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John Wall the 6-3 point guard from Raleigh's Word of God came by Durham last night with his mother and his AAU Coach Brien Clifton. He spoke with us about his upcoming decision, Coach Calipari leaving Memphis and how that may affect his decision. But most importantly he talks about his sit down with Coach K.
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Seth Curry the 6-3,180 pound youngest son of former NBA star Dell Curry decided very quickly after this his freshmen season at Liberty University that wanted to transfer to a school in a larger conference in order to fully develop as an athlete. Today he was offered a scholarship to Duke after meeting with the coaches along with his family he decided to accept.
The Villanova Wildcats will bring in a team to Boston on Thursday night that is nearly a mirror image of the Duke Blue Devils as they are making their 4th Sweet Sixteen appearance in the last five years. They are 28-7 and went 13-5 in the Big East and like Duke they seldom play anyone over 6-8. Jay Wright in his 7th season at the Philadelphia school has a solid guard rotation that revolves around four players that range in size from 6-1 to 6-5 and they all can shoot. In fact two of the guards Scottie Reynolds and Corey Stokes have both made over 70 three pointers each.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP)—Gerald Henderson finally will find out what the second weekend of the NCAA tournament is like.
Henderson scored 24 points and hit three free throws in the final minute to help Duke beat Texas 74-69 on Saturday night in the second round of the East Regional.
Kyle Singler added 17 points and Jon Scheyer added 13 for the second-seeded Blue Devils (30-6). They reached the round of 16 for the first time since 2006 and will face third-seeded Villanova (28-7) on Thursday night in Boston.
A.J. Abrams scored 17 points on 5-for-13 shooting for the No. 7 seed Longhorns (23-12), who rallied from a late 10-point deficit to tie it twice in the final 2 minutes—the last time coming when Gary Johnson’s free throw with 1:07 remaining made it 69-all.
Nolan Smith hit two free throws with 47 seconds left to put Duke up 71-69, and the Longhorns missed two chances in the final 40 seconds to tie it.
Damion James’ 3-pointer over Henderson circled the rim and popped out. After Henderson added a free throw with 30.8 seconds left, Abrams missed a runner and James couldn’t convert the follow-up.
As the rebound squirted toward the Texas bench, Scheyer made a heady play to chase it down and hurl it downcourt to Elliot Williams. When the freshman missed two free throws with 11.5 seconds left, the rebound bounced off a Longhorn’s hands to Henderson, who pumped his fist as he hit the floor, then hit two foul shots with 7.2 seconds remaining to seal it.
Smith finished with 11 points for the Blue Devils, who shot 43 percent. They overcame the Longhorns’ 50 percent shooting performance by forcing 15 turnovers and improved to 12-0 in NCAA tournament games at the Greensboro Coliseum—where their two most recent national title runs have started.
A pair of highlight-reel drives to the basket by Henderson helped the Blue Devils build their big lead.
The Duke swingman accelerated down the left wing, leaped and dunked over Clint Chapman as he was being fouled. Two possessions later, he finger-rolled a pretty layup over Abrams to a stretch in which Duke outscored Texas 20-11.
Duke led 64-54 with 7 minutes remaining before Abrams and Varez Ward willed the Longhorns back into the game by keying a 13-3 run. Abrams reeled off five straight points, and Ward finished the spurt with eight in a row for Texas, tying it at 67-all by hitting a jumper over Williams with 1:44 remaining.
Ward, a freshman, scored a season-high 16 points in his second double-figure game of the year and James finished with 15 points for Texas, which has been beaten in the second round twice in three years.
The Longhorns became the second Big 12 team eliminated from the tournament. The conference finished the first round 6-0.
Meanwhile, Duke—one of only two ACC teams still playing—is headed back to some familiar territory.
Reaching the round of 16 never used to be a reason to celebrate after the Blue Devils made it at least that far every year from 1998-2006. But after they followed their first-round exit in 2007 with an equally surprising second-round loss last year, reaching the tournament’s second weekend seemed to become a higher priority.
The weekend was a homecoming of sorts for Texas coach Rick Barnes, who grew up a 90-minute drive away in Hickory, once interviewed for a job on Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski’s staff and spent four seasons at Clemson. His first victory against the Blue Devils came in 1995—the last game Krzyzewski coached before he took a leave of absence for the remainder of that season to have back surgery.
