We have several leftover questions on the cutting room floor from our recent AAU coverage where we chatted up Rasheed Sulaimon. Here are five of those -
Are you glad the process is over now that you have selected Duke as your college destination?
Recruiting can be a very tiresome process but I felt like after I committed it was like a big weight being lifted off my shoulders and now I can help my AAU team get to Peach Jam. I still get a few letters but it has died off some now.
I see you're rocking a Duke shirt. Do guys come after you harder now that you are a Blue Devil, trying to prove themselves if you will?
Yeah, yeah. You know, it's a big target on my back and everytime I step on the court people want to prove themselves against me. It's a big target on my back but it just gives me hungrier to go out there and play hard everytime.
You have a lot of desire, confidence in your game. Where does that edge come from?
I get thart from my Father, he's a very competitive guy. Even growing up if we were playing checkers he wouldn't let me win. I get it from him a lot. Everytime I step on the court I just want to win.
What area of your game has seen to biggest improvement since last season?
I think the biggest improvement has been my quickness. I would use my length a year ago but now my quickness has helped me laterally.
Has the staff asked you to work on anything in particular? Like ball handling?
Oh yeah, definately. Right now I am only 6-4, so I will have the ball in my hands more. I started doing that in my high school season and I am prety confident with my ball handling skills now. I can play the point or off guard.
One of the things that recruits do once they sign is go after other prospects to play with them. Rasheed Sulaimon shares a bit on that in this exclusive video. We also update the NYBL statistical leaders. In another note, Tony Parker is sitting out his teams morning game with back spasms. Much more [private] to come on BDN Premium.
Day One is in the books at the Nike EYBL Session I, otherwise known as the Boo Williams Invitational. There were several Duke targets playing Friday evening, including the nation's top rated big man Tony Parker. We'll have plenty of video coming your way as we go into next week, although just about every Duke site imaginable was on the same players at the same time this evening, meaning a lot of the same stuff.
Parker showed off his newly chiseled body where he has lost some of his body fat from last season. He ran the court well for his Georgia Stars as they walked through their opponent.
Parker played sparingly and that was an effort to [private] save his legs for the rest of the session and foul trouble. Parker spoke highly of Coach Krzyzewski and said he talked with him often. He mentioned that UNC had offered but he has yet to talk with Roy Williams.
It was clear that Duke is a big player for his services but this one could go on for a bit. Parker said he'd sit down with his parents and advisers before making a decision and mentioned that he would visit Duke and UNC in the coming months. I feel much better about the Blue Devils chances with Parker after the interview.
Rasheed Sulaimon told BDN he'd been working on his game and that he was quicker on and off ball. Sulaimon scored 12 points in the first half but was scoreless in the second as his team cruised to an easy victory. We'll have more on Sulaimon a bit later, including videos, interviews and the like. Sulaimon has a sweet stroke and runs around the court like a water bug. He is confident in his abilities and the way he spoke to media gives me the impression he is up for any challenges. He said he loved playing with LJ Rose, a kid Duke once recruited. Rose point blank told me, he still loves Duke and wishes they'd recruit him. Not one Duke site payed any mind to him but now that I just mentioned this tidbit concerning his interest, watch his name magically appear elsewhere, wink, wink. Still, Duke seems set with Quinn Cook, so it'd be a long shot for them to offer at this time. Rose has a long list of suitors.
BDN talked with Theo Pinson as well, a kid who moved from D-One Sports to CP-3 this season. He is but 15 years old and playing with the big boys and he can already hold his own. He is fleet afoot and we'll have more on his game with an exclusive interview before the weekend is out. We already have tape of him from the gang of Duke sites rushing to speak with him. I have a ton of background on this sure fire prospect.
A lot of Duke fans have heard the name Brandon Ashley tossed about but trust me in that he is a long, long shot. He mentioned UNC when I was questioning him, glowing and the IC guys swooped in. I also talked with Oakland Soldiers teammate Aaron Gordon who had a monster game with some big time highlights. He has a ton of potential and said he has not heard from Duke or ACC schools. He has not list other than PAC-10 schools.
Anthony Bennett of CIA Bounce 17 played well tonight. He loves to get into the lane and mix it up and has the ability to become a beast. Bennett is of course Canadian and during the interview I felt he was unfamiliar with college hoops and asked him about that and he admitted he didn't really keep up with it growing up, not knowing much of the traditional powers. His list was long and growing and he is at the beginning of the process. He spoke of being free in a more open system than that his high school team plays. He seemed a bit surprised at the attention but liked it.
I spoke to Julius Randle as well and he loves to float outside despite his height. He went up against the aircraft carrier known as Sim Bhullar, listed at 7-5 and over 300 pounds. [/private]
BDN's Andrew Slater breaks down Duke Hoops commitments and prospects you can view over the next few days. For more analogies on future Blue Devils future players and their key targets, join BDN Premium for full site access as we prepare for the upcoming AAU Basketball season.
