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.

Plumlee defens Singler in an earlier Pro Am game - Rick Crank Photo

The North Carolina Pro Am is winding down and Mason Plumlee and Team Duhon take to the court today at 3:00 in the semi finals.  While Plumlee is the last Dukie standing on a winning team, his teammates are likely to be added to rosters which is common practice in this event.

Team Duhon won last evenings nightcap 69-60 over to advance to today’s semi final.  Mason Plumlee led all scorers with 20 points to go with a bushel of rebounds.  He was aided by South Carolina bound Lakeem Jackson who tallied 15.  Jackson was his teammate at Christ School in Arden, North Carolina.

Rising high school senior and UNC bound Reggie Bullock had perhaps his best games (played twice) on Friday.  Bullock looked smooth and added 14 points for the winner.

Brian Zoubek scored 16 points for the losers and his teammate Olek Czyz went for 3 points.   Zoubek is averaging 15.5 in his two games played.

Miles Plumlee has gained some weight in the off season and he scored 12 points to go with 9 rebounds.  His team lost and Miles had several points missed where he didn’t finish or the ball rimmed out.  He finished 6 of 15 from the field.

Kelly snares a board - Rick Crank Photo

Team Navy took out Team Starkey 71-67 where a comeback effort sparked by Reggie Bullock [19 points] fell short.  Duke freshman to be Ryan Kelly added 15 points on 6 of 13 shooting from the field and 4 rebounds.  Jerry Stackhouse added just 6 points in the loss.

On the other side, John Wall added 15 points and looked really good coming off a sensational effort the evening before.  Wall looks to be an inch taller and has put on significant muscle or added size since I last saw him play.

We’ll break down the players overall play in the tournament on out message board on Monday.  Also, we’ll have a very nice photo gallery in the coming week.  All photos of Duke players may be purchased from Rick Crank.

BDN is covering the Tournament of Champions this weekend and many more tournaments, so stay tuned for plenty of action.

Also, check out our new links section in the menu above. I feel you will like the way Susan set them up.

Tyler Thornton - copyright BDNP

As you all know by now, I have been off line for 72 plus hours due to a hard drive crash.  Is this where I say avoid Dell for they are not what they used to be?  Anyhow, I will spare you the rest of the gory details

I will have a lot of information coming from the Southern Invitational starting tomorrow.   No  more news on the John Wall front, but I do think

Will John Wall trim his list?

Harrison Barnes - BDN Photo

Well, everything is a little quiet at the moment save the deluge of rain in the Triangle area.  Let’s talk a bit about the hot topics which will break the silence any day now -

Harrison Barnes had a nice tournament during this past weekend’s Jayhawk Classic, where he led his team to the title. 

Redick will start for Orlando versus Boston tonight

First off, John Wall, the nation’s top-rated point guard, has been charged with breaking and entering by Raleigh Police. We’ll have more on this development a bit later, but the incident happened on April the 27th and is just now coming to light for most outlets.  Nothing was reported as being taken and sources are saying that the house wasn’t occupied.

Former Duke linebacker Michael Tauliliili has signed a two year deal with the Indianapolis Colts.

Another former Dukie, JJ Redick, will have the unenviable task of guarding Ray Allen tonight as the Orlando-Boston series starts.  Redick gave his team a huge lift off the bench and has a great opportunity to shine in a start this evening.

Trajan is one of Europe

Trajan Langdon and CSKA Moscow fell just short of another Euroleague Basketball title yesterday.  Langdon has been a star across the pond.  I had the pleasure of watching the game on Fox Sports and on the last timeout, the Greek team could be heard in the huddle saying, “Watch “blanking” Langdon.”   CSKA comeback falls short

BDN Photo

Don’t look for Wall to trim his list today, but

John Wall - BDN Photo

John Wall has returned from Miami where he took a look at the facilities, met the president and took in a baseball game and, of course, South Beach.  According to Wall, he will trim his list to two or three schools on Thursday or Friday of this week.

How was the visit to Miami?

It was good, I toured the facilities, went to a baseball game and met with their president.

Did you see South Beach?

Yeah, got to see south beach.  It was really hot down there.

On Friday, Calipari came in, can you talk about that visit just a little bit?

He

AAU Coverage and discussion on Roundball Recruiting

If you would like to hear an internet call in radio show on college basketball recruiting, check out this link.  I was a last minute guest on Marc Maggard’s Roundball Recruiting show where we discussed John Wall and other recruiting issues. It’s free to listen to the replay and you’ll want to go to the April 23rd show.  We discuss Harrison Barnes, Andre Dawkins, Duke and Kentucky recruiting and more. Here is the link:  Roundball Recruiting Podcast