Duke: 2011 Recruiting Update – Rivers, Adams, Miller, Plumlee

NOTE: This article is taken from the Blue Devil Insider blog. You can view the original post HERE

Yesterday, Blue Devil Insider reviewed Duke Basketball recruiting activities for 2010. Today, we will take a look at class of 2011 prospects. Recently, Duke scored its first commitment for 2011 when 5-star wing forward Michael Gbinije verbally committed to the Blue Devils. While this was a great start to the class, Duke is far from done. For 2011, several major prospects are on Duke’s “wish list”.

Tyler Adams – Duke began recruiting the 6’9 260 pound Adams early this winter and their relationship with the rising power forward has been growing ever since. Recently, this culminated in a scholarship offer to Adams and Tyler has since gone on record as saying Duke is his leader. Right now, the staff is hoping to get Adams to Durham for a campus visit in June. Duke definitely likes where they stand with Adams and if all goes according to plan he could officially be a member of the Blue Devils sometime this spring or early summer. The coaches are impressed with Tyler’s work ethic, low post skills, toughness in the paint, and his strong family upbringing. There is another bright spot for Duke in this recruitment as well, his father is reportedly a longtime fan of Duke Basketball. Stay tuned to BDI, as more good news on Adams could be on the way in the coming weeks.

Austin Rivers – As you have probably heard by now, UNC is jumping into the race for Austin Rivers. While Duke fans will not be thrilled about North Carolina’s participation in this recruitment, sources close to Duke tell BDI that the Blue Devils are still in excellent shape with the 5-star guard. With that said though, Rivers is very likely to consider a few other teams besides Duke and Florida before he makes an official college choice. The Rivers family is very serious about this process and they want to make sure that Austin finds the right school to play his college ball at.

Overall, Duke’s relationship with Rivers continues to show signs of strength. In his online diary with High School Hoop, Rivers acknowledged that he emailed the Duke coaches to congratulate them on reaching the Final 4. Additionally, Rivers called the Duke staff after the team made both the Sweet 16 and the Final 4 to congratulate the coaches & players. Needless to say, the actions of both sides in this recruitment remain very positive.

It is likely that activity in the Rivers recruitment will pick up very soon. BDI has learned that Rivers is very likely to de-commit from Florida in the coming weeks. Rivers will play in the ESPN Rise tournament this weekend which is basically the end of his high school basketball season. With high school basketball out of the way look for Rivers to have a renewed focus on his recruitment.

There are a few final points to note on the Rivers recruitment. If/when he does de-commit do not be surprised if other major basketball powers get involved. UCLA, UCONN, and Kentucky would be the likely contenders here as they are programs his father has talked about in the past. Finally, Duke will be very active with Rivers during the upcoming AAU season. Expect the Duke coaching staff to follow Rivers very closely at summer tournaments and camps. The staff would also like to have Rivers back on campus for another visit sometime this spring/summer. Although no official timeline has been given for a decision, we expect Rivers to finalize his college choice in late summer or this fall.

Quincy Miller – The Miller recruitment continues to get more complicated as time passes. At this point, many of the major national basketball powers have thrown their name into the hat for his services including: Kansas, Georgetown, Kentucky, Syracuse, Texas, and others. Brian Clifton is now heavily involved in his recruitment and this may or may not be a good thing for Duke. Rumors continue to swirl that World Wide Wes may try to steer Miller to one school or another as well. One thing BDI can say for sure is that some of the family members that were very pro Duke and initially involved in Miller’s recruitment are no longer providing advice with regard to his college choice.

Duke realizes that this is going to be a very public, media oriented, and national recruitment in nature. They are going to run the race with Quincy, but there is no guarantee they will land him given all the factors involved in his recruitment. The good news for Duke is that this recruitment will likely go well into 2011. By that time Duke hopes to have locked in commitments from Tyler Adams and Austin Rivers. Thus Miller would be the icing on the cake of Duke’s 2011 class if things were to play out the way coaches hope.

Marshall Plumlee – The relationship between Duke and Plumlee seems to have cooled a bit in recent months. There has been less contact between the two sides and the Plumlee family is aware that Tyler Adams is a major target for Duke in 2011. While Plumlee has been to many recent Duke games this has mainly occurred so that he could support his brothers. The situation with Plumlee remains complicated, but I would not expect Duke to completely break off the relationship given the family’s ties to the school.