3/31
ESPNU:
Austin Rivers and Winter Park take on Boys & Girls at 6 EST
Quinn Cook and Oak Hill take on United Faith of North Carolina at 8 EST
4/1
ESPN2:
National High School Invitational Semi-final between the winners of the aforementioned games at 5:30
4/3
At the inaugural Next All-American Classic in Chicago, DeAndre Daniels will be playing on CBS College Sports at 3 PM EST.
At the inaugural All-American Championship in Houston,
Tony Parker and Robert Carter will be playing for the South team (Coached by I$aac Pitts of QEA) at 9 EST on ESPNU.
Alex Murphy and Mike Gbinije (Coached by Jason Smith of Brewster Academy) will be playing for the East team against Rasheed Sulaimon and Shabazz Muhammad for the West (Coached by Greg Wise of Yates) at 10:30 EST on ESPNU.
As the holiday season continues, high school basketball tournaments roll on across the nation. Tony Parker and Miller Grove High participated in the Beach Ball Classic at Myrtle Beach, SC, Rasheed Sulaimon and Strake Jesuit High were in action at the Father George National Jesuit Christmas Classic in Bethesda, MD, Mike Gbinije and Benedictine High participated in the Capital City Classic in Richmond, VA, Marshall Plumlee and Christ School were in action at the GlaxoSmithKline Holiday Invitational in Raleigh, NC, and Shabazz Muhammad and Bishop Gorman HS participated in the Les Schwab Invitational in Hillsboro, OR. [private]
Tony Parker dominated at the Beach Ball Classic with back-to-back-to-back double-double performances as Miller Grove High School won the tournament championship. Parker set a tournament record for rebounds (58) and was named the tournament Most Valuable Player. He scored 61 points in Miller Grove’s three wins.
In the championship game, a 79-58 victory over Boys & Girls High School (NY), Parker scored 20 points, grabbed 13 rebounds and blocked four shots.
To advance to the championship game, Miller Grove survived two overtime games against Gonzaga (Wash DC), 67-59 and Douglass (Okla City) 76-71. Parker recorded 21 points and 18 rebounds against Gonzaga, and 20 points and 27 rebounds against Douglass.
At the Capital City Classic, Benedictine won the championship with an 85-65 win over Miller School. Mike Gbinije scored 18 points. In the opening round, Gbinije’s stat line was 27 points, six rebounds, eight steals and four assists as Benedictine defeated Cathedral 78-50.
Rasheed Sulaimon, the latest 2012 recruit to receive a scholarship offer form the Blue Devils, was named Most Valuable Player at the Father George National Jesuit Christmas Classic. Here is a link to a nice write up by Blue Devil Nation member Chris Heery over at DukeHoopBlog. Here is a tournament photo gallery.
Marshall Plumlee exploded offensively in the second and third games at the GSK Invitational scoring 14 points and 21 points after scoring nine points in the tournament opener.
Christ School finished in third place overall by defeating Brandon HS 70-46, losing to United Faith Christian 68-48, and defeating Westchester Country Day 62-51.
Shabazz Muhammad scored 23 points and hauled in 10 rebounds in the championship game at the Les Schwab Invitational, but Bishop Gorman fell to DeMatha 58-52. Muhammad averaged 21.3 points per game in the tournament and was named to the All-Tournament Team.
Now that the holiday tournaments are all wrapped up, high schools will be returning to their regular schedule and Blue Devil Nation will continue to keep our readers up to date on all the action with links to game recaps and box scores so be sure and check back for our continuing coverage of High School Hoops 2011. [/private]
BDN PhotoWith just two games left in December, the Duke Men's Basketball staff will be hitting the road to check out their main targets in Holiday Tournaments. Coach K and company will start by viewing [private] Tony Parker tomorrow. You might want to check out our recent interview with the big man and rest assured we'll follow up with him as the season progresses.
Duke will then take in Michael Gbinije's game where they'll check on their verbals progress to date. Part of the staff will check out Marshall Plumlee at Glaxo later in the month but the first view of him will come during the City of Palms Tournament in Fort Meyers, Florida and that event is loaded. Two of the Blue Devils main targets are Shabazz Muhammad and Alex Murphy and both play in the event as does Austin Rivers.
"The Dogg" Nate James will head to Washington, D.C. to see Rasheed Sulaimon and Coach K is likely to go as well in that he wants to see more of the guard in person.
Duke will be looking at some other names as well and we'll share them once we've confirmed the dates. Duke will likely add some guards to the watch list as well, but they are in no way worried with Rodney Purvis choosing Louisville. Like I said before, a lot of names will crop up in due time. Duke feels as if they are in good shape with Muhammad, Murphy and Sulaimon and they'll work to get closer with Parker. [/private]
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