which as we have already mentioned will.
Marshall Plumlee set to go in Indy
One of the first names that come forward as being a possibility is none other than Quincy Miller, the outstanding in state prospect who will play alongside Deuce Bello this season. They more than realize Miller will take it down to the last possible day, but they'll stick around for the ride. Miller would simply be the icing on the cake, a luxury, but Duke is in no way tossing all their eggs in Millers basket. Speaking of DeuceBello, he still lists Duke and we will have a short interview up with him shortly. James is the lead assistant for the ultra athletic Bello who rose in most of the prospect rankings.
Duke will have 10 on scholarship this year and they expect to lose at least 4, so up to 7 scholarships are available. Duke would love to fill a couple of those with Shabazz Muhammad, Alex Murphy and Kaleb Tarczewski from the class of 2012. Duke will continue to recruit and evaluate these kids monitoring them closely.
Okay, everybody is always asking about Austin Rivers and all I can say is little has changed. Rivers is expected to give his pledge soon and ideally before the Duke staff leaves the country in August for Team USA duties. All the signs are pointing to this being done by the time the AAU National roll around where the event would feature Michael Gbinije, Tyler Adams and of course Rivers. Adams recent visit to Duke went very well and he has done everything they've asked of him to date. The staff is also pleased with the progress of Gbinije.
Looking ahead, the AAU Nationals in Orlando will have Michael Gbinije, Rivers, Adams... All likely commits at that time, another hint there minions. Vegas will be loaded with Shabazz Muhammad, Marshall Plumlee, Alex Murphy, Kaleb Tarczewski and many more.
I've pretty much mentioned Duke's recruiting priorities but again, this list could change and you know the names we've mentioned here before which could rise to the top. The Duke staff will be at all of the major events and there schedule for the latter part of July will become clear as duties with Team USA are worked out. All in all it's an exciting time for basketball recruiting and we think you will see why you joined BDN Premium when comparing our coverage in the coming months. Discuss this article on the premium message board where more tidbits await you including some updates from Andrew on the recruiting trail. If you are a member having trouble accessing the board, e-mail me at watzonebdp@gmail.com. Please only e-mail me if you have a problem with the message board at this address. Remember, copy and pasting or sharing this via emails and other premiums boards PM system is a violation of membership agreement and those not honoring that will be banned. I know moist of you are not a part of that but please recognize that pilfering information is in effect stealing.[/private]
BDN will be checking out Alex Murphy and many others as we cover Indy and LeBron James Skills Academy this week and the Peach Jam the following week. Be sure to check out our latest offerings and ask yourself why not join BDN Premium and judge our subscriptin service for your self. Our trial offer ends in one week. BDN Photo
What a great time to be a Duke fan, huh? Kickoff to football is two months away and we can still wallow in the joy of a national championship as the summer moves on. It's getting warm this time of year and that means BDN Premium will be red hot in the coming months. We brought you the latest from Quincy Miller today and have Deuce Bello coming by evening.
But that is only the start folks! Our resident recruiting analyst Andrew Slater will be on the road this week to cover both the Adidas event in Indianapolis and the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron, Ohio. I'm pretty sure no other sites place the focus we do on true Duke prospects at these events. I will be heading to the Peach Jam the following week, so rest assured, BDN Premium is the place to be for updates, interviews and analogy being issued daily.
While Andrew takes in the measurements and skills drills at LeBron James camp in just a few hours, I will prep for more NC Pro Am coverage tomorrow all of which remains in the free section. BDN has long supported and covered the event and has proven this is the place to be in July time and time again. We hope to get our football coverage going again as well making this undoubtedly the busiest time of the year for us. Coach Cutcliffe and his staff's recruiting class is really starting to take shape and we want to share that with the nation.
Be sure and take advantage of the special trial offer or go ahead and save money by joining Blue Devil Nation Premium for a year so you will not miss any of the action or updates. Our private message board is but one of the perks for members where they can discuss the matters at hand in a tame and professional environment.
