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6'11" Freshman Karl Towns, Jr., Photo by Andrew Slater

Phenom is an overused term in sports, but there are times when it merits use. 6’11″ freshman Karl Towns, Jr. has already helped lead St. Joseph’s Falcons of Metuchen, New Jersey to a 28-2 record and its first New Jersey state title. It’s a feat that alumni including the Lakers’ Andrew Bynum and former Duke All-American and Chicago Bull Jason Williams weren’t able to achieve during their time at the North Jersey Catholic school. After averaging a double-double in the always competitive New Jersey Catholic leagues, MaxPreps named Towns, Jr. to its freshman All-American team.

Off the court, Towns’ impact was also felt at St. Joseph’s, as Karl, a sociable and conscientious young man, took on a leadership role as the freshman student class president and has earned a reported 4.3 GPA in the classroom. When Karl, a Knicks fan, was contemplating a career in sports broadcasting, MSG Varsity, a regional cable network, sent the then fifteen year-old to interview his basketball hero, forward Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder. At the halftime of a Rutgers-Seton Hall basketball game earlier in the year, Victor Cruz, the All-Pro wide receiver for the Super Bowl champion New York Giants, wanted to meet with the young phenom. An exceptional all-around athlete, the Piscataway, NJ native is a scratch golfer and, although perhaps not yet Randy Johnson, the 6’11″ freshman right-hander, who wears a size-20 sneaker, reportedly can already throw a baseball over eighty miles per hour.

On the court, “Little Karl” has benefitted from the tutelage and guidance of his father Karl Sr., a 6’5″ former tenacious rebounder for Monmouth University (still the university’s leader for rebounds in a season and game) and a successful high school coach at Piscataway Vo-Tech High School in New Jersey for the past fourteen years. His father has also coached Karl, Jr. on the AAU circuit, including for the Sports U. 16s at the Pitt Jam Fest, where the freshman was named to the All-Tournament team by HoopGroup. In order to honor the Dominican heritage of his mother, Jacqueline “Jackie” Cruz-Towns and to give his relatives a chance to watch him play competitively in person, Karl has trained with the Dominican National Team and yesterday made the senior team, which is still hoping to qualify for the Olympics in London this year.

6'11" Karl Towns of New Jersey, Photo by Andrew Slater

A rare, young American big man who is both able to play with his back to the basket and has a face-up game to beyond the three-point line, Karl came within one shot of winning the three-point shooting contest at the recent Mary Kline Classic, a charity event  in Pennington, New Jersey that included some of the best talent on the East Coast. Towns, who was one of the youngest participants, wanted to play in the event, which was able to raise over $20,000 dollars for brain cancer research, because he lost his grandfather to cancer.

Under Coach Mike Krzyzewski, Duke has developed a legacy of success with tough New Jersey high school basketball players. All four of Duke’s National Championship teams had, at least, one starter from the Garden State. NBA Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving (St. Patrick’s), the Bulls’ Luol Deng (Blair Academy), the Hornets’ Lance Thomas (St. Benedict’s), the Pacers’ Dahntay Jones (Rahway), Jason Williams (St. Joe’s), Bobby Hurley (St. Anthony’s), Roshown McLeod (St. Anthony’s), and Alaa Abdelnaby (Bloomfield) all went onto have NBA careers.

After the event, Karl Towns, Jr., an ambitious and cerebral young man with a disarming smile and a big heart, spoke with me extensively about a variety of topics.

Let’s start with the state title run.

Oh, you know, it was a big thing for us at St. Joe’s. I always told St. Joe’s that I wanted to do something that had never been done before: I was going to bring a state title to them. When we were going for the state title, we knew we had a chance to win it. We knew that we were the best team there.

At what point in the year did you get a sense that this could be the year? When did you feel that the group was really clicking?

When I first committed to the school..

Oh, really (laughs)

Yeah, you know, I did. I always have a high confidence that I know that we can do well in whatever we set our minds to. After the game in Teaneck, we lost the second game of the year. We came back and we won that third game. After that game, I just felt that we were going to gun for a state title this year. We weren’t going to wait.

