Rivers and Gbinije Ready For Jordan Brand Classic
On February 15th, 2011 the rosters for the 10th annual Jordan Brand Classic All-American Game were announced and Duke fans discovered that their team will be represented by two of it’s four 2011 signees. Austin Rivers and Michael Gbinije are the 9th and 10th Duke commitments chosen to participate in this year’s Jordan Brand Classic All-American Game. They will join a list of Duke greats past and present including JJ Redick, Shavlik Randolph, Brian Zoubek, Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler, Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly, and last year’s co-MVP Kyrie Irving. Read more
Three Duke Commits Shine in McDonald’s All-American Game
In front of a sellout crowd at The United Center in Chicago, Illinois, the stars of the 2011 high school recruiting class were out on display in this year’s McDonald’s All American High School All-Star Game.
Three of the four Duke signees were among the select group of young talent tabbed as a McDonald’s All American, Austin Rivers, Quinn Cook, and Marshall Plumlee. Those three became the 53rd, 54th, and 55th players respectively chosen in the history of McDonald’s All American Game that will be headed to Duke University.
Austin Rivers, playing for the West side, is labeled in some recruiting ranks as the #1 player overall and the very best offensive player in the high school ranks. With his father Doc Rivers in attendance, Austin finished the game with 14 points on 5/11 shooting, including 3/8 from 3, and 1/4 from the foul line. He added 4 assists, 3 rebounds, and 1 steal to his totals. Though its difficult to scout a player during an all-star game, some of Rivers’ offensive talent was on display including a tremendous crossover dribble on Florida Gators signee Brad Beal in which he converted on a beautiful reverse layup. Duke Nation will adore Austin Rivers next year as he will be one of the most exciting players ever to wear a Duke uniform. Read more
A Taste Of The Future
3 of the 4 commitments from Duke’s Class of 2011 recruiting class were on display in Cameron on Friday night. Our guy Brad Capps was on hand to cover it live.
On Friday night, Duke fans were given the opportunity to see three-fourths of the 2011 Class play at Cameron Indoor Stadium. In game one, No, 12 ranked Oak Hill Academy, led by Duke signee Quinn Cook, defeated No. 33 Christ’s School and fellow Duke signee Marshall Plumlee 78-64.
Cook paced Oak Hill with 26 points and 7 assists. He showed great body control finishing with contact and a nice mid-range game. Quinn also showed great ability to control tempo and know when to run out, often getting behind the defense for break-away layups. One thing Duke fans were happy to see was Cook’s defensive pressure on the opposite end of the floor. He moved well laterally and fought through screens, something he will have to get used to doing next season. 7 foot center Plumlee nearly had a double-double finishing with 9 points, 10 rebounds and 4 blocks. Oak Hill dominated the glass on both ends of the floor. Plumlee was very aggresive on both ends of the floor despite being out-muscled at times by the Oak Hill big men. Marshall showed nice touch on one occassion in the 1st quarter by catching the ball in the post, spinning away from the defender and hitting a fadeaway. In the end, the Oak Hill big men were too much for Plumlee and Christ’s School to handle.
Game 2 of the double header featured future Duke wing Michael Gbinije and St. Benedictine’s versus Our Savior New American School. Gbinije led Benedictine with 21 points, 4 rebounds and 2 blocked shots in a 73-57 loss to Our Savior. Gbinije’s full arsenal of skills were on display for his future Duke coaches. He showed an excellent mid-range game and a great ability to finish in the lane with traffic. Gbinije may have been a little too unselfish at times often deferring to his teammates rather than making a play himself. Our Savior’s ability to shoot from the outside and convert turnovers into fast break points was too much for St. Benedictine to overcome.
Here’s a great video recap from the guys over at Crazie-Talk. Read more
Three Named 2011 McDonald’s All Americans
February 10th, 2011 marked another glorious day for the Duke University Men’s Basketball program. Three of the four commits for Duke’s 2011 recruiting class were selected as 2011 McDonald’s All Americans.
Austin Rivers, Quinn Cook, and Marshall Plumlee have became the 53rd, 54th, and 55th players respectively for Duke to be selected as a McDonald’s All American. Read more
Shots Fired: Austin Rivers Comments on Duke-UNC Rivalry
To be fair, Austin Rivers hasn’t really experienced the Duke-UNC rivalry in it’s truest form as he will next year. But, being that he was at the center of a contested recruiting battle between the two college basketball thoroughbreds he certainly become intimately aware of the inner workings of each program. Knowing what he does, his comments come off as just a little barb towards his soon to be rivals, commenting that they haven’t really done much of anything in the rivalry of late. While this may be true since he’s been paying strong attention (the last year) his memory is just a little too short as UNC had its way with Duke for the few years before that.
