Tag Archives: Kenny Boynton

Premium Update #21 Addressing the rumors – again

Our lastest Premium Update is up, formerly known as our General Update.  There are a few rumors floating about of late and while this site gets tired of setting them straight, we will attempt to clear the air on Ryan Kelly, Kenny Boynton, Jamil Wilson and Harrison Barnes.  Let's start with Kenny Boynton. [private] No decision has been made and he is expected to take all of his official visits.  While I'm sure Kenny enjoyed his visit to USC, the fact remains that Duke and Florida are running neck and neck down the stretch with teams like the aforementioned Trojans trying to sway his thinking.  Duke has put a lot of effort into Boynton and this will continue until he commits.  In fact, Duke will visit Kenny once a week until that decision which is the max allowed by NCAA rules.  Yes, this includes open gyms where the main players will all be in the stands.  Team Boynton has pretty much shut down any media contact of late, but that could change any day now.  He is still scheduled to visit Duke in his last visit.

While Ryan Kelly did visit Duke yesterday, he is not a solid Devil lean at this time.  In fact, Notre Dame is probably the slight leader.  Duke is in it and is one of two or three teams which are clearly at the top.  The Kelly family is said to be looking to go through the entire process, meaning they will think the decision through carefully.  Kelly took in some of the current Blue Devil players going through their workouts on Tuesday.

As I said earlier, Harrison Barnes has taken to Duke and wants to make an unofficial visit (tentative Va. Union game) if it is economically feasible for his family.  If he does come to Durham, he will have been to just two schools on unofficials, the other being Kansas during midnight madness.  Barnes has everybody in the country drooling and for good reason.  He is one heck of a player.  I will be adding the archives soon and suggest going back and read the earlier reports on him.  Our most recent interview is the most in depth you'll find anywhere on the web.

Finally, Jamil Wilson has not set up an official visit to Duke as has been reported by Scout, nor has Duke pushed for one of late.  Duke will follow through with their plans which include Kelly and Boynton and if they miss, they'll revisit some other options which could then include Wilson.

While no firm dates are set at this time, the Duke staff will be visiting a lot of open practices in the coming days.

A reminder, the early basketball signing date is this November 12th through the 19th.  The final date is April 15th through May 20th in 2009. [/private]

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

[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]

Kenny Boynton sets up his official visit to Duke

[private]Olympic Gold Medal winning basketball coach, Mike Krzyzewski, Chis Collins and Nate James visited the Boynton household last evening and came away having set up an official visit.

Kenny will visit Duke officially the weekend of October 24-25 weekend, which he'll be able to take in the Virginia Union exhibition game.

For more details, you must be a member of BDN Premium where you can discuss it more on our premium only message board.

Boynton is one of the nations top rated prospects and is down to six schools.[/private]

Coach K and company set to visit Kenny Boynton Jr.

[private]The Duke Men's Basketball staff will be more than just a little busy this week. On the first day that they can be back out on the road, which is tomorrow evening, Coach K and company will have an in home with Kenny Boynton Jr. and his family.

Boynton is one of the nations top guards, arguably the best in the class of 2009. Duke has been recruiting him consistently for a long time. He reminds most Blue Devil faithful of Jason Williams. Williams won a national title, was named national POY which led to him being a lottery pick in the NBA draft. Like Boynton, Williams was a offensive scoring machine that could play both guard spots, but he settled in on the point at Duke where he learned the trade from Coach K.

Long the buzz of various basketball crazy Duke message boards, Boynton is a prospect that fans dearly want to see rock Cameron. There is a heated battle for his services and he's maintained all along that he would take his five official visits.

Florida has really turned it up for Boynton, attempting to make a move while Krzyzewski was coaching Team USA to the Gold Medal. Boyntons friend, Eloy Vargas is already a Gator and he is of course from the sunshine state like his friend.

If Boynton were to choose Duke he would remain in the constant media spotlight of a team which has every game televised and one which is in the basketball fanatical ACC. He could very well be the focus of any school he chooses in a list that includes USC, Memphis, Georgia Tech and Texas along with Duke and Florida.