Can you touch on your thoughts on two other talented guys that have passed through those same hallways, Jason Williams and Andrew Bynum?

Oh, Jason Williams is a great player and so is Andrew. I’m just trying to make my own legacy at St. Joe’s.

Sure.

Bynum is such a great player and I just wanted to use the shooting touch of Jason and put it with Bynum’s post presence and then just try to make that work.

In terms of international play, you’ve trained with the Dominican National Team. How has that unique experience gone so far?

Oh, I actually just left our practice to come to this event. It’s just a great experience and know that I’m playing for my country and playing for something that’s much bigger than me is just rewarding and puts a lot of pride in myself.

It’s true that Duke struggled a bit down the stretch as evidenced by their upset loss to Lehigh in one of the programs more embarrassing losses. But the reason that loss was so unbearable to many is that the Blue Devils rarely lose to an upstart team, so this was shocking to many. But if you take a more careful look, you quickly realize that fate caught up with Duke and the fan base, spoiled as it is and media types seemed to pay no mind the fact that this has happened to every program out there and that on occasion the Basketball Gods’ can be cruel.

The media, many who had been watering at the mouth for Duke to fail took full advantage and the articles and usual nay sayers were out in droves. In today’s instant gratification society you are only as good as your last game. Many overlooked the overall success Krzyzewski had with a team that he admitted had an unusual make up and one that was different from Duke teams past.

Of course, the increasingly spoiled fan base started to do a great job of imitating Chicken Little on various message boards and neither they or the  media mentioned that maybe it was the Blue Devils turn to fall short of an ACC Tournament Championship for a rare change. I mean the Blue Devils have only won 10 out of the last 14 trophies which makes for a crowded showcase that any other program would die to have.

A few weeks passed and Duke missed on two top prospects in Tony Parker and Shabazz Muhammad, both of who went to UCLA and then there was the transfer of Michael Gbinije. And that prolonged the Duke is doomed scenario where many fans acted like a successful program on all fronts could do no right.

Transfers happen and Gbinije headed to Syracuse to finish his college career. When Krzyzewski mentioned that his team was a bit different from other teams he’d coached, one of the things he was alluding to without mention is the lack of vocal leadership on the team and the nickname for Gbinije, “Silent G.” also applied to his demeanor both on and off the court which is quiet. Folks, if you are going to get burn at Duke you have to talk, call out picks, switches and the kind.  Still, many fans were convinced it was some sort of conspiracy and they questioned a decision of a Hall of Fame Coach that only broke the all time NCAA wins mark about a players playing time.

As for the losses in recruiting, let’s just say Adidas played a big role with Muhammad and Parker. Many complained that Krzyzewski went after the wrong big men targets but the truth is there were not many that would have fit Duke on and off the court. Duke cannot magically make kids grades better so he can get into school and they cannot compete with any under the table dealings in the world of recruiting in that they do it the right way, something fans and detractors alike should be proud of in the current climate of the game.

Duke stayed in the top ten all year long and were dropped way below where they really should have been in the final poll where it is what have you done for me lately mentality when voting.  One of my trusted allies thinks Duke will not start this season in the top ten in that the projections have them anywhere but their accustomed place.

But I am betting that the national types will start to see what I see and have them there by the time the real polls come out.  And if they do fall short of a top 10 start, it will not be long before they are there to stay if they simply play Duke Basketball.

The Blue Devils also had to deal with the Andre Dawkins situation where he may or may not take a year off as well. Dawkins had a horrible time breaking out of a funk down the stretch and that surely did not help and what about the injury to Ryan Kelly? Is there anybody that does not realize Duke had to change the concept of their team with the issues at hand on the fly?

The first way too early pre season top 25 polls started to come out a month ago and I snickered at seeing Duke ranked behind a neighboring rival. Actually they were ranked behind both of them. While Duke lost Austin Rivers who left Duke with the amazing memory of his three-point buzzer beating dagger at North Carolina and Miles Plumlee, they gain incoming freshman Rasheed Sulaimon, the newly acquired Amile Jefferson and redshirt freshman Alex Murphy and Marshall Plumlee.

