Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Plumlee gives Duke huge endorsement

Marshall Plumlee probably knows just about all there is to know about the inner workings of the Duke basketball program.

His eldest brother, Miles, is a rising junior for the defending NCAA champions. Another brother, Mason, will be a sophomore with the Blue Devils next season.

So unlike many recruits, who are wooed and courted by college coaches highlighting mostly the positives about their programs, Marshall has an intimate family understanding about how coach Mike Krzyzewski runs his team.

And it’s telling for Duke and Krzyzewski that the third Plumlee brother still committed to the Blue Devils on Saturday. The commitment was as strong an endorsement as Krzyzewski could ever hope to get from any recruit.

The players’ father, Perky Plumlee, spoke frankly earlier this week about what Marshall’s commitment means for Duke.

“I think we do have a unique perspective,” he said, “and I think that any school, when you’re just being recruited by a school, if you haven’t had a personal experience with the program like we have with Duke I suppose it’s human nature that you imagine an environment that’s totally pain free. Actually playing in a program doesn’t mimic the recruiting process. The recruiting process is a courtship and it’s fun and it’s flattering. . . .You can’t actually simulate what it would be like to be there in practice, being pushed to your limits.”

Perky Plumlee said the family has confidence in the way Krzyzewski and his staff coach players. If that weren’t the case, Plumlee said, they wouldn’t send another son there.

He also said Marshall will go to Duke knowing fully well just how hard the Duke staff pushes its players. He said the staff is demanding, doesn’t take shortcuts and requires maximum effort from players, pushing them beyond what they thought their limits might have been.

“I do think that because Duke is such a prominent and successful program, unfortunately there probably is a lot of misinformation that perhaps their competitors like to generate,” Plumlee said. “They maybe try to perpetuate [negative] things, I don’t know, to gain a recruiting advantage. All I can say is that from my perspective Coach K, his program is honest and he has his methods and styles, I don’t suppose that they’ve changed that much over 30 years. Really the burden is on the kid to work hard and make the most of his opportunity.”

While Duke endured a five-year Final Four drought from 2005 to 2009, there was a perception that recruits were reacting negatively to how hard Krzyzewski pushes his players.

Duke lost out on highly rated recruits such as Patrick Patterson (Kentucky), Greg Monroe (Georgetown) and even Harrison Barnes, an incoming freshman at North Carolina, and some wondered if there was something wrong within the program.

By capturing the 2010 NCAA title, the Blue Devils emphatically refuted those doubts on the court. Now, Marshall Plumlee’s commitment reaffirms the direction of the program behind closed doors.

“The fact that we are enthused of Marshall’s choice, I guess, is a good endorsement of their program and the way they run it,” Perky Plumlee said.

Marshall Plumlee, rated No. 40 in the nation in the Class of 2011 by scout.com, isn’t the type of recruit with the ability to instantly carry Duke to a Final Four. But those kind of recruits come and go, often spending just one season at a school.

Plumlee’s commitment should have positive implications for the Blue Devils that last much longer.

Ken Tysiac

21 comments:

Anonymous said...

Roy "arm sling" williams recruited marshall heavier than coach K did.Roy was seen at many of marshall's games,while K stayed in durham.The reason marshall went to duke other than having 2 brothers there?? He wanted an education!! The reason harrison barnes,patrick patterson and greg monroe didn't go to duke??? GRADES!!!! Anyone can go to unc(barnes),but only smart people go to DUKE.....home of 4 ncaa titles under coach K,back to back championships,and your 2010 defending champs!!!

Anonymous said...

anyone can go to unc??? that is one of the more ridiculous statements i have heard in a while

Anonymous said...

