Blue Devil Nation will once again be covering High School Hoops during the 2011 season. As we've done the past couple of seasons, we will scour the Internet in order to provide the Duke faithful with player updates, game results, links to articles and box scores, along with our critical analysis and commentary on high school action for players committed to Duke as well as recruiting targets. This season our High School Hoops articles will once again be posted as premium content so we invite all visitors to join Blue Devil Nation, kick back and allow us to do the heavy lifting, so you, our faithful readers can enjoy this one stop site for Duke related high school basketball coverage.

This coming season, we will be keeping tabs on the following committed Duke players: Austin Rivers (Winter Park), Michael Gbinije (Benedictine), Quinn Cook (Oak Hill) and Marshall Plumlee (Christ School). Additionally, we will closely follow recruiting targets Alex Murphy (St. Mark’s), Shabazz Muhammad (Bishop Gorman), Tony Parker (Miller Grove), Justin Anderson (Montrose Christian), Rasheed Sulaimon (Strake Jesuit), Rodney Purvis (Upper Room Christian), Kaleb Tarczewski (St. Mark’s), and J.P. Tokoto (Menomonee Falls HS).

[private] Austin Rivers (6’5” 180) eclipsed the 2,000 points scored mark as Winter Park High School defeated Montverde 102-92 this past Friday night. Rivers scored 46 points in the game. On Saturday, Winter Park lost to Dr. Krop 76-55 with Rivers scoring 19 points in the losing effort.

Winter Park will host the Rotary Tip-Off Classic starting Wednesday evening.

Benedictine started their season off with an 89-58 victory over St. Mary’s Ryken. Michael Gbinije (6’6” 180) scored 23 points. Gbinije scored 18 points and was named Most Outstanding Player of the MAIT Tournament as Benedictine defeated St. Maria Goretti 68-33. Gbinije dished out five assists in the victory.

Marshall Plumlee (7’0” 215) and Christ School are off to a 5-0 start including an impressive 98-82 victory over Westchester Country Day which features Quincy Miller and Duece Bello. Plumlee recorded a 16 points and 10 rebounds double-double in the victory. On this past Tuesday evening, the Greenies blew out Asheville School 88-36. Plumlee had another double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Jean-Pierre Tokoto (6’6” 180) was a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line as he scored 22 points in Menomonee Falls 95-50 victory over Homestead. This article at MenomoneeFallsNow states Tokoto is, “…bigger, stronger and faster than he was a year ago.”

Rodney Purvis is averaging 31 points per game as Upper Room Christian Academy is off to a fast start this young season. His season high is 46 points, which he scored in an 85-83 victory over Greensboro Day. Purvis is a 6’2” shooting guard who recently reclassified to the Class of 2012. He was previously rated as the number three player, in the Class of 2013, by Scout.

Here is a link to the schedule for Strake Jesuit College Preparatory where Rasheed Sulaimon plays in Houston. The Crusaders are off to a 3-1 start. Sulaimon is a 6’3” shooting guard who highly desires to play his college ball in Durham.

The Miller Grove Wolverines opened their season with a 79-57 victory over Rockdale County. This is Tony Parker’s school. Miller is a 6’9” 265 center who is high on Duke’s wish list. The Blue Devils desire a big man in the Class of 2012. A brief team overview is available here.

The Holiday tournaments are just around the corner and for those who desire to engage in some preparatory reading here are links to the websites for the City of Palms Classic, GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational, Chick-fil-A Classic and Les Schwab Invitational. There are Duke commits or recruiting targets participating in all four tournaments.

City of Palms Classic: Austin Rivers, Marshall Plumlee, Shabazz Muhammad, Alex Murphy, Kaleb Tarczewski
GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational: Marshall Plumlee
Chick-fil-A: Michael Gbinije
Les Schwab Invitational: Shabazz Muhammad

As high school football play-offs wrap up around the country, local newspapers will amp up their coverage of high school basketball so the number of links providing information on Duke’s commits and recruiting targets will increase. Blue Devil Nation’s High School Hoops will be a regular feature available to premium members throughout the basketball season. [/private]