The latest on the recruiting trail for next years team had definitely become interesting with the exit of superstars Kyrie Irving, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith Duke was set to bring in Austin Rivers, Quinn Cook, Michael Gbinije and Marshall Plumlee. Everything seemed to be set in stone…enter two new wrinkles. One Dukes interest in explosive small forward Deandre Daniels at IMG Academy who has several ties to Duke. When Kyrie let it slip that Daniels would attend Duke (still speculation at this point, there is nothing concrete of official) the message boards and twitter seemed to jump off the tracks. Daniels recruitment has been mercurial at best as he was a Texas commit, then backed put and became a heavy Kansas lean which is still a possibility, and to be honest there are several high profile teams still in the mix at least that is what it appears outwardly but with a visit to Durham set for the next couple of days anything can happen.
Wrinkle number 2..enter Alex Murphy, thought of as more athletic Kyle Singler type, not a clone, but a long lanky player with a high basketball IQ a good handle and size. Thought to be part of not this years but next years recruiting class has all but wrapped up high school and is possibly set to arrive in Durham a year early. No one knows what that does to the recruitment of Deandre Daniels as Murphy has already committed to the Devils. It would indeed be a very crowded and loaded team should either or both players arrive in Durham next year. Best case scenario as a fan is that Duke gets both player, the team could look something like this:
Tyler Thornton
Seth Curry
Austin Rivers
Andre Dawkins
Quinn Cook (oops)
Ryan Kelly
Josh Hairston
Michael Gbinije
Alex Murphy
Deandre Daniels
Mason Plumlee
Miles Plumlee
Marshall Plumlee
That is not only a lot of talent but a lot of bodies in general.