Anon at 11:01, your statement that the reason those kids didn't go to Duke was grades is complete hogwash. I'm the biggest Duke fan there is, but I'm also a realist. Coach K recruited those kids hard, and they chose other schools, not because of their grades as you say. Each had their own reasons not to go to Duke. Harrison Barnes and Greg Monroe both had outstanding grades in high school and would have excelled academically at Duke. Georgetown is an excellent academic institution, as well as UNC (it pains me to say that last one) but it's true. Don't be one of those smug Duke fans. Be real!!! When you make foolish statements like you did, you make yourself look like a fool.

Anonymous said...

11:01 - Duke's 90 credit psychology degree program for athletes is hardly something to be proud of. What kind of legitimate college degree can be earned with only 90 credits?

As for Patrick Patterson, he graduated in three years from Kentucky in a standard degree program requiring in excess of 120 credits.

Anonymous said...

Where did Sean Dockery, with his 2.3 high school GPA and 15 on the ACT, fit in with all of the intellectual talent at Duke?

Anonymous said...

Plumlee would not make UNC's Second Squad..........Trash..Just Trash......Now Zellar..........He is the man and his Brother is great also...... Go Heels He is coming to UNC.......Bank on it...

Anonymous said...

Anon 11:01 did you go to Duke?
Nope

Didn't Coach K recruit John Wall?
He's basically illiterate.

So don't make this about an education because you tried to recruit a JUCO kid and he didn't make grades.

By the way who in the final four had the worst grades?
Wasn't Butler
Wasn't West Virginia
Oh that's right it was Duke

I don't know you, but I guarantee I am smarter. So listen buddy. Everyone gets so tired of hearing about Duke's academic rankings and their great student athletes. You couldn't even do better than West Virginia. Go smoke some crack and roll around the ghetto that is Durham.

Anonymous said...

anon 1:48...you sound as idiotic as the first duke guy that commented. and im a duke fan, but you may wanna wait and see how that season plays out before you say he'd only be a bench player for carolina. he may suprise you. zoubek sure did his senior year!! GO Duke!

Anonymous said...

anon 1:48, your comment about Plumlee not able to make UNC's 2nd squad could not be more from the truth. Your "squad" lost four players this off season. In a desperate attempt to salvage his front court, Roy Williams brought in a third rate forward by the name of Justin Knox that floundered at Alabama. Plumlee would be a "God Send" to your team. Have fun next season with Knox and his 6.3 pts and 3.7 rebounds per game, I'm sure he will be great for you.

Anonymous said...

i coach high school basketball in charlotte and we play against marshall plumlee. roy was at our game against marshall. roy recruited him but never offered to him. marshall averaged 8 points a game and didnt even make the private school all state team. maybe roy didnt offer cause he knew he wouldnt be nearly as good as miles or mason. mason is really good and miles is good also. but marshall is just tall. dont look for him to do anything in college. sory to disappoint the dookies who think they are getting another top recruit

Anonymous said...

In these comments: Jealousy over Duke's title masquerading as concern over the academic prowess of recruits.

Anonymous said...

anon 2:06 is the biggest moron of them all. anon 11:01 was wrong when he said only smart people get into duke. but 2:06's line that says "i guarantee i am smarter than you" is one of the dumbest posts i have seen in a while.

i am a duke fan, and i too am a realist. while duke still has "it", sometimes, people just chose another school. even though, i am sure harrison barnes was wishing he had chosen duke on the night of the national title game this year :)

but at the end of next year, barnes will be heading to the nba anyway and he will have made little difference in the life of the program, i.e. corey maggette

Anonymous said...

Duke has an awesome sociology department, since that is what all of the basketball players major in.

AJ said...

