ORLANDO - The super showcase is underway and the nations top college coaches fill the gyms as a multitude of teams take to the hardwood. The vast majority of the games are on the property of Disney Wide World of Sports. One facility features six games going on at the same time, the other, four. The best thing is that you can troll around the top and see all the action and clear netted partitions allows you to see scores on all the courts.
The top performance I saw today was Austin Rivers nailing seven three-pointers on his way to 30 points, leading his team to an easy win. Each One Teach One, being a local Florida team, drew a good crowd, but all of the games were well attended. Where else can you sit and see All Ohio Red, Team Final and Albany City Rocks in action at one time?
Speaking of Team Final, a bevy of coaches from schools like Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, Indiana, Texas and many others turned out to see a loaded team. Michael Gilchrist, of course, was a main attraction and he didn't disappoint, scoring in many different ways on his way to 23 points.
But who was the Duke staff watching? Well, [private] Duke Assistant Coach Chris Collins watched Albany City Rocks in the morning game. Collins watched CP-3 and PJ Hairston before heading out to a local high school to see Brad Beal. In fact, he watched Beal after the Albany City game and, make no mistake, the word is that Duke is very much in the race and he will not announce early as has been reported. In fact, Beal will likely attend the Duke Elite Camp in August.
Collins also took in Kyrie Irving twice today, but the Roadrunners struggled to a total of 39 points in their first game. Irving scored 19 points under my watch, but I counted 6 turnovers. It's clear to me that Kyrie Irving is a top Duke target if not the top one with concerns to point guards.
Roshown McLeod looked a little weird in Indiana Red as he stayed close to Tom Crean. We chatted with Ro, more on that later. Also, rumbling of Josh Selby leaning towards Kentucky seem legit, but expect to wait for things to cool down a bit. FWIW, only Duke and Kentucky watched Irving in the game I saw, and they will be at all of his games in the coming week.
Coach Krzyzewski will roll into town on Monday after his duties with Team USA on Sunday. Wojo should be present as well. UNC was reperesented by Joe Halliday and everywhere you turned you rubbed elbows with coaches. Lots of rumors floating around about Will Barton, and Austin Rivers was seen chatting with PJ Hairston.
Anyhow, just settling in and will be on the scene for the next five days. I will chime in when time allows on the message board, but the first day is getting to know the lay of the land so to speak. [/private]
Harrison Barnes will not compete in any other AAU events. He will attend the Nike Global Challenge and the event at Rucker Park. I spoke with Barnes and while [private] I feel he will likely make his visits, Duke is in very good shape and is undoubtedly the team to beat.
Coach K, Collins and Wojo were front and center for his every move and you could see the occasionally glance. Barnes said some really good things about the program which I will cover later. Roy Williams came in late for his first game and any Tar Heels thinking they have a shot at him are fooling themselves. It is evident that Roy got in this one to try to derail Duke, but his ploys will not work this time.
It's almost sickening to see the media outlets all try to be his mom's best friend, but she seems to be enjoying the process. Former Duke Assistant Johnny Dawkins sat beside me for one of his games and he covets the could be savior. Dawkins has a good relationship with Barnes and his mom, but it'll be an uphill battle to get him there.
Interestingly, publications like Prep Stars talk of offers with Stanford. Dawkins read their publication and got a laugh for kids have to first apply at Stanford and be admitted before they can be offered the ride. This makes for some tough recruiting for the former Duke great, but he is plugging away.
When the staff goes to these events, it's all business, but they do take some time out for the K alumni. Capel sat with Coach K and Wojo for a bit as did Harvard's Kenney Blakeney, Notre Dame's Mike Brey and the aforementioned Dawkins. Coach K commented that Michael Gilchrist is the best player in all of high school basketball.
That makes for a good segue in that many have asked if Duke had interest in Gilchrist. Well, the answer is yes, but who doesn't. Coach K made sure he was front and center for two of Team Final's games and a Duke assistant attended every one until late in the third day of the Peach Jam event.
Coach K has talked with Gilchrist and was seen talking with World Wide Wes. He has also been talking with Gilchrist's mom about her son, so there is a relationship building. In an attempted interview, Gilchrist's mom shut out the media not allowing her son to talk of the recruiting process which pretty much ended it all right there. Stay tuned for more details, but it is fair to say that landing Gilchrist will not be easy.