Florida will come in the night after the Duke staff, but you can bet that there will be a lot to think about in the Boynton household. While UF has a wonderful basketball program, they sometimes play second fiddle to Gator Football. Still, the local allure might be as attractive as the national spotlight and playing for a living legend in Coach K.

In the end, the decision should come down to where can he better prepare for his goal of the NBA and which school will continue to support him once he is in the league. College will be nothing more than a temporary stop for the talented Boynton but his choice will go a long ways in defining him as a future player.

Make no mistake that the Blue Devils covet and care about young Boynton. They want him to be a part of what looks to be a very talented team. Duke will always compete for national prominence, but the addition of Boynton would be another step towards a national championship.

The staff has layed it on the line and Blue Devil fans have followed his every AAU move. Now all they can hope for is that Boynton sees the golden opportunity available for him in Durham.

Blue Devil Nation Premium has covered Kenny Boynton from the very start and you can follow the process even closer by becoming a member. You can subscribe here. We will be moving to our new home very soon![/private]

BDNP Hoops Recruiting Update – Ryan Kelly offered

Ryan Kelly was officially offered a scholarship when he visited the Duke campus on an unofficial visit today. [private] The Duke staff is in the process of setting up an official visit. Kelly was accompanied by his family.

Duke Coaches will be allowed back on the road on September 9th and will visit the Boyntons on that very day. Duke is also ironing out a date for his official visit despite various internet rumors which said he would not visit Durham.

Mason Plumlee will come in on his official with his parents on September 12th to the 14th. That same weekend on the 13th, Duke will entertain Josh Hairston and Tyler Thornton on a visit. They will be joined by Duke commitment, Andre Dawkins.

Duke could very well end up with a class of Plumlee, Kelly and Boynton in 09. I will keep you updated.[/private]

General Update – Boynton, targets

Let me start with a little talk of the "coming" new site.  We should have it up and running within ten days, but it will be a work in progress.  It may look similar to this one at first, but will undergo a face lift.  The goal is to get the premium section up and running asap.  I appreciate your patience of late with concerns to this issue.

You have to love the way David Cutcliffe and staff are recruiting.  We will cover football more once the dust clears.  In fact, I will be at the Duke kickoff lunch this Sunday and will give you the skinny. FWIW, there are two more names which should surface or commit by next week, making it 21.  They will save a few offers, like other schools do for the big guns which commit at the last minute.  That is unless they get who they want now and move on to 2010.  A new scoreboard is about to go up in the closed end of the horseshoe.  We'll show you a pic soon.

[private]I have been informed that the Duke Basketball Staff has turned their focus to the class of 2010.  That, of course, does not include Kenny Boynton.  They stay in contact with the Boyntons and will do so throughout the Olympic Games.  Terrell Vincent is out at this point which should free him to go to Villanova.  If Duke misses on Boynton, they will see who is still out there, meaning maybe Nick Russell.  They are still evaluating Jamil Wilson and he is the only kid which could get an offer at this time.

Kenny Boynton hit a go ahead three pointer with 38 seconds remaining to give defending champ Team Breakdown (6-0) a 61-59 victory against the Richmond Squires in U-17 play.Team Breakdown will play Philly Pride in a quarterfinal today at 11:30 a.m. The semifinals will be today at 5:30 p.m. and 8:30 p.m.  There will be 2:30 p.m. final Friday should they advance  This ends the AAU season for Boynton and Knight.  I will keep you informed and should have a final from his last game shortly.  Nate James is keeping tabs on Boynton and Knight.

Despite the questioning at DBR, I can assure you that Brandon Knight does have an official offer.

The scoreboard is here!  The new scoreboard is going up in Cameron Indoor Stadium as I type.  It will be finished next week.  It of course will have video screens.  Also, there are planners about talking of Wallace Wade changes.

And then there is 09's Thomas Robinson ... Duke is evaluating him, b ut the genral feeling is that they could be late.  There could also be other issues which would make it so Duke could not offer.

As for Tyler Thorton and Josh Hairston, well, Duke hope to get them both soon.  If one commits, look for the other one shortly behind.  Georgetown is the team which came hard after both players once Duke offered.[/private]