Marshall Plumlee shows up at the N.C. Pro Am where he plays with his brother Mason. Rick Crank Photo, may not be used without permission from photographer or BDN

DURHAM, N.C. – When Marshall Plumlee committed to Duke we were tipped off that he would not go to Las Vegas but instead would spend time with his brothers on campus thorugh August.  BDN caught up with Marshall during last evenings N.C. Pro Am event where he played alongside his brother Mason.  Marshall played as if he belonged on the court showing off his ability to run the hardwood and in the process scored 12 points which included a nice alley oop from Mason which ended in an emphatic dunk.  Listen to Marshall as he opens up about why he chose Duke and shares details for the first time about how that went down.  Stay tuned for our nightly Pro Am article

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Rising junior Khem Burch is a name to watch. In our latest interview, Andrew Slater gets to know the Canadian who will be a cornerstone on Team Canada as he progresses. copyright BDN Photo

Khem Birch is a 6′9″ 200 lb rising junior from the Montreal area. In June, Birch helped Canada win a bronze medal at the U-18 FIBA Americas Championship in San Antonio, leading the junior national team in rebounding and blocked shots.  After spending his sophomore year at Winchendon Academy, he has transferred to Notre Dame Prep in Fitchburg, Massachusetts. At the recent King City Classic, the soft-spoken Canadian with the loud game spoke with Blue Devil Nation about  a variety of topics, ranging from his Canadian junior national team experience to his desire to being a two-and-done to Kyrie Irving.
 

What schools are recruiting you hardest right now?
Providence, Florida, Pitt, Texas, Ohio State, West Virginia, and Arizona.
 

Have they all offered?
Yes, they’ve all offered. Kentucky also contacted me recently, but they haven’t offered yet.

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Photo courtesy SacBee

The Oakland Soldiers AAU team has four big time college prospects and one of them is point guard Josiah Turner.  Turner [6-3, 195 PG Class of 2011 Sacramento, CA] is very aggressive with the ball and gets after it hard.  College coaches are getting after Turner hard as well for there was no shortage of head men watching Turner during this past weeks Nike Peach Jam, now known as the Nike EYBL.

Duke has added Turner to their watch list and BDN caught up with point guard prospect recently for a Q & A session where he discussed a recnet call from the Blue Devils and more -

This is the first time I’ve seen you play and in the two games I beamed into, the one thing I come away with is that you are aggressive.

Yes.  I’m an aggressive point guard that can get into the lane and to the rim when I want.  I’m a pass first point guard looking for the open man.  I play defense and I’m bigger than most guards, so that’s what I have over them at this time.

What is your go-to move?

My go to move is my hesitation.  Hesitation.  I’ll take them

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Andre Slater has another in depth interview up on BDN Premium, this time with Duke prospect Alex Murphy - BDN Photo

At 6′8″ Alex Murphy is one of the most coveted recruits in the class of 2012, due to his unique mix of skill, basketball acumen, and athleticism. The son of 6′11″ former NBA veteran Jay Murphy, who coaches him along with former Celtics coach John Carroll for the New England Playaz,  and  his wife, Paivi, a 5′4″ former Finnish National point guard and ex-Swedish league pro, Alex has been bred to be a difficult match-up on the court. After a thirty point outing against Quincy Miller and D-One Sports, Murphy spoke with Blue Devil Nation about his recent offer from Duke, his relationship with both Kaleb Tarczewski and Shabazz Muhammad, and the comparisons between the rising junior and his older brother Erik of the Florida Gators

Can you talk about your match-up with Quincy Miller?

Yeah, it was a good match-up. He’s a tough player. Anytime you get a chance to play against somebody like that in the first round of a tournament it’s a challenge, but luckily we came out on top this time.

What schools are coming after you the hardest right now?

Duke, Florida, Arizona, Kansas, Syracuse, Butler, Kentucky, North Carolina, Texas, and Boston College

Do you have a timeframe for when you’d like to decide by?

I don’t. Not yet.

Where have you visited so far and what do you have planned for the future?