Anon @ 11:01, you couldn't be more wrong about grades and players at Duke. Yes, Duke University has an outstanding academic reputation, but don't confuse the regular student body with the basketball team. There have been numerous instances where Coach K has petitioned the admissions board to allow a player well below Duke's academic standards to either enroll, or in at least two cases, stay on the team even though their grades didn't hold up. Check out the book Blue Blood by Art Chansky for more specifics.
And as someone else mentioned, Harrison Barnes has an OUTSTANDING academic record, and no coach, including Coach K, ever said anything negative about his academic abilities!
As a Carolina fan, I can still understand why Marshall would want to go to Duke to play with his brothers. He may be good, and he may end up being another Shavlik Randolph, who knows? The bottom line is Carolina and Duke will always be powerhouse programs. Yeah, Carolina stunk it up last year, but still managed to win 20 games, but don't forget the phantom back season of '95 for Duke! I fully expect Carolina to be a national power next year, and compete for the NC again as well!

Anonymous said...

what 90 credit psychology program are you talking about? as a duke student, i find your post utterly ridiculous. you have no idea what you are talking about, as duke does not even use a credit hour system..

Anonymous said...

Just to put a rest to the stupid comments about the Majors of the players. This is from this past season's media guide.

Jordan Davidson - Psychology
John Sheyer - History
Brian Zoubek - History
Lance Thomas - Visual Arts
Steve Johnson - Economics
Casey Peters - Economics / Environmental Sciences & Policy Major
Kyle Singer - Visual Arts
Nolan Smith - African and A frican-American Studies Major

The Freshmen and Sophomores didn't have their majors declared in that document, but as you can see, no sociology majors...but Nolan's is close.

Anonymous said...

Some of these comments are hilarious. The first comment was ridiculous as was many of the following posts that bashed it. You all are so obsessed with making the other school (UNC or Duke) look bad that you lack any sense of truth or reality. Step away from the rivalry for a second and realize how stupid some of you look by what you put in your comments. At least ATTEMPT to be factually correct.

Yes, I'm a Duke fan. No, I didn't go to Duke.


karndogs

Anonymous said...

In fact, the last player to major in sociology at Duke was Shelden Williams.

And agree with anon 10:42, there are no credit hours at Duke. Like most other programs at Duke, you need 10-12 courses in the major, and 34 courses overall to get your degree.

Anonymous said...

These comments are down-right hilarious and full of so much disinformation. Only a few, stupid Duke fans think these players rejected Duke because of grades. I'm one of the biggest Duke fans there is and an alum - players come and players go for various reasons. Also, for the idiot who said: "11:01 - Duke's 90 credit psychology degree program for athletes is hardly something to be proud of. What kind of legitimate college degree can be earned with only 90 credits?

As for Patrick Patterson, he graduated in three years from Kentucky in a standard degree program requiring in excess of 120 credits."

haha - poor soul tries to sound smart. Do you realize it takes three kids at Duke to add up to 90 credits in the Duke system? Each course is 1 credit unlike other state schools which have credit hours. If some kid graduates from Duke with 90 credits, they are on the fast-track to curing cancer.

Anonymous said...

"By the way who in the final four had the worst grades?
Wasn't Butler
Wasn't West Virginia
Oh that's right it was Duke"

That is 100% false. I assume you're talking about the NCAA APR scores, where Duke was the lowest of the four. But if you go by GPA of the current team members, Duke was one of the highest in the entire tournament with a 3.01 average. The reason Duke got hit on the APR scores a bit was due to the transfers of Elliot Williams (due to his mother's illness), Olek Czyz, and Taylor King (both wanted more PT) and Gerald Henderson leaving a year early for the NBA. A team with no transfers or NBA defections, but getting C's and D's (1.5 GPA) could have a perfect 1000 on the APR score, while Duke gets penalized due to defections. That's why the APR needs to be taken with a grain of salt. What team do you think is academically more successful? One with a collective 1.5 GPA or one with a 3.0 GPA that had a few transfers not due to academic reasons?

Anonymous said...

My dog graduated from Kentucky he still gets requests for funding Their players spend more time in a drive through line than in class

On NC lets hope they supply some competition this year Last year left a bad taste who were those clowns

The guy that said that Plumlee would not start for NC welll if that is true look forward to another year that smells BADDDDDD