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Tarik Black commits to Kansas

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Kansas head coach Bill Self announced today that Memphis transfer Tarik Black will join the Jayhawks next year. The 6-foot-9, 262-pound Black will join a Kansas team that just last week received a commitment from Andrew Wiggins, the No. 1 recruit in the nation.

Black, who visited Duke last week, chose Kansas over Duke and Oregon, and has one year of eligibility left after graduating from Memphis earlier this month. He averaged 8.1 points and 4.8 rebounds in 32 games last season with Memphis, despite starting just five of those games.

Black would have added depth to a Duke front court that will need to find a way to overcome the loss of Mason Plumlee to graduation. Black will now join one of the top recruiting classes in the nation—Kansas signed four other top-40 recruits this year in addition to Wiggins.

Duke basketball commit Grayson Allen shines at Nike EYBL in Dallas

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With the nation’s top recruits gathered in Dallas for the third session of the Nike EYBL, Duke basketball commit Grayson Allen shined after dealing with an injury in previous sessions.

Allen, the No. 36 recruit in the class of 2014 according to ESPN, averaged 18.3 points per contest as his E1T1 squad went 4-0 against some of the best AAU teams in the nation.

Allen squared off against Duke target Tyus Jones, the No. 2 player in 2014, in the team’s second game, a 98-70 win for Allen’s squad. Allen scored 17 points on 6-of-8 shooting while making both of his 3-pointers. He added four rebounds and four assists.

Facing one of the top AAU backcourts that also features UNC point guard Joel Berry, who tallied 11 assists in the game, Jones scored a game-high 18 points while adding four assists and three steals. He turned the ball over five times. Jones averaged 25.5 points and 5.0 assists per game during the weekend for Howard Pulley.

Allen drew high praise for his performance throughout the weekend:

 

 

Jahil Okafor, the No. 1 player in the class of 2014, returned to action after sitting out with an injury the past few weeks. Okafor averaged 17.3 points and 11.5 rebounds per game while making 74% of his shots from the field for Mac Irvin Fire.

Okafor and Jones have said on multiple occasions they intend to attend college together and the duo appears to be the top priority for Duke’s 2014 class.

Theo Pinson also remains a Duke target after an erroneous report stated he had cut the Blue Devils from his list of schools.

Here are some other stats of Duke 2014 offers from the EYBL session per @bluedevillair:

  • Devin Booker, 6-foot-5 shooting guard and the No. 19 player: 19.5 points, 43% field goals, 30% 3-pointers
  • Justise Winslow, 6-foot-5 small forward and the No. 9 player: 12.8 points, 58% field goals, 40% 3-pointers, 7.3 rebounds, 4.5 assists, 2.0 steals

In case you missed it… Transfer target Tarik Black, a 6-foot-9 big man from Memphis, is visiting Duke today. Black will be eligible to play immediately.

Duke basketball Mason Plumlee Flashback: 32 points against Wake Forest

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Over the past two weeks, The Blue Zone has been counting down the top five performances from each of Duke’s graduating seniors during their collegiate careers. This week, we conclude with forward Mason Plumlee.

No. 3: Plumlee scores 32 and pulls down 12 boards against Demon Deacons

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Mason Plumlee’s career-high 32 points led Duke past Wake Forest in a sloppy contest. (Eliza Bray/Chronicle File Photo)

The date: January 30, 2013

The game: Duke 75, Wake Forest 70

Plumlee statline: 32 points on 12-for-15 shooting, 12 rebounds, 8-of-10 from the charity stripe and two blocks.

The breakdown: Entering Winston-Salem as the No. 5 team in the nation, Mike Krzyzewski’s Blue Devil squad could have easily overlooked the Demon Deacons. The game got off to an ugly start—including a six-point deficit for Duke in the first period—so senior Mason Plumlee’s dominant offensive performance was vital in securing the team’s first ACC road win.

After opening with lackluster defense, the Blue Devils were able to clamp down on man-to-man assignments, disrupting Wake Forest’s ball movement and offensive timing. The Demon Deacons, on the other hand, could find no answer for Mason Plumlee.