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Later this evening, we'll release our infamous recruiting and team update and our members will tell you it is not something you want to miss. And we have recruiting analyst Brick Oettinger's thoughts on Duke prospects coming this week as well. Be sure to check out our archives if you join where you will also find guru's Tom Konchalski'sthoughts on prospects as well. In fact, it is easy to find all of our updates and player interviews which allows you to catch up. Go back and see how far ahead of the curve we were on things just now coming to fruition or just wait for the numerous updates which will flood our premium section in the coming days.
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Quincy Miller drives to the basket during the NC Pro Am. BDN Premium caught up with Quincy and we got his thoughts on his Team USA experience, the recruiting process. Miller had some nice things to say about Kyrie Irving as well, but you will need premium access to read the entire interview. Join BDN Premium today as recruiting heats up along with our AAU event coverage. Photo copyright Rick Crank and BDN Photo
Basketball is a way of life for Duke prospect Quincy Miller who participated in the NC Pro Am at North Carolina Central University this past Thursday evening. Fresh off a flight from San Antonio, where he helped Team USA go undefeated, Miller made his way onto the court where he was facing a much more talented team full of North Carolina Tar Heels. Pealing out of his Team USA gear,Miller got his in just one half of play. But his team was down by 20 when he joined them and that was way too big of a deficit to overcome. Miller would later nail three, three pointers where he filled in for one half on another team. BDN talked with Miller and got his thoughts on his USA experience, the recruiting process and his plans for the near future in our latest premium access offering.
You just got back from San Antonio where you played with Team USA. What was that experience like for you?
The experience was really good for me. I played great defense and was probably one of the best defensive players on my team. It was really nice.
You mentioned that you bonded well with Kyrie Irving earlier.
Kyrieis my boy, we hit it off really well. I roomed with Kyrie Irving, Austin Rivers and [private] Patrick Young. It went real well an we developed good relationships and I think they could last for a long time.
You went up against your friend in Deuce Bello tonight. What was that like?
I mean I know what he can do and he knows what I can do, so we know each other well.
You just scored 15 or 16 points in the second half ...
Yeah, I just got back from San Antonio,so I fot here late.
You're proudly wearing Team USA gear as well.
I am proud.
You had good moves in that game ...
I wished I could have played longer becasue I think I could have helped my team win a game
I noticed you talking and manevering players on the court. I don't think I've seen you do that like you did tonight.
I was just playing with the USA team and that helped me a lot. So I know what I need to do to get to the next level and maybe the level after that. O like helping other players and making those around me better.
Where will your D-One AAU team go from here?
Indianapolis and then Vegas.
Will you be able to play again with AAU events coming up?
I will play a couple of more games here.
What's your school list looking like these days?
Wake Forest, Kentucky, Syracuse, Duke, Memphis, Oklahoma, Tennessee and Ohio State
But you're in no hurry to make a decision, still, right?
Yeah, I'm taking my time. I'm feeling out all the programs and their coaches and see where it leads.
Will you take a look at the players you will be playing with? If so, how important is something like that?
That's real important. I want to play with guys who want to win and get better. I'm trying to win a championship.
I'm just going to come in and do my thing.Do you have any favorites at this time?
Naw, not yet. Nobody is sticking out yet.
Ohio State is new to your list. Did they just come in?
Yeah. And Louisville came in recently.
Some are saying that Kentucky and Duke might be the early leaders.
No not really. I just knew players at Kentucky and players from Duke, so I was like around those two teams from players I knew.
What areas of your game need work?
Stronger and faster, you know me, I just want to work on everything.
You played for another team just now and nailed in three, three pointers and had a dunk.
Yeah. I have been working on it. I was able to play one haldfor them, but we're leaving now.
Yeah, I chatted with Deuce and Brian Clifton earlier. Take care and good luck.
