Ryan Kelly - photo by Lance King images for BDN
DURHAM, N.C. – Two Duke Blue Devils were a part of another championship as rising sophomores Ryan Kelly and Andre Dawkins helped D-One to the title at the N.C. Pro Am.
D-One scored 135 points to defeat Hendrick’s who had buy 124 in an All Star Game atmosphere where defense was in short supply. But that doesn’t mean guys were not making plays and Kelly and Dawkins showed a lot of drive to be a part of the last team standing on Sunday afternoon.
The two Blue Devils were joined by new New York Knick and UNC alum Raymond Felton and for Pack standout Josh Powell. Felton did a good job running the team and ended the contest with 28 points but it was Josh Powell’s [33 points] play which helped D-One control the inside game.
Andre Dawkins had a stretch where he missed five straight shots, but like a shooter he kept putting the ball up and ended the game with 18 points and as usual the vast majority of his points came on the three ball.
Kelly added 16 points but played all facets of the game well and was named the winner of the Rodney Rodger’s Spirit Award before the game started. During the presentation it was stated that Kelly was the player most guys wanted to play with, meaning he is a good teammate who actually plays team ball instead of always looking for his shot.
Another former UNC player Jawad Williams added 16 for the losing team.
This years event shed a lot of light on off season improvement of several Blue Devil players and we’ll recap each one and hear from Ryan Kelly shortly, so stay tuned to BDN as we wind up our annual coverage on the N.C. Pro Am.