I visited Florida last year. I just visited Duke when I was down there for a tournament. I’ve been to Boston College. I’ve been to UConn as well. Hopefully, I’ll be able to visit all of the places I haven’t been that are still on my list, but we’ll see.

Is there a player that you try to model your game after?

Well, Kevin Durant is my favorite player in the league, but guys like Mike Dunleavy

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Austin Rivers talks with BDN's Mark Watson at the Nike Peach Jam - photo BDN

Austin Rivers was the morning’s high scorer with 29 points during the first day of the Nike EYBL Peach Jam in Augusta, South Carolina,  Recent diary entries brought about a lot of questions and Duke and UNC fans wanted answers.  Well, BDN wasted little time in acquiring them right away.  Check out the following lengthy interview and stay tuned to BDN for real time updates on our premium members message board.  With Andrew Slater’s in depth Shabazz Muhammad interview and now this one, BDN is quite simply the place to be for the best coverage out there.  Check out our trial offer which last just 24 more hours or go ahead and get the best value by joining for a year.  Check out our coverage of the prospects you want the hear from and our in person analysis of the events.  After all, you have to get out here and see the prospects to be able to talk about them, right?

So, what is your list of schools?

Duke, North Carolina, Florida, Kansas and Kentucky.  Those are the five I had and those are the ones here watching me right now.

You decided to push your decision back …

Basically I just want to see how people do this year at the schools I’m looking at.  I’m just going to wait for the college season to start and watch a little bit of the ball and after a couple of weeks or so, make my decision.  I feel like it is important to me to just wait a little bit longer.  I’m looking for playing time and want to come in and impact the team.  I want to play for a team that goes up and down and attack.

Have you talked with UNC lately?

I talked to

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Michael Gbinije - photo Rick Crank, BDN Photo

Real time updates continue from the King City Classic where Coach K and Chris Collins checked out future Blue Devil Michael Gbinije during the morning session.   Catch all the action as it happens with Duke’s hot prospects and commitments by joining Blue Devil Nation Premium. 

Take advantage of our trial one month offer and see the difference in coverage for yourself.  We invite you to join super fans like yourself in discussing all the latest breaking news and happenings not only on the recruiting trail, but team-wise as well.

Tonight we’ll have real time reports on the message board from the N.C. Pro Am as well and be sure to sign up to our twitter account for recruiting and teams updates as well.

We have already talked with Shabazz Muhammad, Alex Murphy, Marshall Plumlee, Kaleb Tarczewski during coverage from Adidas Nations and were checking out the LeBron James Skills Academies before that where Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith enhanced their skills.  And some new names which could surface in the class of 2010 and detailed interviews are forth coming.  And we will be headed to the Peach Jam on Monday where we once again, hit the AAU circuit like no other Duke site.

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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

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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.

Photo courtesy of National Hoops Report, check their blog out.

If you are a BDN Premium member you have already read on the message board that Bernard Sullivan [North Mecklinberg HS, NC, 6-7, 198 class of 2011] is visiting Duke today.  Sullivan is a North Carolina native with good basketball skills and a love for music and education as well.  Sullivan has been playing well during this summers AAU ball and he is garnering interest form new schools daily.  We sat down with Sullivan and got his thoughts on Duke and the recruiting process in another in depth interview.

How did you fare during the NBAPA Top 100 Camp?

It was a blessing to be invited as one of the top 100 players and I really learned where I was with my game while learning from some of the NBA’s best coaches.  It’s great to get that experience and the camp is much more than just basketball, we have classes which teaches you about life.

Describe your game in your own words?

I would say I’m a combo forward and a versatile player who can step inside and out.  I hustle the whole game and I want to win and will do whatever it takes to win.

What is your school list looking like?

Before the summer it was Clemson, Virginia Tech, Penn State but after playing well in the tournaments I have all of a sudden had a lot of coaches call like Duke, Maryland, Kansas State, Georgetown, so I see the difference and I will just feel everything out and enjoy the recruiting process.

Who will play a major role in your decision?

My

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How would you describe your game in your own words?

I’m real unselfish and like to get to the basket and dish out to my teammates.

Now, you’re close to the youngest guy here. 

Yes sir, 2013.  I just turned 16.

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