Quinn Cook stars for the USA U-17 team - BDN Photo
Despite tipoff coming 30 minutes after 12 noon, it was early lights out for Lithuania (1-1) as the USA Men’s U17 Team (2-0) ran over, around and through Lithuania Saturday and in the process collected a very impressive 102-66 victory in preliminary round play at the inaugural FIBA U17 World Championship in Hamburg, Germany.
It was the second meeting between the two squads in four days and nothing like the USA’s previous 92-79 victory over Lithuania that came in an exhibition contest held June 29 in Kaunas, Lithuania.
“We came in here with the mindset that we had played them before so we definitely knew what to expect. We came in focused as a team and all 12 guys on the team contributed,” commented 6-8 USA forward James McAdoo (Norfolk Christian H.S. / Norfolk, Va.). “We definitely all played together today. Yesterday we kind of got away from what our mindset was but we got the win, so we came in here today with good focus.”\
Balanced scoring by the Americans was underscored as all 12 players scored at least four points, the team collectively was credited with handing out 27 assists, seven players had at one assist. The U.S. shot a sizzling 56.1 percent from the field, and outrebounded Lithuania 46-36.
About the only flaw in the USA’s dominating performance Saturday was its 25 turnover, nine of which came in the last 10 minutes when the USA lead was floating between 40-50 points.
“It’s awesome,” McAdoo stated about the team’s high energy play. “I like to play up and down; I like to get up and down; I don’t like to post up as far as in the half court set. So when we’re able to get our defense cooking and were getting turnovers, we’re getting deflections, we’re getting blocked shots, that just really aids my game and you saw how that worked out today where I was able to get out on the fastbreak and get a lot of open shots and open dunks.”
Unlike the two team’s last meeting four days ago when Lithuania got out to a first quarter lead and the Americans spent the rest of the game getting back ahead and holding on to the lead, the U.S. struck quickly and with remarkable energy and precision.
Thanks to five points from Brad Beal (Chaminade College Prep H.S. / St. Louis, Mo.) and four more from McAdoo, the U.S. jumped out into the lead 11-3. With the scoreboard reading 11-6 in the USA’s favor, the Americans turned up the defensive intensity and the result was 10 consecutive points and an overall 21-7 scoring rampage over the opening quarter’s final 4:05 that left the USA fully in charge, 32-13.
At one point during the USA’s full in-your-face dominating play, Lithuania was forced into five consecutive turnovers that the U.S. converted into fastbreak points. For the afternoon, the U.S. recorded 38 points off the break.
“There were times when it seemed like they couldn’t really get into their offense, we were pressing up on them and putting a lot of ball pressure and that definitely helped,” stated McAdoo.
The USA’s energy never subsided and at halftime the U.S. lead stood at 56-31. The lead continued to balloon in the second half and the USA went on to lead by as many as 50 points before sailing in for the 102-66 victory.
McAdoo and Beal led the USA effort with 16 points each, and McAdoo added a U.S. best seven rebounds and three steals. André Drummond (St. Thomas More School / Middletown, Conn.) tallied 10 points and five boards, while Chasson Randle (Rock Island H.S. / Rock Island, Ill.) finished with 10 points on perfect 4-for-4 shooting. Quinn Cook (DeMatha H.S. / Bowie, Md.) accounted for nine points, six rebounds and game high eight assists, and Tony Wroten, Jr. (Garfield H.S. / Seattle, Wash.) contributed nine points in the win.
“Obviously we played pretty well today. Lithuania is a very good team. We had a practice game against them earlier and it was really a close game until a few minutes were left in the game. So we knew they were a good team. Our players were very well prepared mentally for this game. We started out the game with getting some turnovers and with our athletic ability and quickness; we started the game out like we wanted to,” USA U17 World Championship Team and Mid-Prairie High School (Iowa) head coach Don Showalter said. “We started off a little different with our press and I think that started the whole run for us. We have some really quick kids and when they can get their hands on balls, get deflections, that starts a run for us and I think we took them out of their offense a little but by having a full court press.”
Other Saturday results saw Argentina (1-1) handled Egypt (0-2) 98-69, while Canada (1-1) beat Australia (0-2) by a score of 76-68.
