Tom Konchalski, the publisher and editor of High School Basketball Illustrated, has been covering high school basketball for more than thirty-five years. The 6'6" sexagenarian, with an eidetic memory, is a McDonald's All-American voter and a ubiquitous presence on the summer AAU circuit. He generously spoke with Blue Devil Nation recently about one dozen Duke recruits and verbal commitments in the 2011 and 2012 classes.

Amile Jefferson: He has an extremely mature feel for the game for a guy who's only a sophomore. He's very young physically, but, in terms of his understanding of the game, he's a veteran, wise beyond his years. He's got to get stronger, not only upper-body wise, but also his legs as well. He's very efficient and he's always around the ball. The ball always manages to find him. He's got good hands. He's a very good finisher inside. He's got a very good drop-step, can reverse around the basket, things like that. He can put the ball on the floor and he can pass. He's not a consistent outside shooter. He doesn't have the leg strength right now to get his legs into it. Down the road, I think he'll be a perimeter forward. He's a guy who has a terrific understanding of the game. He plays to the situation. He doesn't try to showcase his skills set. He does whatever the situation requires. I don't think he'll be a step-out four. I think he'll be a three. as his legs get stronger, he'll be able to guard away from the basket very easily. He's got to shoot the ball away from the basket more consistently, but I think he'll be a three.

Tyler Adams: The [private] only time I've seen him since last July at the Reebok All-American Camp and the Peach Jam with the Jackson Tigers was recently at the Boo Williams. I don't know if his skills have improved that much or…, um, he's a very nice kid. He's a good teammate. He has a big-time body. He has an SEC football body, forget about an ACC basketball body. Really, this year, just like last year…in the class of 2011, just like the class of 2010, there just aren't a lot of great big guys in the class. I'll tell you what he's got a good attitude and he'll work hard. I think he'll be extremely coachable. He's not a guy who's going to go in thinking he's going to be the main guy. I think he can be a contributor. He's a guy who comes in without a lot of offense and he's a big, strong kid. That's what I think, in the past, Duke has lacked. Brian Zoubek gave them that this year. The Plumlees will hopefully give them that next year. A wise old coach once said that you can never have too many big men. I think he's about 6'8" or 6'9" right now.

Shabazz Muhammad: I haven't been able to see him in a while because he was injured and wasn't able to play in the Beach Ball Classic.  What I remember is that he was extremely active. He had a good motor and really played every possession. He pursued relentlessly loose balls and offensive rebounds. He's a left-hander, which screws people up defensively. He didn't have a lot of range to his game. He was like a 6'4" small forward at the time. I'd like to see to what degree he has developed his skill set, but, to be a really effective college player, he's really got to expand his offensive skill set and take his game at least a little bit further away from the basket. Then again, I haven't seen him recently, but, hopefully, I'll be able to see him again at the Bob Gibbons tournament. He played for Dream Vision last year. They won the tournament and he was the MVP. He's a guy who plays extremely hard. There's a lot of quickness to his game and he's just so active. He's got to be able to score from outside against defenses. He's got to be able to start his drives towards the basket a little further from the basket. He has a tendency to get the ball either at the short baseline or at the high post and just slice to the basket. He's got to put a change of direction to his game and be a little more careful with the ball. I can say this, as a left-hander myself, he's got to improve his right-hand a little bit and definitely improve his change of direction. There's a slightly broken feel to his game. He's got to move his game away from the basket. He's a wing right now and, hopefully, in time, he'll develop the skills to be a guard.