In short, they gain more than they lost and return a huge portion of their team.  That folks, will translate into on the court success and I assure you I feel that way without a pair of royal blue glasses on.

You know Coach Krzyzewski has to in a sense love where his team is currently projected for they are not annointed the favorites.  While Duke will continue to take every teams best shot, something that goes overlooked, let’s see how others not use to the limelight take on the favorites role.

And tell me, how many teams will have experienced senior leadership that Mason Plumlee. Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry bring to the table, two of the guys playing on a national championship team.  If Dawkins returns, they will have another senior who wears a national championship ring.

I suppose you could point to the aforementioned Gbinije as a loss as well but the reality is he played very little so how much of a loss is he for the coming season?  He will be a very good player just not at Duke it’s time to move on without overblown speculation and not live in the world of what if.

With the signing of Jefferson, the Blue Devils have a lot of depth up front and the most experienced front court in the conference. And the group of guards includes Curry, Sulaimon, Quinn Cook and Tyler Thornton. How many teams backcourts in the entire nation are that much better that this group?

Anybody who thinks the Blue Devils are going to take a step back will be sorely mistaken and you can bet this coming season will be business as usual for the Dukies in short order. Folks, there simply are not a lot of better teams than Duke or ones they cannot compete with, so for now, the naysayers will have to wait a bit longer before you bury the program which gobbles wins like a kid with a sugar fixation does his box of Skittles.

Rank them where you will, overstate their supposed failures on the recruiting trail too. But realize that Duke always has and always will right the ship under the watchful eye of Mike Krzyzewski.

That said, go and enjoy your summer and watch Krzyzsewski as he leads Team USA on a quest for Gold. The program is in good shape which is the same as it ever was.

Here is a look at next seasons team with player by player capsules -

Mason Plumlee - The most important recruit in the off season was Mason Plumlee and talking him into coming back to Duke. Plumlee is a physically gifted and mature player that has gone up against a slew of NBA 1st round picks over his career and held his own. He will be All ACC going into the season and on some All American teams as well. He is the most experienced big man in the league and could push for most valuable player honors in the league..

Ryan Kelly - Another senior who is a big that can draw other teams frontcourt out of the lane with his ability to knock down the three point shot. Kelly is a hard worker that will improve even more this summer. He will attend the Amare Stoudemire Big Man’s Camp with the aforementioned Plumlee. Also, like Mason, he has been through the wars and brings much overlooked experience to the table as a senior and has been on a national championship team.

Seth Curry - Sure, Curry struggled down the stretch with his shooting but you cannot keep a shooter down but so long. Curry will work on his strength in the off season and he is a seasoned player that will provide mental toughness with his experience when the going gets tough this coming year.

Tyler Thornton - While Tyler is not officially a team captain, the junior is as big a leader as anybody on the team. Kryzyzewski has said he calms the team when need be and Thornton also plays within his skills set. His early season heroics garnered Duke some key wins last season.

Josh Hairston – The junior big man will get a chance to play and he’s a spirited player that gets the home crowd going at every Duke home game. With Thornton, he adds character to the team concept. He’s now an upper classmen and many players past have turned in on in their final seasons at Duke.

Andre Dawkins - Nobody knows for sure if Dawkins will play next season at this time but if he does, he can alone catch fire with his three point shot and that same shot won games for Duke or put them out of reach a season ago. Dawkins is athletic and can break out when he gets his plans settled.

Lance King Images for BDN

Quinn Cook - Cook will battle for the starting point guard spot and another year of maturity will most certainly help. Cook is one of the better ball distributors on the team and has the ability to score the ball. He needs to work on his defensive footwork in the off season and if he improves there he may well end up running the team.

Marshall Plumlee - At close to 7 feet, the youngest Plumlee adds depth backing up his brother in his senior season. I expect Mason to teach him a thing or two. His better years are likely a year or two away but the coaches love his attitude and motor. Plumlee is also a bit of a team comic who provides laughs and that in itself can be a plus.

