Tag Archives: Josh Smith

The Kenny Boynton watch was in effect this past weekend. Boynton visited the Gators on his official visit and despite some [private] pressure by Donovan to get him to commit, Boynton came away saying he would take his other visits. In short, this means he will be in Durham. I suppose a little excitement may ensue when he comes to town on November 8th. ***Breaking - Despite the rumors, I have not confirmed any of them with those who really count. While it looks as if he is a bit of a UF lean, I will wait for confirmation from legitimate sources.

ADDENDUM - Kenny has made a decision to forgo his visit to Texas this weekend and will choose his school live on ESPNU at 6:30 EST. As of last evening, he had told the Duke staff, he'd be making the visit to Durham. As of noon today, he had not told the coaches it was Florida for sure. However, the prevailing feeling among those who count is that Florida is the choice. The Duke coaches felt very good about Kenny up until last night. So, they are allowing him to have his day in the sun whether it's good for them or not.

A lot of you are wondering about Brandon Knight. Well, he's a huge priority, but is somewhat on hold until the Blue Devils finish up with Boynton. If KB chooses elsewhere, Duke puts on the full court press.

Harrison Barnes had a nice visit and left with a good idea of what Duke was about. He will certainly consider the Blue Devils who are a lock to make his final five or less. Duke will stay in close contact with Barnes until the time he decides.

I talked to Josh Smith Sr. the Father of Josh Smith Jr. while setting up an interview. Coach James just so happened to have talked with him earlier that evening. When asked which teams were the most active Duke, Georgetown and UNC came up with of course UCLA. He said his son would make a decision by the end of this summers AAU season. He also mentioned that he could decide early, but that he expected they would visit the Triangle before a decision. He grew up watching Michael Jordan at UNC, but also mentioned he loves Coach K. [/private]

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General Update – Behind the scenes skinny on football and hoops

October 2, 2008 Mark Watson

The Duke staff will take in an open gym for Brandon Knight tomorrow. [private] They will have a school visit with Kenny Boynton Jr.

I told you in the last update, that Duke will visit all of their prospects as NCAA rules allow. They have been very pro active and will continue to be.

As mentioned in an older update, Harrison Barnes will be visiting on October 24th. It was contingent on finances and it has worked out. This is a very good sign, but it'll be quite a while before he makes a decision.

Prospect Ryan Kelly is visiting UNC. I'm expecting a decision as early as next week. The general feeling is that Duke is very much in it, but so are the other teams.

Assistant Coach Nate James went to an open gym for Josh Smith late last weekend.

The Duke Football team has been practicing with crowd noise all week. They have sent staff members down to Atlanta early to scout out the area. IOW, they are taking extra precautions to make sure the team is relaxed and gets a good nights sleep. Eron Riley will suit up despite the injury report and the Devils are expecting both Tech QB's to be ready, being aware of the pre game chess match. [/private]

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BDN’s jam packed behind the scenes update – the real deal!

September 11, 2008 Mark Watson

[private]Let's start off with Kenny Boynton. Duke feels pretty good about their recent visit. Now, the waiting game begins. At this time I still feel it is Duke and Florida. This one is too close to call and I have elected to contact him after his visit to USC this weekend in order to get the big picture after two more in home visits. Kenny has maintained all along, he will almost assuredly take his visits and decide in late October or early November.

As you already know, Duke will entertain commitments Mason Plumlee and Andre Dawkins this weekend. Mason will be the first to arrive tomorrow evening. He’ll make his way to Durham with his brother Marshall. Mason is looking forward to playing with the team. In fact all four visitors will play with the team. His brother Miles is playing well in his workouts and really likes Kyle Singler. He is adapting to the campus life and is happy.

One of the players which will not play is Gerald Henderson. It has been confirmed that he has returned home and has a case of mono. The severity of the illness is unknown. While I am on injuries, no current Devils have major ailments and Brian Zoubek is coming along fine. In short, the team is healthy.

Speaking of the team, they are currently allowed to participate in drills and are working very, very hard. They lift weights in the morning, run in the afternoon and play in the evenings. All of the aforementioned is laced with one coach on three player drills.