Following a day off that fittingly comes on Sunday, July 4, the USA will continue FIBA U17 World Championship preliminary play on July 5 facing China, then plays Egypt on July 6 and closes opening round play against Serbia on July 7. The top four finishing teams from each preliminary round group will advance to the July 9 medal quarterfinals, with semifinals games scheduled for July 10 and the gold and bronze medal games to be contested on July 11.
“Our focus is on China as they’re our next opponent,” said Showalter. “We know they are talented, they’re big, they’re strong, so we’re going to have to play well. Our goal is to get better every game and the teams that get better every game are the ones that are going to end up in the medal rounds.
“The nice thing is that if any of our players have a game where they’re not quite on we have players who can come in and spell them and really do well. One of the things I get asked a lot is ’how do you manage your team’s young egos, they’re all great players on their teams” and you know that’s pretty easy because they just want to win. They don’t care how it’s done, it’s not me it’s we on our team and I think they showed that today.”
Serving as assistant coaches for the 2009-10 USA Developmental National Team and 2010 USA U17 World Championship Team are Herman Harried, head coach at Lake Clifton High School (Md.), and Kevin Sutton, head coach at Montverde Academy (Fla.).
UNC fans turned out to see there future in Harrison Barnes who scored 16 points including this dunk at the NC Pro Am - Photo copyrighted Rick Crank, BDN Photo
DURHAM - Sporting his Team USA attire, Quincy Miller highlighted the opening night of the NC Pro Am for Duke fans. Miller had just come back to Durham from San Antonio where the U-18 team had their way with world competition. Miller, of course, is a key Duke recruiting target in the class of 2011 and the versatile prospect showed he was unafraid to go up against the older guys scoring 14 points in a single half of play due to his late arrival.
Because he was late to the event, the promoter allowed Miller to play for one more half with another team as a fill in and he tallied 10 points in that game. Miller went up against future UNC player P.J. Hairston. In fact, his severely undermanned team faced what was essentially a Carolina All Star team that consisted of Harrison Barnes, Reggie Bullock, Jon Henson and others. But with Hairston, the battle got a bit heated. The two went head to head late in the game and despite surely being tired from jet lag, Miller outscored the offensive minded Hairston 14-13 in a single half of play, meaning, how many would Miller have scored with full two half's?
Harrison Barnes was as advertised, calm, cool and collected on the court. Barnes opened the game with two emphatic dunks as his team rolled to an early lead over what appeared to be one of the weakest teams in this years field. Barnes ended the game with 16 points while coasting in the second half.
Reggie Bullock added 10 points and Henson added 8. Also playing on the Tar Heel laden Team Stackhouse was Miller's high school and AAU teammate Deuce Bello who had a game high 18 points and showed off his athletic skill set. Team Stackhouse won easily by a 81-60 margin.
In an earlier game, the youthful prospect Rodney Purvis scored 16 points while wowing the crowd with his abilities. Purvis is just a rising sophomore in high school.
N.C. Sate fans turned out in droves as well, but Ryan Harrow and Lorenzon Brown were no-shows. C.J. Leslie did play though and he tallied 16 points to go with his teammate Tracy Smith 14.
The NBA's number one draft pick, John Wall, was also in attendance and his presence alone made some in the crowd a bit giddy. Wall was seen talking to former UNC standout Jerry Stackhouse for most of the evening.
All of the Duke players were no shows due to the break at school and or Nike skills academy camps. The Blue Devils will start to appear next week where the games are on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.
NOTES - There was a very solid opening night crowd despite what was a parking mess due to construction on the N.C. Central Campus. Expect a nice walk to the event if you are able to attend. Admission is a bargain in that it is free. BDN Premium has an article on Quincy Miller due shortly where we get the latest from the prospect. So, stay tuned to BDN whose history of covering the event is well known.
Desmond Floyd is a 6’4” 240 pound defensive end from Union, South Carolina. He recently attended Duke’s summer football camp and has received a scholarship offer.
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