Alex Murphy - With a year of the Duke system under his belt and physical maturity, a lot is expected of Murphy, a staff favorite. Murphy brings a little bit of everything with his game and he’s been itching to show what he’s got. A solid player in every aspect, Murphy may well start.

Rasheed Sulaimon - Great character and will. Sulaimon will add a lot to the Duke defense as their best pressure defender in the backcourt He can also break you down on the dribble and knock down the three point shot. He will east the loss of Austin Rivers.

Amile Jeffferson - With a 7 foot wingspan, Jefferson will find a role on the team from year one. With a deep team up front there will be no pressure on him to contribute right away. Jefferson has smooth movement on the floor and has the ability to knock down those garbage buckets so many players find a way to miss these days. A fantastic late addition to the team.

BDN Photo

COLORADO SPRINGS – Former Blue Devil and reigning NBA Rookie of the Year Kyrie Irving was one of 13 players chosen to the USA Men’s Select Team that will train against the 2012USA Basketball Men’s National Team, coached by Mike Krzyzewski, during its July 6-12 training camp in Las Vegas, Nev., USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo announced on Monday.

Irving is coming off of an impressive debut season in the NBA in which he averaged 18.5 points and 5.4 assists per game for the Cleveland Cavaliers. He became one of just six rookies in NBA history to average at least 18 points and five assists. Irving scored at least 20 points in 25 games and scored in double figures in all but five contests. The 20-year old New Jersey native also sank three game-winning shots during the season and was named MVP of the Rising Stars Challenge, part of NBA All-Star Weekend, by scoring 34 points – including an 8-for-8 showing from three-point range – during the rookie and sophomore all-star game.

This will be Irving’s second stint with USA Basketball. The No. 1 overall pick by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the 2011 NBA Draft, Irving led the USA team to a 5-0 record and a gold medal at the 2010 FIBA Americas U18 Championship in San Antonio. He averaged 13.6 points, 5.0 rebounds, 4.2 assists and 1.6 steals per game, while shooting over 50 percent from the field and 80 percent from the foul line for the tournament.

Irving has also donned the USA jersey at the 13th Annual Nike Hoop Summit at the Rose Garden in Portland, Ore.. He scored 15 points to go along with three rebounds, five assists, zero turnovers and two steals to lead the U.S. Junior National Select team to a 101-97 victory over the World Select team in the contest.

“The USA Select Team was a vital part of the USA Men’s National Team’s training in 2007, 2008 and 2010, and again in 2012 we’ll utilize this team of select NBA players to help get our National Team ready for the very competitive summer that is ahead of us,” said Colangelo.

“Being chosen for the Select Team is quite an honor, and it’s an important step in becoming involved in USA Basketball’s National Team program in the future. In the past, current national team finalists like Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, LaMarcus Aldridge, Andre Iguodala, as well as many other outstanding players got their USA National Team start through the Select Team.”

Other members of the team include: Ryan Anderson (Orlando Magic / California); DeJuan Blair (San Antonio Spurs / Pittsburgh); DeMarcus Cousins (Sacramento Kings / Kentucky); DeMar DeRozan (Toronto Raptors / USC); Derrick Favors (Utah Jazz / Georgia Tech); Paul George (Indiana Pacers / Fresno State); Taj Gibson (Chicago Bulls / USC); Gordon Hayward (Utah Jazz / Butler); Irving (Cleveland Cavaliers / Duke); Kawhi Leonard (San Antonio Spurs / San Diego State); Jeremy Lin (New York Knicks / Harvard); Klay Thompson (Golden State Warriors / Washington State); and John Wall (Washington Wizards / Kentucky).

Since the development of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team program in 2006, USA Basketball has selected and utilized three USA Select teams to help the USA National teams prepare for its major international competitions. Irving joins a list of former Duke greats that went on to play for the USA Select Team, including J.J. Redick (2007), Kyle Singler (2010) and Nolan Smith (2010).