This time, after Duke improved to 4-0 against Texas, it was Coach K who was the one sending Barnes into some extended time off—he’s got the entire offseason to dwell on this defeat.
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP)—Jon Scheyer and Duke weren’t about to let another one of college basketball’s little guys scare them again.
Scheyer scored 15 points to lead six players in double figures, and the Blue Devils made Binghamton’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament a quick one by routing the Bearcats 86-62 Thursday night in the first round of the East Regional.
Lance Thomas added 14 points and Gerald Henderson and Nolan Smith added 13 apiece for the Blue Devils (29-6), the No. 2 seed. They shot 49 percent, put the game away with a huge run to open the second half and advanced to a second-round matchup with seventh-seeded Texas on Saturday.
D.J. Rivera scored 20 points for Binghamton (23-9). The program from upstate New York that jumped to Division I in 2001 and won the America East tournament ultimately was no match for one of the NCAA’s most decorated programs.
Elliot Williams had 11 points and Kyle Singler added 10 to help the Blue Devils claim their most lopsided NCAA tournament victory since a 28-point rout of Seton Hall in the second round in 2004.
It was quite the emphatic reversal of results for a program that entered having lost three of its last four NCAA tournament games—and needed some dramatic play late to take care of 15th-seeded Belmont in the first round last year.
This one was never seriously in doubt, though the Bearcats managed to keep it respectable for most of the first half, trailing 45-34 at the break.
Then came the reality check.
The efficient Duke offense that lit up Florida State for a season-high 12 3-pointers in the ACC tournament championship game re-emerged. The Blue Devils came away with points on seven consecutive trips downcourt to key the 17-2 run that pushed their lead to 20 for the first time, a decisive burst that ended when Thomas’ dunk with 14:46 remaining made it 62-36.
That dominating stretch silenced even the few hundred North Carolina fans who stuck around to razz their main rival.
Tiki Mayben scored 11 of his 13 points in the first half and Reggie Fuller added 12 points for the Bearcats, whose 11-game winning streak was snapped.
There wasn’t much to pick apart from Duke’s fourth straight victory, aside from allowing Binghamton to shoot 53 percent. The Blue Devils offset that by turning the Bearcats’ many mistakes into easy baskets, got to the free-throw line—and even dominated the boards for a change.
Duke scored 24 points off Binghamton’s 18 turnovers, was 21-of-25 from the stripe and established a 38-20 rebounding advantage. Meanwhile, the Bearcats spent much of the night in foul trouble and were just 1-of-5 from the line.
Almost from the opening tip, the chasm between the two programs was obvious.
Duke outscored the Bearcats 25-8 during an 8-minute stretch midway through the half, a spurt that ended with Binghamton coach Kevin Broadus being whistled for a technical foul for his loud objection to a non-call in the paint. Smith’s ensuing free throw pushed the lead to 27-12 with 9:07 before the break.
But Binghamton—which was held to one field goal during a 7-minute span— crept back into the game from the 3-point line. Mayben knocked down two 3s over Thomas and Malik Alvin’s long-range jumper made it 37-31 with 3 1/2 minutes left— but that was as close as they’d get.
The Binghamton Bearcats bring an impressive resume to Greensboro for Thursday's game against the Duke Blue Devils. The Bearcats led by Coach Kevin Broadus who in only his second season led them to their first NCAA appearance in only their sixth year of eligibility are 23-8 and have an 11 game winning streak entering the tournament which is the third longest behind only Memphis and American University. Binghamton tied for the regular season American East title with (13-3)Vermont and then won the tournament last Saturday 61-51 over Maryland-Baltimore County.
ATLANTA (AP)—Duke is back in a familiar position: champion of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The No. 9 Blue Devils swamped upstart Florida State with a barrage of 3-pointers on the way to a 79-69 victory in the title game Sunday, giving Duke its ninth ACC crown in 12 years.
Tournament MVP Jon Scheyer scored 29 points, Gerald Henderson had 27 and the Blue Devils (28-6) turned in one of its most complete performances of the season to keep their Tobacco Road heirloom from heading down to the Sunshine State. It couldn’t have come at a better time, with NCAA bids going out later Sunday.
How complete? Duke had more steals (five) than turnovers (four), outrebounded the taller, bulkier Seminoles 35-34 and buried Florida State with a 12-of-25 showing from beyond the arc.
Now, after watching North Carolina celebrate the last two years, Duke reclaimed the top spot.
