*College basketball is here (unlike the NBA), and this year might be one of the best in recent memory. The powerhouse is back, while the Cinderellas believe. That’s a deadly combination. We know some of y’all have been asking for some previews. We have you covered – the top 16 teams in the nation will be previewed individually in the next few weeks. After we broke down Louisville earlier today, we’ll keep this going with the team everyone loves to hate, No. 6-ranked Duke (ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll).*Read More »
We already showed you the dunk contest from Duke’s “Countdown to Craziness,” but just like last year and the year before, the guys at Duke got a little help from the school’s improv department to take college hoops to a whole new level. Three words: Bobblehead is back. Also, check out their other spot, “Come Watch Us, We’re Watching You,” after the jump.
Prayer For A Perfect Season, HBO’s excellent documentary about last year’s St. Patrick team, was a reminder that a highly successful basketball program doesn’t necessarily insure parochial schools against financial hardship – especially with the economy currently the way it is.
In North Jersey alone, Paterson Catholic shut its doors last year, while 2011 national champion St. Anthony is constantly on the bubble – even with the legendary Bob Hurley working on its behalf. St. Patrick, founded in 1863, is dealing with some of the same difficulties, while attempting to launch a whole new era after longtime coach Kevin Boyle took a new opportunity at Montverde Academy in Florida. Read More »
Watch the eldest Plumlee brother, Miles, dunk over his youngest brother, Marshall, at Duke’s Countdown to Craziness event Friday night. Note: Don’t try this at home.
While everyone normally talks about summer hoops in NYC, L.A. and D.C., you’d be crazy to forget about Raleigh, N.C., and the Greater NC Pro-Am. Known by many as the “Rucker of the South,” this summer league brings out the best from the area, which last night meant Raleigh’s own John Wall going head-to-head with former NC State star Julius Hodge. In front of a packed house of 3,000 people, Wall (12 points) and incoming UNC freshman P.J. Hairston squeaked out a two-point victory over Hodge (20 points), Jawad Williams, Miles Plumlee and incoming Duke freshmen Quinn Cook and Marshall Plumlee.
Coach K‘s four national championship teams at Duke University have been defined by threes. Christian Laettner, Bobby Hurley and Grant Hill ran the show in the ’90s; Shane Battier, Jay Williams and Mike Dunleavy Jr. won it in ’01; and in 2010 it was Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith.
With Scheyer gone to graduation and a few younger players taking aim at that vacant spot in the Big Three, this season’s leadership responsibilities for the Blue Devils (11-0) have fallen on seniors Smith (17.1 ppg, 5.4 apg) and Singler (17.0 ppg, 5.5 rpg) to lead a talented group aiming for a repeat. Going into tonight’s game against UNC-Greensboro (7 p.m., ESPNU), Smith talks about how experience wins championships: Read More »
For all of those haters and “experts” who have been crying from moment the original NCAA Tournament seedings were announced weeks ago (and there were many) that Duke was handed a cakewalk to the Final Four, know this: when the smoke clears, Duke will have absolutely earned their stripes by battling through what has quickly become the most difficult road to a national championship faced by any team in the field. Read More »
As if this wasn’t good enough, watch the guys from Duke reenact famous scenes from Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me, The Godfather (with Steve Wojciechowski), Titanic and Gladiator. Amazing!
While normally the highlights from Midnight Madness are simply dunk contests and cameos from former players, the guys at Duke (with help from the school’s improv department) took it to a whole new level. Check out the video starring Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler, Nolan Smith and the rest of the guys as they find other jobs on campus after the season was canceled because it was “unfair to the other teams.” Hilarious!
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