Austin Rivers: Well, first of all, there's no one in high school basketball who has a better skill set, regardless of position. He's great playing off of the dribble. He can get to the basket. Because he has been parented and coached by a former pro and a current NBA coach, he has a lot of the tricks of the trade. He's spent intensive time developing his point guard skills at the Steve Nash Skills Camp as well as the Deron Williams Skills Camp. He has a lot of Steve Nash's unorthodox skills. He drives to the basket and takes what I call a half-volley shot, where he takes a half-volley layup in the lane off of the wrong foot to throw off or stay a step ahead of the defenses. In spite of the fact that his left thumb affects his shot far too much..to the point where he almost shoots a two-handed jump shot, just by repetition, he's made himself into a lethal three point shooter. Somewhat streaky, but he's a lethal three-point shooter when he gets into a groove. When I first saw him, as a ninth grader, I thought he made his teammates better. I thought he saw the court really well and made his teammates better. I think he's gotten a little caught up recently with playing one-on-one. I think he looks for his offense too much. A player who is highly touted always in the back of his mind wants to be the number one player in his class and he's absolutely a contender to be that, but I think because of that he's tried to change his game.  At the next level, he's got to change it back and return to making plays for others, instead of only for himself. In the event that he and Kyrie play together, I think they'll share the ball and whoever gets the ball will just take it up and initiate the offense. Duke has played that way in the past and quite well.

Alex Murphy: I haven't seen him since we saw him together. I was in Providence last week and hoped to see him there, but his team was upset by the Granite State Jayhawks, who are really no great shakes. I can tell you that people are saying that he's playing very well and he's got a lot of personality. He's much more extroverted than Erik was. I think he can be a really good player. I think he needs to get stronger, but I think that's sort of a family trait. The three boys are all very tall and the youngest one, Tomas, who's in fifth grade, Jay says is going to be the tallest one. The mother played in Scandinavia. She's a big-boned woman, but the boys really take after the father. Jay has gotten thick now, but he was pretty skinny coming out of high school and when he entered Boston College. Alex is about 6'8" right now. I'd say 6'8."

Quincy Miller: I saw him twice at Boo Williams and both times they got blown out. The first game I saw them against the Drew Gooden Soldiers and they were down 46-16 at the half. In the next game, they played the Saint Louis Eagles and they ended up losing 98-60. He isn't playing with a great team. He's 6'8 1/2 ", although they often list him at 6'10." He is skilled and has a predilection for playing on the perimeter. He can shoot the three, but he tries too much to be a perimeter player. In the past, and this is a function of his lack of strength, but he's taken a lot of plays off. he's got to learn to play with more intensity.  He is 6'8 1/2" to 6'9" and he's got to learn to use his body. His body should be a weapon in his arsenal. He can't be or play in denial of his height. There are plenty of players who would give their eye teeth for his height. He's got a great deal of skill, very mobile, very good in the open court. He can shoot the three, handle the ball a bit, but he's got to bulk up a bit. More than anything else, though, he's got to calcify his nose and get tougher. He's got to learn to play 6'9" and do the dirty stuff inside. He's transferring to Westchester. I won't be going to Houston or LA, but, given their performance at Boo Williams, they're unlikely to qualify for the Peach Jam. That said, Quincy will definitely be picked up by one of the good squads and I hope to see him there with an improved squad. He'll definitely be playing at the Peach Jam, but I don't think it will be with D-One Sports. Someone will definitely pick him up.

L.J. Rose: I saw J-Mychal Reese and him last year for the first time and, although Reese came in with a bigger reputation, I thought Rose outplayed him at the event. I then saw him at the Boo Williams twice, but, at this point, I have to say that I really don't have a clear feel for him. I couldn't tell you much about him.

J.P. Tokoto: A tremendous athlete. He has so much natural athleticism. He can handle the ball. He's got to shoot the ball more consistently. He's great going to the basket. He can make plays. He can really pass the ball. He's big enough. He can rebound. I think he has to add a little more toughness to himself, but I think he's going to be really, really good. He's a big wing player with skill, but he's got to become a more consistent outside shooter. He can really handle the ball. He has skill and athleticism and that's a lethal combination. He can be really, really good. The guy who brought him to Duke's attention is a guy by the name of Dave Cooks, who is in a wheelchair. I don't know if he was in an accident. I've known him for about fifteen years and he coaches Marquette high school in Milwaukee. He always works the Duke camp. Tokoto said that he's going to spend this summer working on his shot and I think he has to. Right now, his strength is driving to the basket and making plays off of the dribble. He has the size and can rebound. He has quickness, but he's got to get stronger. He has a nice frame. I'd rather see a young kid with a body like that than, well, someone who looks likes he's topped out. He's listed at 6'6." He's probably 6'5," maybe 6'5 1/2." He's going to be a heck of a player.