“We put in a lot of work to build this team to where it is today,” Henderson said. “This is such an accomplishment for us. We’ve waited a long time for it. It feels good.”
Toney Douglas led the No. 22 Seminoles (25-9) with 28 points but that wasn’t nearly enough to give the school its first ACC championship. Florida State will have to be content with knocking off top-ranked North Carolina in the semifinals and earning its first NCAA bid since 1998.
Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, following up his gold-medal triumph as coach of the U.S. Olympic team, captured the 11th conference championship of his career. Now he’ll turn his attention to the quest for a fourth national title.
“I’m really, really happy for these guys, especially the guys in the junior class,” Krzyzewski said. “They had to go a couple of years without any upperclassmen. I’m really pleased they were able to win their championship. Hopefully it’s just their first championship.”
The Blue Devils put this one away early. After Douglas hit a 3-pointer to give Florida State its final lead, 11-9, Duke ripped off 14 points in a row— all but two of them coming from long range.
Henderson worked off a pick and sank a 3-pointer, then Kyle Singler hit three straight treys to complete the run. He swished one out of the corner and came off a screen for a wide-open look from the top of the key that gave the Blue Devils a 23-11 lead.
Duke was up 35-21 at halftime, taking advantage of miserable shooting (5 of 23) by a Florida State team that had won two down-to-the wire games to get to the championship, but suddenly looked out of place.
Coming off a 73-70 upset of North Carolina, the Seminoles turned it over 13 times and only a late shooting blitz kept it from being a total blowout. Douglas was basically a one-man show, though Chris Singleton did chip in with 15 points.
“We’ll look at what we did wrong, learn from it and grow,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “Duke is more mature team overall. But I think we’ll be fine.”
“Yeah,” Douglas added with a smile, “we’ll be fine.”
The Blue Devils didn’t forget how to celebrate during North Carolina’s two-year reign as ACC king. As soon as the horn sounded, they donned caps and T-shirt commemorating their championship, then Krzyzewski wandered over to the stands to invite two of his grandchildren down to the court, each wearing the No. 3 jersey of point guard Greg Paulus.
Then it was time to climb to cut down the net. Krzyzewski delivered the final slice and blew a kiss to the crowd, which responded with chants of “Let’s go Duke!”
Florida State made a brief spurt in the second half, closing the gap to 42-36 when Ryan Reid laid it in with just over 12 minutes remaining, prompting Duke to call a timeout.
But the Blue Devils, who shot more 3-pointers than any team in the ACC, turned to a familiar weapon to finish off the Seminoles. Scheyer hit a momentum-breaking 3, then got knocked to the court by Derwin Kitchen while putting up another shot beyond the arc. He sank all three free throws, stretching the lead back to 48-38.
From there, Duke pulled away. Singler came up with a steal, and Nolan Smith made a floater in the lane. After Duke snatched an offensive rebound, Henderson buried a 3 from the corner. Smith threaded a brilliant pass to Henderson for a dunk, Scheyer flipped in a no-look shot after turning his back to the basket on a drive, then Singler and Scheyer made back-to-back treys to give the Blue Devils their biggest lead, 65-43, with 6 1/2 minutes to go.
As an added bonus to winning an ACC title after North Carolina was sent packing, Duke pulled even with the Tar Heels for the most wins in ACC tournament history. Both schools have 84.
Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski claimed his 11th Atlantic Coast Conference title and the Blue Devils 17th overall as they rolled by Florida State 79-69. This was a special achievement for this group Coach K said after the game.
ATLANTA (AP)—Jon Scheyer scored 22 points and Duke rode a 12-2 second-half run to beat Maryland 67-61 on Saturday and earn a spot in the Atlantic Coast Conference tournament championship game.
Kyle Singler added 14 points for No. 9 Duke, which will face Florida State Sunday. Florida State beat top-ranked North Carolina 73-70 in Saturday’s first semifinal.
Duke (27-6) led only 44-41 before Gerald Henderson’s 3-pointer with 8:53 started the 12-2 run. Scheyer and David McClure each had back-to-back baskets in the run, which ended with Duke leading 56-43 with 5:35 remaining.
Eric Hayes answered with four straight points for Maryland (20-13), but he missed a 3-point attempt with 2 minutes left after the Terrapins cut the lead to seven points at 57-50.