Regardless of many saying the Andre Dawkins rumors were making the rounds there, I ran into plenty of people who did not know and I sure as heck didn't tell them. I remained for Dawkins' final game where he showed his capabilities going for a camp high 36 points. There will likely be some sort of official announcement forthcoming. There were plenty of loose ends that needed to be tied but will supposedly fall into place and AD has suddenly become a Duke darling for his recruiting prowess and the possibility of him joining a team in desperate need of a three point shooter, athlete and guard. Still, no more comparisons to Redick and unrealistic expectations please. Andre will help but he is still young and has a lot to learn. Again, somebody wanted this out there and it has not yet been officially cleared by the NCAA.
Brad Beal caught Coach K's attention - enough so, to where he watched him play twice. Beal is telling many that he will end the process early without official visits, but his mom is singing a different tune. In fact, she told BDN that she hoped he would allow Duke in and that it was exciting to see Coach K watching her son.
I am not ready to comment much about Austin Rivers, but he is letting it be known he is still a Gator to media types. However, Rivers slipped and said that he would attend some camps and that his Dad wanted him to make sure UF was the right place for him. "If Florida is the right place, then I will know after some visits," said Rivers. This is a sensitive issue that will have to play out. In the same interview, Rivers said he hope Beal would come to UF and the two of them are good friends from the AAU circuit. (I will not take questions on this for now.)
Duke assistants Wojo and Collins left the Peach Jam to go to West Virginia where they took in the play of Kyrie Irving. Duke feels really good about Irving and Barnes and for what it is worth, I do too. Irving may not be playing in Orlando now, we'll see.
Then there is Roscoe Smith. You may remember me telling you that Smith claimed an offer. Well, why would Duke deny it? It doesn't hurt them to let this one go, but in reality, Smith is a bit of a long shot.
Duke continues to look at the class of 2011 but no names will emerge until after this AAU season, save Quincy Miller who has an offer. There are some names being tossed around but I will wait and give you a definitive list in September.
Duke will also continue to look at Ray McCallum and Brandon Knight. After the Elite Camp in August, the dust will clear and a picture should start to develop and help answer a lot of questions.
Finally, a new name for 2010 is Dwight Powell. His diary is here and he stands 6-9, 215 and plays for Grassroots Canada. Duke is showing some interest. It's early on this one, but he caught a few folks eyes during the LeBron James Skills Academy. [/private]
In a recent poll with our members, our General Update was by far our most popular offering. Join Blue Devil Nation Premium today and see what the buzz is about. Our members overwhelmingly stated that Blue Devil Nation Premium was better than other subscription services. If you've been on the fence, it's time to jump in for our coverage on the AAU trail is about to explode.
Duke has put the full court press on Kyrie Irving of late and they [private] hope that their August camp will be the start to putting the nails in the coffin. Let me take a second to remind you that all of the information this update is sensitiveand by contract cannot be shared with e-mail groups, other message boards or reprinted in any way. Irving is not likely to pull the trigger early, but BDN Premium has learned that his Dad and uncle will make the trip as well.
The Blue Devils feel confident that they will close the deal with Harrison Barnes in due time. Do not look for other teams to get involved any further for in my opinion, Duke is the favorite with Kansas the only other alternative. Barnes will not participate in any more AAU events after the Peach Jam.
Duke will still look for a sixth player to add to the class and that will be a forward unlike the ones currently on the roster. Duke is also still highly interested in Ray McCallum.
Duke is still seeking to get involved with Fab Mello, but at this time they are not on his current list. Mello will receive an invite to the Elite camp. BDN will attempt to get a Q & A with Mello in the near future.
The Blue Devils are also hoping to close the deal on Quincy Miller soon rather than later. Miller soared in the rankings after Duke offered. Of course, anyone who looks at early rankings in the class of 2011, may be disappointed as time goes on for not even the gurus have had that many views of the kids. In fact, it's alarming to see how some of the rankings come about and some certainly do a better job of it than others. Anyhow, Miller is a Duke type of kid and getting a verbal from him by the end of summer would allow Duke to concentrate their efforts on the team.
The Men's staff is about to hit the road big time. They will have a high profile at all of the events with Krzyzewski attending LeBron James, Peach Jam and the Vegas tournaments. I am pretty sure he'll end up in Orlando if there are enough kids of interest and an early look at the south Florida events shows that they have more talent than in past years. We are talking of the Showcase and AAU Nationals. Duke Assistant Coach, Nate James and his wife are expecting a baby in mid July, so he will not attend the Peach Jam nor the Vegas events.
