After all the phone calls, all the letters and all the glossy print brochures, it was what she had always known that made the difference.
Saying that it was "what had been in her heart," high school junior Wynter Whitley officially gave women's basketball coach Gail Goestenkors a verbal commitment in late June, making the versatile 6-foot-2 wing the first member of the Blue Devils' 2001 recruiting class.
"I pretty much knew the first time I visited here," Whitley said. "It took me a while to realize that it was what I wanted to do and [make it official]."
A 1998-99 Nike All American, Whitley's short-list of schools included Duke, Tennessee, Connecticut, Georgia and Virginia.
But a number of factors-including remaining close to her Georgia home and the Goestenkors brand of offense-made the final decision an easy one.
"I think Duke has been her number one choice all along," said David Anderson, Whitley's high school coach at Atlanta's Holy Innocents. "Duke is very similar to Holy Innocents relative to its setting-a small, friendly school. She likes that and she liked the whole feel of the place."
And as the All Star Girls Report's No. 3 ranked junior and Blue Star Index's No. 4, Duke's newest recruit is also its biggest.
Although Goestenkors has signed back-to-back top-three recruiting classes, no recruit has ever entered Duke ranked in the top five by both major recruiting services.
"The [recruiting run] Goestenkors has put together speaks volumes with what she's done with the program," Anderson said. "Gail has made her program one that top recruits now have to consider and the result is getting great players like Wynter."
As a sophomore, Whitley led Holy Innocents to the class A Georgia state championship and was named MVP by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. As a junior this season, she was named an honorable mention to Street and Smith's All-America team, despite missing the final two games of the season with a mildly sprained ankle.
A do-it-all player in high school-she has played every position on her high school team-Whitley should quickly find a home in Duke's aggressive five-out offense.
Though Whitely easily has the size to play inside at 6-2 and 177 pounds, the Blue Devil-to-be will likely move out to the wing in college. On the perimeter, Whitley would give Goestenkors the Lauren Rice mold of big guard that the 10th-year head coach has been so productive with.
The opportunity to employ her versatility in Duke's wide-open offense separated the on-court Blue Devils from the list of remaining suitors.
"My strength is versatility," Whitley said. "That's what separates Duke from the rest of the schools, they [encourage that]. That's why I thought I was a good fit for Duke."
Of course at Gail Goestenkors' Duke, there's no guarantee that even a recruit as highly touted as Whitely will see significant playing time her freshman season. With two tremendous recruiting classes ahead of her (the incoming class of 2002 includes Iciss Tillis-formerly Duke's highest rated recruit-Alana Beard, Vicki Krapohl, Crystal White and Rometra Craig), the Blue Devils' roster will be sporting 11 top-100 high school players.
But of all the things this rising high school senior has to worry about, playing time simply isn't going to be one of them.
"She's the kind of player that things like that don't matter to," Anderson said. "She doesn't want to be the star and make her teammates feel left out. Even [at Holy Innocents], she wants her teammates to feel as good. She honestly doesn't care when she goes out if she scores four or 40. If the team wins, she's done her job."
And if there's one thing that Whitley can still count on as a member of what should be Duke's most talented team ever, it's that there won't be many nights that she'll go to bed without having done her job.
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