Hayes led Maryland with 20 points, including 15 after Duke’s 12-2 run. He scored 15 of Maryland’s final 18 points. Greivis Vasquez had 14 points and Adrian Bowie added 10 for the Terrapins.
Duke will be trying to win the ACC tournament for the fourth time as a No. 3 seed. The Blue Devils also were No. 3 seeds when winning the title in 1988, 2003 and 2005.
Maryland, playing in its first semifinal since winning the tournament as a No. 6 seed in 2004, was an even bigger underdog as a No. 7 seed this year.
The Terrapins’ underdog role was especially obvious against Duke, which swept two games in the regular season, winning by double figures each time. The Blue Devils crushed the Terrapins 85-44 in Durham, N.C., and completed the regular-season sweep with 78-67 win at Maryland.
The third meeting between the teams was close until late in the game.
There were nine lead changes and three ties in the first half, with Duke taking a 32-30 lead at the break. Singler had 12 points in the first half, including two of Duke’s six 3-pointers.
Maryland took a brief 34-32 lead in the second half, before a 3-pointer by Scheyer gave Duke the lead for good.
Scheyer and Nolan Smith, who finished with 10 points, combined to make six of eight free throws in the final minute to protect the lead.
DURHAM, N.C. – The Atlantic Coast Conference released the 2008-09 All-ACC teams on Monday with Duke’s Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler each named to the list.
Henderson, a junior from Merion, Pa., was named to the first team with 210 points for his first career all-conference honor. He is the 58th All-ACC first team selection in school history with 33 of those coming under Coach Krzyzewski. Coach K has had a player named to the all-conference first team in 23 of his 29 seasons at Duke. Henderson is averaging 16.6 points and 5.0 rebounds per game this season. He ranks third on the team in assists (76), blocks (25) and steals (43). He averaged 19.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in conference play this year.
Singler, a sophomore from Medford, Ore., was named All-ACC for the second straight season. He was named to the second team this year after receiving third team honors a year ago. He becomes the 32nd player in school history to be named to the All-ACC team twice. Singler is averaging 16.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game to go along with 80 assists, 27 blocks and 49 steals. In conference play, he averaged 16.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game.
Overall Duke has had 121 All-ACC selections since the inception of the league. The Blue Devils have had two or more picks in 39 seasons, including 22 seasons under Coach K.
Henderson also received honorable mention for the All-ACC Defensive team. Henderson not only recorded 25 blocks and 43 steals but led the team with 17 drawn charges on the year.
The Blue Devils will face the winner of the ACC Tournament first round game between Boston College and Virginia Friday night at 9:30 p.m.
(76 Total Votes)
ALL-ACC
(1st Team Vote – 3 points; 2nd Team Vote – 2 points; 3rd Team Vote – 1 point)
First Team Points
Tyler Hansbrough, Sr., North Carolina
Toney Douglas, Sr., Florida
Ty Lawson, Jr., North Carolina
Gerald Henderson, Jr., Duke....................... 210
Jack McClinton, Sr., Miami
*unanimous 1st team
Jeff Teague, So., Wake Forest
Trevor Booker, Jr., Clemson....................... 156
Tyrese Rice, Sr., Boston College
Kyle Singler, So., Duke............................... 128
Greivis Vasquez, Jr., Maryland
James Johnson, So., Wake Forest
Malcolm Delaney, So., Virginia Tech............. 83
A.D. Vassallo, Sr., Virginia Tech.................... 81
Danny Green, Sr., North Carolina
Gani Lawal, So., Georgia Tech...................... 46
Wayne Ellington, Jr., North Carolina
K.C. Rivers
Sylven Landesberg, Fr., Virginia
ALL-DEFENSIVE Votes
Trevor Booker, Jr., Clemson......................... 67
Toney Douglas, Sr., Florida
Solomon Alabi, Fr., Florida State
Danny Green, Sr., North Carolina
L.D. Williams, Jr., Wake Forest...................... 26
Ty Lawson, Jr., North Carolina
Gani Lawal, So., Georgia Tech...................... 17
Courtney Fells, Sr., NC State......................... 16
Gerald Henderson, Jr., Duke......................... 15
DURHAM, N.C. (AP)—Toney Douglas hit a big shot for Florida State. Gerald Henderson followed with an even bigger one, and then added another.
The final moments of this meeting of two of the Atlantic Coast Conference’s top scorers lived up to the hype, with Henderson scoring nine of his 21 points in the final 2 minutes to help No. 7 Duke beat Douglas and No. 24 Florida State 84-81 on Tuesday night.