The 2012 USA Select Team will assemble in Las Vegas and conduct a training session July 5, then train with the USA National Team July 6-11 (12:00-3:00 p.m. PDT). All practices will take place at UNLV’s Mendenhall Center.

While ESPN ranks Duke’s 2012 class at number 11, that ranking only factors in Sulaimon and Jefferson. Including redshirts Murphy and Plumlee, as part of the incoming class, results in a very strong group, which certainly deserves a Top 5 ranking. Duke has been unfairly criticized recently, by certain elements across the recruiting world, as having been left behind. Results certainly outweigh the rhetoric.

Balance is a nice characteristic of this class as it contains a combo guard (1/2), combo forward (3/4), power forward (4) and center (5). Another characteristic is talent. In the final RSCI rankings for 2011, Alex Murphy was ranked 49 with Marshall Plumlee checking in at 61. For 2012, Rasheed Sulaimon is 17 while Amile Jefferson is 20. RSCI has not finalized their 2012 rankings.

Let’s take a look at each incoming player.

Alex Murphy (6’8” 220): Last summer Duke fan site message boards were buzzing about the possibility of Murphy breaking into the starting line-up. Comparisons to Kyle Singler were common place. After suffering a concussion in practice, Murphy fell behind in his preseason development and decided to redshirt. Considering he left high school a year early, the decision passed the common sense test.

The exciting element of the story is Murphy was talented enough to compete for a spot in the starting line-up 12 months ago. With a full year of practice and participation in the strength and conditioning program under his belt, Murphy is the leading candidate to be the Blue Devils starting small forward in 2012-13.

In regard to the redshirt season, associate head coach Chris Collins recently commented, “The biggest gains that we saw with Alex throughout this season were with his confidence and his strength.”

My expectation is Murphy will be in the starting line-up at small forward from day one. Additionally, when Coach Krzyzewski decides to go with a smaller line-up, Murphy is strong enough to slide into the power forward position.

Rasheed Sulaimon (6’4” 180): After winning the 3-point shooting competition at the McDonald’s All American game, Sulaimon proceeded to score 18 points including going four for eight on 3-pointers to help the West beat the East 106-102. At the Jordan Brand Classic, Sulaimon made three of six 3-point shots and scored 13 points as the West beat the East 99-95.

As talented an outside shooter as Sulaimon is, two different skills are what excite me. First, Sulaimon demonstrated significant defensive ability during three All Star games. Additionally, he displayed an ability to run the point. Those two skill sets compel me to compare Sulaimon’s potential to Nolan Smith.

My expectation is Sulaimon will come off the bench in the early season while competing to break into the starting line-up. Whether he eventually starts or spends the entire season as a reserve, he will play starters minutes as a freshman due to his talents on the defensive end of the court.

Amile Jefferson (6’8” 200): In the official press release announcing Jefferson’s decision to attend Duke, Coach Mike Krzyzewski stated, “We are ecstatic about Amile joining us. He is going to be able to help us right away.”

At the McDonald’s All American game, Jefferson recorded eight points, three rebounds and two steals in 14 minutes of action. Moving past the statistics, and just watching the game, Jefferson demonstrated versatility and smoothness on the court. He did not dominate, in fact he did not even standout, but to the seasoned eye, he looked like he belonged.

My expectation is Jefferson will average low double digit minutes per game as a freshman, perhaps as many as 12 to 15 minutes. With his length and low post offensive skills, Amile will be a key contributor in relief of Ryan Kelly. Over the course of his career at Duke, Jefferson has the potential to develop into another in the long list of versatile forwards to succeed as a Blue Devil.

Marshall Plumlee (6’11” 225): The younger brother of Miles and Mason, and McDonald’s All American is reputed to be more of a true low post player than either of his older brothers. Gaining muscle mass should be a major objective for Marshall over the summer and with an entire year already spent in a college level strength and conditioning program he should have plenty of success.