The youngster has a bit of swagger to him, and doesn’t seem to want to hide away from having a target on his back. Luckily for Austin, he has the talent to back up his talk on the floor, as he’s averaging 30.2 PPG so far on the year…
Austin Rivers Scores 101 in Three Games
The Duke Blue Devils have one heck of a prospect coming in next year in combo guard Austin Rivers. He’s been lighting up the high school world to the tune of 30.2 ppg, shooting 53% from the field and 37% from 3, w/ 6.1 rpg, and 2.0 apg. Watch highlights of his last 3 games below from BallIsLife.com
Duke Recruits and Commits on ESPNU and in Greensboro
Just wanted to drop a quick note that Shabazz Muhammad and Bishop Gorman are about to play against Kyrie Irving’s former team, St. Patrick’s on ESPNU at 1 PM. Also, at 3 PM a new post target for the Class of 2012, Landen Lucas, will be playing on the same channel.
Also, if you’re in Greensboro, go check out Marshall Plumlee at 3:30 and Quinn Cook at 5 PM at the Greensboro Coliseum. For more information on that tournament, click here.
Check out this article and video interview with Alex Murphy after his squad fell this past weekend in the HoopHall Classic that Shabazz and Landen are playing in.
Winter Park vs. Milton High School @ Hoops in Overdrive 12/31/10
Duke Signee Austin Rivers Valiant Comeback Effort Falls Short
by David Horton
What’s up Duke fans!! On Friday night, New Year’s Eve, I got a chance to see Duke recruit and #1 player in the nation – Austin Rivers. His team was playing in the Hoops in Overdrive Shoot-out at Centennial High School in Alpharetta, GA (just outside Atlanta). Austin and his team traveled 8 hours for the game looking for a W.
I got to the gym around 5:15 or so and my ticket was waiting courtesy of Airowe and Duke Hoop Blog (salute!). I then proceeded to walk in and take a look around as I sported the right shade of blue in the gymnasium. Ironically, Centennial High School’s gym is set up a lot like Lawrence Joel Coliseum where you get to be right up on the action yet the design creates a vaccum of sound if there are not enough people in the coliseum making noise to intensify the echo effect. Needless to say – Austin solved that problem.
I walked in on a game between Oak Ridge Military v. Huntington Prep which featured Sim Buhlar of yahoo sensation. He’s got some work to do. By halftime you could hear people whispering Austin’s name. I walked right past his younger brother when I entered actually. My courtside seat made me feel something like a cross between Spike Lee and Jack Nicholson (just go with me on that). Read more
Austin Rivers Interview and Highlights
Scout.com recently updated their Class of 2011 class rankings and low and behold, the Duke Blue Devils are in the top 3. Whether or not you agree that they should be behind a St. John’s class that has more numbers but definitely not more talent, you have to agree that a big reason Duke’s class is rated so high is because of the talented phenom Austin Rivers.
Loyal reader and contributor David Horton caught Austin’s game in Atlanta where he scored 31 points, 25 in the second half, in a loss to national power Milton High School. Below are a few highlights and also an interview David got with a player many recruiting services regard as the best in the country. Read more
Where Are The Duke Recruits This Week?
A little update on Duke Basketball’s targets for the Class of 2011 (and some of 2012) so you can get out and watch them if you’re in the area. Don’t sleep on these basketball talents!
- Marshall Plumlee: The talented 7 footer is in the Raleigh area this week and tips off the Glaxo Holiday Invitational against a former Duke commit, Tyler Adams, tonight at 7:20 PM. I will be on hand getting video and covering the action so if you’re out that way, hit me up on twitter @DukeHoopBlog.
- Austin Rivers: The #1 player in the country will be in Atlanta starting December 30th. Check out the loaded Hoops in Overdrive tourney if you’re in the ATL and get your tickets here. Austin’s game has been rescheduled for 6 PM on December 30th. Go by the link for the tickets, as that is the most recent update.
- Mike Gbinije: The smooth small forward is playing in the Benedictine Capital City Classic which started last night. Mike Gbinije scored 27 points, had six rebounds, eight steals and four assists last night as his team moves on to play tonight at 8:30 vs. Calvert Hall.
- Quinn Cook: No games until January 12th. Will give him time to rest his banged up knee.
- Rasheed Sulaimon: Playing in the Jesuit Hoops Classic in North Bethesda, Maryland. Rasheed’s first game is at 2:45 PM today. Go out and support this talented scoring guard and lifetime Duke fan.
- Shabazz Muhammad: He and his talented Bishop Gorman Squad are playing in the Les Schwab Invitational in Portland, Oregon this week. Bazz scored 26 points and had 9 rebounds last night to lead the Gaels to a win and plays Central Catholic today at 4PM.
- Tony Parker: Miller Grove is playing in the Beach Ball Classic in Myrtle Beach, SC. Tony’s squad won in a forfeit last night and will continue play on Wednesday night at 5:15 PM against Gonzaga (DC) which plays 2013 prospects Nate Britt and Kris Jenkins.
- Alex Murphy: No games until January 5th.