“I just knew it was a pressure situation—the game hadn’t been decided and they were right there,” Henderson said. “I have a lot of confidence in myself, as my teammates and my coaches have in me, and those situations, I feel like I can make something happen.”
Kyle Singler scored 20 points, Jon Scheyer had 17 and Henderson added a career-high 10 rebounds for Duke (25-5, 11-4 ACC), which won its fifth straight, matched the NCAA record for most wins in a decade with 286 and moved a half-game behind No. 2 North Carolina in the league standings.
Douglas finished with 27 points for the Seminoles (22-8, 9-6), and his 3-pointer from the right wing gave Florida State a 76-74 lead with 2:25 remaining.
That’s when Henderson took over.
“‘G’ trumped it,” coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
He countered with a 3 from the right corner with 1:39 remaining to put Duke up 77-76. After the Blue Devils forced a stop on Douglas, he knocked down two free throws to make it a three-point game with 57.3 seconds left.
“Toney Douglas is a really good player—probably the best in our league,” Henderson said. “He hit some really big shots.”
So did Henderson.
Douglas was being bothered by two defenders as he missed a 3 with about 45 seconds remaining, and the rebound made its way to Henderson—who hustled downcourt, sidestepped one defender and drew contact from the 7-foot-1 Solomon Alabi as he hit a layup.
Henderson hit the free throw that followed to make it 82-76, then added another with 5 seconds left. That sent Duke on the way to its 16th victory at Cameron Indoor Stadium. During the past two seasons, the Blue Devils’ only defeats there have come against rival North Carolina.
Duke, which improved to 286-83 since the 1999-2000 season, can do no worse than share the ACC’s regular-season title if they beat the Tar Heels on Sunday night in Chapel Hill.
Henderson also helped Duke’s elder players walk off Coach K Court with a victory on Senior Night—something that hasn’t happened since 2005.
“I’m really pleased with my teammates and what they showed on the court tonight,” Douglas said. “Playing Duke on Senior Night, they’re a good basketball team. We kept our composure when they made runs.”
Uche Echefu matched a season high with 18 points—14 in the first half— and added 11 rebounds while Alabi added 12 points and 11 boards for the Seminoles.
They forced only one turnover in the second half, one reason why they were denied their first consecutive victories over ranked teams since 2003-04. The Seminoles were coming off a 76-63 victory over then-No. 12 Clemson and could have used a victory at Cameron to bolster their NCAA tournament profile.
Florida State, which won its previous visit to Cameron in 2007, has a final chance to reach double figures in ACC victories for the first time since 1992-93 when the Seminoles conclude the regular season Sunday against Virginia Tech.
For a while, they lost their grip on momentum when Alabi was whistled for a technical foul for hitting Singler in the head in the aftermath of an authoritative dunk with 6 1/2 minutes left—also a critical call because it doubled as the fourth foul on Florida State’s big man, sending him temporarily to the bench. Scheyer hit the two free throws that followed to put Duke in the lead until Douglas’ big shot in the final 2 1/2 minutes.
“You can point to that if you want to. I just think we didn’t do a good enough job defending them,” Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “Now, I’ve got a whole lot I could say. That play was a big play. There’s no doubt about that. I saw it differently. … That was a key play during that particular time. I wish we could have avoided it, and maybe the outcome would have been a little different. But that’s college basketball.”
Elliot Williams added 14 points for Duke, which twice fell behind by eight points before tightening up early in the second half with a 21-9 run in which the 3s from the jump-shooting Blue Devils finally began to fall.
After missing 16 of their first 20 attempts from beyond the arc, they knocked down 3-of-4 during the run—including long-range shots from Singler and Henderson on consecutive trips downcourt, and Scheyer’s from the key that put Duke up 55-52 with 11:51 left.
“We told (Singler), ‘You’re not going to get many layups with Alabi in there,”’ Krzyzewski said.
That early cold shooting created an opportunity for the Seminoles to take charge at the start, and they led for most of the first half. They went up 28-20 lead on Deividas Dulkys’ jumper from the corner and led 40-34 at the break. The Seminoles matched their largest lead on Derwin Kitchen’s jumper 30 seconds into the second half.
“I thought to be down six was good at halftime, the way it was going,” Krzyzewski said. “The second half, we played well the whole 20 minutes. … A number of kids made big plays.”