Coach K and Wojo went to see Harrison Barnes at an open gym in Iowa today or last night. Speaking of Barnes, Duke will attempt to get him to visit the same weekend as Boynton on an unofficial. Barnes has shown Duke interest. Trust me, that feeling is mutual. They cannot make contact during todays practice.

Tomorrow, they check out Ryan Kelly for an in home visit. Kelly was recently offered and on campus. Notre Dame and others are very much involved with the Raleigh Ravenscroft star.

Okay, on to Josh Hairston and Tyler Thornton. I told you awhile back I thought Hairston was in the bag. I feel the two will commit over the weekend or shortly thereafter. There have been positive vibes coming from both camps. Stay tuned.

Duke will visit Andre Dawkins, Josh Hairston, Tyler Thornton, Brandon Knight and Josh Smith in the near future for open gym. All of these prospects have been offered and of course, Dawkins committed. Duke has interest in other 2010 kids and will get out to see many of them as well. Among those are Nate Lubick and Jason Morris. There are a couple of new names I will discuss in the near future.

Dawkins has done a great job recruiting for the Blue Devils and if all works as I expect it will, he will have help;) For those of you who subscribe to Blue Devil Weekly, check out my latest recruitng article featuring Andre.

I hope you enjoyed the update. Welcome to the new and improved Blue Devil Nation.[/private]

BDN Premium Articles, Duke Basketball, Duke Basketball Recruiting News

Our infamous General Update #17 is up! (Get the real scoop on recruting)

July 3, 2008 Mark Watson

Coach K addressed the media today and mentioned that he would hit the road with his staff in early July. The exact date is July the 6th, which is Sunday. Former Coach Johnny Dawkins will serve with Team USA. Coach also mentioned that they try to recruit certain one and done type of kids and that he favored allowing talented kids go straight to the pros. He mentioned he preferred a two and one or two year commitment as well.

[private]Duke kicks it off at the LeBron James Skills Academy in Akron, Ohio where Coach K and Wojo will cover Jamil Wilson who we interviewed just days ago, Harrison Barnes whose interview will be up tomorrow and Jason Morris, our latest premium offering. They will of course check out Andre Dawkins our first commitment in the class of 2010.

Coach Collins will be solo at the Adidas Tournament in Cincy. There he will see Josh Hairston who BDN has made it clear we think will be a Dukie and Nate Lubick who we interviewed last week. He will also see Josh Smith, 2010 PG Tyler Thornton who visited Duke unofficially just a short time ago and Ray McCallum.

Around July the 8th, Coach K will go to the Reebok event where he will watch Kenny Boynton, Brandon Knight, Terrell Vinson and Nick Russell.

Before Adidas, Collins will be solo at the Adidas event in Cincy. There he will watch Josh Hairston, who I have told you will commit to Duke unless something goes really wrong. Add Nate Lubick who I interviewed recently for BDN Premium, Tyler Thornton who visited Duke last week unofficially, Josh Smith and Ray McCallam.

Nate James will make his first splash at the Peach Jam (we will be at this event) where Wojo will show him the ropes. Jamil Wilson, Andre Dawkins who we are waiting to talk to in person and several youngsters will be at this event as well.

Meanwhile, Chris Collins will head to Miami with Coach K where they will take in Team Breakdown's Annual Tournament. He will of course be watching Kenny Boynton and Brandon Knight. Oh, and don't pay too much attention to how Kenny responded to the Duke question in the link I provided. I want it out there that Duke is not the leader from his mouth. The reason being, the media can pick at Duke by asking him this question. That's the same thing that happened in the Monroe recruitment. He may well have gotten tired of the Duke leads questions. If the media gets wind of this statement, then this constant question will be defused. I mean Kendall Marshall's unscrupulous Father used this to annoy Kenny during the NBAPA Camp.

Then Duke will be represented at the Triple S Harley Jamfest- in West Virginia. Hairston and Thornton will participate in this event. The open period for coaches ends on this weekend and then they return to duties in Vegas with Team USA.

Duke will install their new scoreboard in Cameron Indoor Stadium in August. All of the men's team is currently on campus and playing pick up together with the exception of Henderson and Zoubs. Their injuries are healing as expected and they are on schedule. Our next interview is with the hot prospect, Harrison Barnes. Keep the names here, folks! No hints out there please.[/private]