Duke's athletic department created Duke Blue Planet to promote the men's basketball program and target recruits, and now, as head coach Mike Krzyzewski fights for highly-touted recruit John Wall, the Web site may just be as important as ever.
Wall is a 6-foot-4 point guard not only generally considered to be the best point guard in his class, but also projected to be the first overall pick in the 2010 NBA Draft, according to NBADraft.net. In the era of the 19-year-old age minimum in the NBA, Wall appears to be the prototypical "one-and-done" player. But though Wall may use just one year of his NCAA eligibility, the guard still needs to choose a college program. Duke is in the running, and the decision seems near. On April 23, Wall told Rivals.com, “I think I know where I want to go."
So the timing of yesterday's release of Duke Blue Planet's newest video—"How We Hoop"—was either highly coincidental, or, carefully planned.
The video's focus starts with Duke's style of basketball: pushing the ball, scoring but knowing how to do it right and playing in a system with a lot of freedom.
But then, suddenly, Krzyzewski stops talking about his program, and starts talking about the NBA.
"If you come from a man-to-man program, you're going to have a little bit of an advantage in the pros," he says.
Krzyzewski goes on to mention some of his greatest players: Grant Hill, Dahntay Jones, Mike Dunleavy, Shane Battier and Luol Deng.
The highlights feature many of the Blue Devils' current players, but also some of the programs more explosive and talented guards: Chris Duhon, Daniel Ewing, and J.J. Redick are among players in the clips.
And the message seems obvious: Wall could be one of those guards.
"It's just going to prepare you for the next level," Singler says. "You don't really find that at a lot of other universities."
With a decision by Wall close on the horizon, is this timing of the video's release a coincidence?
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