However, from a High School Hoops article I wrote in December 2010, after watching Christ School play Quality Education Academy, the following sentence stands out, “On offense, Plumlee operated mainly out of the high post and delivered a couple of nice passes for assists.” Duke will need Plumlee to operate out of the low post, while Ryan Kelly mans the high post, so hopefully my observation of his tendencies as a high school senior were more a function of his team’s offense and less a function of his comfort zone.

My expectation is Marshall will see consistent but limited minutes in relief of older brother Mason and to a lesser degree Ryan Kelly. His objective over the course of next season should be to gain invaluable game experience to facilitate his moving into a starting role as a sophomore. Marshall projects to be a four year player who will excel as a junior and senior.

6'11" Jahlil Okafor, Photo by Andrew Slater

Hailed as the best big man from Chicagoland since Eddy Curry, 6’11″ Jahlil Okafor, the Brobdingnagian sophomore center from Whitney Young, has lived up to the high expectations. Last September, Jahlil was the first player that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski offered a scholarship to in the 2014 class. It was a particularly early offer from a program that historically has been conservative in both the sheer number and timing of its offers, but clearly the staff felt that Okafor was an exceptional person and player. Jahlil was coming off of a summer where he played a critical role, shooting a remarkably efficient 71.1% from the field and 82.6% from the charity stripe, in leading the United States to a gold medal at the FIBA Americas 16U Championship in Cancun, Mexico.

At Whitney Young, the Chicago academic magnet school that includes Michelle Obama as an alumna, Jahlil, a 3.4 GPA student, took on much more of a substantial role this season, while the team travelled all over the country playing challenging contests in California, the Carolinas, and St. Louis against nationally ranked teams like Bishop Gorman and Gonzaga as well as Chicago powers Simeon and Curie. After starting three games on a 20-10 team as a freshman for the Dolphins of Whitney Young, Okafor stepped up his game and made second-team All-State as a sophomore and MaxPreps named him to their Sophomore All-American team. Blessed with a 7’3″ wingspan, Jahlil averaged nearly thirteen rebounds, twenty-five points, five blocks, and four steals, while shooting nearly seventy percent from the field this high school season.

6'11" Jahlil Okafor, Photo by Andrew Slater

In early December, Jahlil, a pure low-post player who isn’t afraid to bang inside, visited the Triangle and took an unofficial visit to Duke University, touring the facilities and also watching the team practice. Twice this high school season, Coach K of Duke University returned the favor, coming to watch the sophomore big man play in person. In the initial viewing at the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, Coach K observed Jahlil score ten points and grab a dozen rebounds in a 46-44 buzzer-beating win over Prestonwood (TX) and 6’9″ force Julius Randle, one of the top players in the 2013 class and a Duke recruit. At the second viewing, Coach K watched Jahlil battle his Mac Irvin friend and fellow Duke recruit Jabari Parker, the Gatorade Player of the Year, in the state 4A Sectionals in Summit, Illinois. Although Jahlil had nine first-half points and helped the Dolphins take a 24-21 halftime lead, eventually the depth and experience of Simeon proved too much on that day, as the eventual state champion Wolverines won 52-42 ending Whitney Young’s season with a record of 16-10 against one of this year’s most challenging schedules in high school basketball.

After splitting his time between the Mac Irvin 17s and 16s last summer, the sociable center is anchoring the paint for the Mac Irvin Fire 17U team full-time this AAU season. This weekend in Dallas, the sophomore Okafor stepped up and had his best AAU weekend to date, leading the Fire to a 5-0 session and averaging over sixteen points, seven rebounds, and two blocks in twenty-one minutes at the third leg of Nike’s EYBL. This EYBL season, Jahlil, now 16, has been Mac Irvin’s leading overall scorer (165 points in 260 minutes) and has shot an eye-catching 71.7% from the field, helping the Fire to eleven wins in fourteen games. During the early live period, the Duke staff was a constant presence at his Mac Irvin games, including a memorable one at the Boo Williams Complex in Virginia, where the 275 lb strong young man tore down the rim.

After an EYBL game, the bass-voiced Jahlil spoke with me about Mac Irvin’s passing, his goals for this summer, and his relationship with Jabari Parker, amongst other topics.