The senior forward owned the paint, utilizing lateral screens, flashes and seals to earn easy bucket after easy bucket. Krzyzewski realized he had a good thing going in frontcourt and continued to run sets for the 6-foot-11 Plumlee.

Perhaps the most impressive part of Plumlee’s night was his patience offensively. The senior captain was not pressing for his shots, but instead let the game come to him. Many of Plumlee’s points came on wide-open layups and dunks.

For a perimeter-focused team like Duke, Plumlee provided an offensive anchor that left Jeff Bzedelik’s squad with limited options. That anchor was key in balancing Duke’s offense and securing the win in Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

The quote: “The guys got me the ball in good positions, a lot of it was sets; it wasn’t really moves, a lot of it was just layups,” Plumlee said. “I thought we could have played better, but in the end of the day we won.”

Previous Plumlee performances:

No. 5: Plumlee records double-double in Maui win against Kansas

No. 4: Plumlee sets career highs in points and blocks against Marquette

Quinn Cook and Nolan Smith in Portland

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With Duke out of the NCAA Tournament, losing to Louisville 85-63 in the Elite Eight, Quinn Cook spent the weekend in Portland with former Blue Devil and current Trailblazer Nolan Smith.

Cook regularly refers to Smith as his big brother. Both played their senior high school seasons at Oak Hill Academy and played for the DC Assault AAU team.

Here are some of their best tweets and Instagrams from the weekend together.

Ndotsmitty instagram

Cook was on hand to see Smith and the Portland Trailblazers play the Houston Rockets Friday, a 116-98 loss for Portland. Smith played four minutes and scored two points.

Cook sent out this Instagram before the game of Smith warming up:

nolan warming up

The two finished up with some MLS action:

cook nolan mls

The key three: Duke basketball vs. Louisville

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The No. 2 seed Blue Devils will face their greatest challenge at 5:05 P.M. Sunday against a streaking No. 1 seed Louisville for the right to go to the Final Four in Atlanta.

Here are the keys to this Elite Eight matchup:

Will Gorgui make the difference?

The first time these teams faced each other in November, Louisville center, Gorgui Dieng, was sidelined with a wrist injury. The 6-foot-11 center is certainly a force to be reckoned with and will be Mason Plumlee’s main focus on the defensive end in the game. Dieng is the Cardinals second leading scorer averaging 10.0 points per game and leads the team in rebounding with 9.5 per game. On the defensive end, he averages 2.5 blocks and 1.4 steals per game. His size on the block allows Louisville to take more risks defensively knowing that he is protecting the basket. Duke will need to adjust to his presence on the court and exploit any holes in the Lousiville defense to attack the basket or to shot from beyond the arc.

Get Quinn Cook involved

Against the Spartans, Cook was less than stellar shooting 0-for-5 from the floor and committing three turnovers. The Blue Devils need him to be a presence on both ends of the floor with tight defense on Peyton Siva and controlling the flow of the game on the offensive end. The first time these teams matched up in November, Cook had 15 points, including Duke’s final eight of the game.  He does not need to have so great of a contribution tonight, but if he can dictate the tempo of play and get his teammates involved with assists, Duke will have a much higher chance of reaching the Final Four. Most importantly, he’ll be critical in breaking the high-pressure Louisville defense that forces the second most turnovers per game in the nation.

The amount of fouls called

Duke has been exceptional this season drawing fouls from opponents and hitting free throws at key junctures. Against Michigan State, the Blue Devils sunk 24-of-26 free-throw attempts on their way to a comfortable victory. Louisville beat No. 12 seed Oregon in the Sweet Sixteen despite playing most of the first half with Peyton Siva on the bench. If the Cardinals’ key contributors including Siva and Dieng, are on the bench with foul trouble, Duke will have a great chance of pulling out the victory. Conversely, if Mason Plumlee gets into foul trouble early, the Blue Devils will be seriously impaired on the block with little depth at the position. For both sides, fouls will be a key factor in the final result.