Many of you have asked about Duke possibly filling a lost in 2009. There is a possibility, but only if certain prospects seek them out. Duke will likely close out the class as it stands now, but a final move is a possibility.
Our own Andrew Slater will be covering the LeBron James Skills Academy this week and I will be at the Peach Jam later this month. You can count on coverage from Las Vegas as well. In short, BDN Premium will continue to show you that this is "the" place for the best basketball recruiting coverage. Kyle Singler will be attending the James Academy and Coach Krzyzewski, Wojo and Nate will attend this event. They'll also take in the Adidas Take Five where Chris Collins will replace James. Nate will then spend one day at the Reebok event.
Speaking of Nate "Dogg" James, I had a one-on-one interview with him which will go up this weekend. There will be little rest for the coaches as Krzyzewski, Wojo and Collins will then head to a loaded Peach Jam event in Augusta.
On the football front, Coach Cutcliffe welcomed the incoming freshman class yesterday and they were put through the now infamous running drills. According to Thaddeus Lewis all the freshman did well and took it, so to speak. He said that Desmond Scott had been looking good and that he would get some playing time from day one. When talking of his strength, Thad said that he had the best hands of any back coming out of the backfield.
BDN will continue to cover the football preseason as it has in the past. IOW, we'll regularly attend any function made available to us and will update you on the practices leading into the opener with Richmond. We have long been dedicated to football and hope to expand our coverage with some key additions. In an effort to put a brighter light on the program, BDN will keep 90% of it's football information free.
You may have noticed thatt GoDuke has gone to a new cleaner look and that they are more user friendly. BDN has had some changes in the works as well. We are redoing our front page and will be going to a new message board which is synchronized with the site, meaning you do not need to register for both. The changes should help streamline your experience.
Also, I will be addressing the survey questions on our message board and we appreciate the responses, complaints and props. I am happy to announce that members were overwhelmingly happy with the site with almost all who participated saying BDNP was better than other subscription sites which cover recruiting. We will strive to keep this site ahead of the curve and when I say that, I am mainly talking about information and not so much technology. Information was by far the one area in the survey which members pointed to time and time again.
Our site should be a good counterpart to GoDuke and free sites like DBR. We are not in competition with Duke's official site. In fact, we support them. BDN tries to fill the gaps in between and we'll always come up with new ideas along the way. That said, I want to thank members for their patience during the past year where I have battled some health issues and the site has found it's footing in the direction after a sudden move.
Changes will start to appear sooner rather than later. Jim Sumner will have his first article up next week and we hope to continue to work with writers you have come to know. BDN will expand the free content in that we plan on bringing you the news that you used to see in newspapers on a daily basis. We are the new or modern day beat writers in an ever changing media world and will strive be professional in our coverage.
I have put aside another project in an effort to make Blue Devil Nation the best it can be and I look forward to hearing your responses as this takes place. After all, it is the members and readers who make up the Blue Devil Nation for we are all in this together.
Addendum - Duke has offered Roscoe Smith. I meant to include this but kind of forgot about it. Nate James is the lead recruiter for Smith. Duke has invited him the their Elite Camp.[/private]
Duke basketball prospect Kyrie Irving gives part I of an interview to BDN Premium. Hear Kyrie for yourself [private], but for those who do not like the audio interviews, we will try to find a way to transcribe them. During the second part, Irving spoke of his Uncle wearing an IU shirt recently and that it meant nothing. He seemed to have wanted to emphasize that point.
On the eve of the final day of the NBAPA Top 100 Camp, Harrison Barnes hit a buzzer beater to help his team win while Kyrie Irving erupted for 26 points. Blue Devil Nation has been on the scene and will continue to bring you updates from the event.
Harrison Barnes goes airborne during his first game at the NBAPA Top 100 Camp, BDN will be throwing out timely updates all weekend long. Photo c/r BDN Photo
The NBAPA Top 100 Camp is underway and you can listen to BDN's audio updates from the event throughout the weekend. For the full effect join Blue Devil Nation Premum where we have already secured interviews with Brandon Knight, Andre Dawkins, Harrison Barnes and well, many others. Check back for the Harrison Barnes interview which we'll put up for free to give you an idea of the interviews our subscribers get on a regular basis.
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