Two weeks ago, Men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski snagged top point guard Greg Paulus. Yesterday, he found a big man to catch Paulus' passes.
Josh McRoberts, a 6-foot-9 junior power forward, committed to Duke Tuesday at a press conference at his high school.
"I would like to announce that upon graduating from Carmel High School in 2005 I will be attending Duke University," McRoberts declared. "After spending time at Duke on several different occasions I feel that Duke is the place for me."
McRoberts has been to Duke on at least two occasions, including basketball camp at Duke over the summer. But the clincher for the talented Carmel, Ind., native was the unofficial visit he took with his family to the Gothic Wonderland last weekend.
"I'd say that probably just my whole visit down there [clinched it]," the lanky forward told The Chronicle Tuesday night. "Just being around the players, coaches, staff, that was really a big thing...I really had a great time."
The early commitment surprised some analysts; McRoberts is just a junior and gave little indication of an impending commitment in interviews with The Chronicle as recent as Saturday afternoon; even Coach Krzyzewski was a little taken aback.
"He was a little surprised that I made [the decision] while I was [at Duke]," McRoberts said. "He just wanted to make sure that I was sure. He said that I had to feel great about making the decision, and I did [feel great]."
The talented and versatile power forward averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game last year as a sophomore. He is rated one of the top ten prospects in the class of 2005 by theinsiders.com.
McRoberts becomes men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski's second commitment in the past month. He joins junior point guard Greg Paulus, who committed to Duke earlier in September. In fact, the two have already spoken with each other.
"I talked to [Paulus] for an hour or so last night," McRoberts said. Duke's future point guard apparently assisted McRoberts in writing a speech for his press conference.
"He was being a good point guard for me," McRoberts joked.
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