Amir Williams: I saw him at the Peach Jam and at Boo Williams. He didn't make it here. I like him. There are other big guys, who are probably more athletic. He has very good hands. He's efficient and I think he knows what he is. He's not a perimeter wannabe. He makes simple plays and is a good finisher inside. Ben Franklin said more than two hundred years ago "There are three things extremely hard: steel, a diamond, and to know one's self." That's the first step on the road to success. Know what you are. I think he realizes that he's 6'10" or 6'11." His skill set has got to be tailored to interior play. That's why I think he's going to be an effective player. He goes to a very good school. He's a smart kid. Hopefully, there is some transferal from off of the court to on the court or vise versa. I think he'll be very good.

Michael Gbinije: Gbinije is a good player, very skilled perimeter player. There are some guys who are more explosive, but he has very good skills and size. He plays within the flow of the game and generally lets the game come to him. He plays with a very good AAU team and a good high school team, Benedictine, and so he doesn't have to do everything himself. It's not as if he has to be a volume shooter for the teams to be successful. I think he will be a very good player for them.

D'Vauntes Smith-Rivera: Well, he's young. He's a sophomore. He should be thinking about preparing for his junior year and not whether Duke will be recruiting him. He should be thinking about getting good enough to play at Duke. He's good. He's about 6'3" and he's strong. He's a player who has a toughness to him and a strength. He plays for a good program and a good coach and he's won a championship. All else being equal, coaches like to recruit players from winning programs because they know about sacrificing and usually it's important for them to win. A kid who has never won sometimes raises a red flag that the young man may care more about individual success than team success. He's a tough kid, that plays hard, and comes from a winning program. He's got to get a little more quickness and develop into more of a perimeter player. He's listed as a 6'4" wing now that is strong enough now to play inside, but he's got to be able to guard outside. If he ever wants to be a guard, he's got to get a lot quicker. I know he's said about waiting to play some point, but I think he ought to forget about it because I don't think he'll ever develop that level of quickness to be able to take players off of the dribble or withstand pressure. I don't think there's a lot of growth left in him. I think he's about 6'3" right now.

Anthony Davis: He hasn't played AAU ball since the eighth grade. I've known Loren Jackson for a long time and Loren's father and son. He told me about Anthony and then I read more about him in a profile, while I was waiting at O'Hare  to fly here. There are two major leagues in the Chicago Public League: the Red, which is stronger, and the Blue, which is the weak one. If you finish in last place in the Red, you're demoted to the Blue. Well, Anthony has played for Perspectives high school, which plays in the Blue-West. There have been a lot of schools that have wanted him to transfer, but he's stayed at Perspectives and remained loyal to his school and coaches, who he likes. He's been going there since the sixth grade and just liked it there. He's got great grades there. He looks like a tremendous prospect. I think he's more of a four than a five, although he has to add some strength. He's got a nice jump hook, can drop-step, and he can finish on either block. He has good feet. He has great hands. He has good energy and instincts. He can block shots and gets into the passing lanes and adds pressure. He can put the ball in the basket and can hit the three, like he did today again in the semifinal against Indiana Elite. You mentioned he hit two in the game before that. I think he can be very, very good. Here's a guy who obviously hasn't played nearly as much basketball as some of his peers, who have played AAU ball or against nearly the same level of competition. AAU ball can supplement high school competition. He's grown so much over the past year, but, right now, I would recruit him more as a four than a five. He seems like a very coachable kid. Loren Jackson told me he's been a great kid to deal with and Davis listens. [/private]