Ryan Kelly isn’t working out at the NBA Draft Combine as he recovers from foot surgery, but the now-Duke graduate sat down with Seth Davis for Campus Insiders in Chicago to talk about his decision to postpone the operation.
At the combine Kelly measured up at just under 7-feet tall at the combine.
Here’s the Q&A, worth the watch:
Duke’s trio of seniors, Mason Plumlee, Ryan Kelly and Seth Curry, are not participating in drills at the NBA draft combine in Chicago, but they did get measured along with the other draft hopefuls. Here are some interesting measurement notes, as per ESPN’s Chad Ford. The official measurements—which are expected to match Ford’s—will be released today.
Mason Plumlee measured taller than expected at the NBA draft combine.
Ryan Kelly’s body fat is up, but it is may be due to his injury trouble this past season. Photo by Jisoo Yoon/The Chronicle
Josh Hairston underwent surgery on his right thumb and will miss 6-8 weeks. Photo by Melissa Yeo/The Chronicle File Photo
Rising senior forward Josh Hairston underwent surgery on his injured right thumb Tuesday and is expected to miss 6-8 weeks of action.
Hairston averaged 2.6 points and 2.1 rebounds in 12.7 minutes per game last season. He will be counted on to play a bigger role for the Blue Devils in the 2013-14 season with forwards Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly leaving for the NBA.
Hairston joins fellow big man Marshall Plumlee—who also had offseason surgery—on the sidelines. That leaves Amile Jefferson as the only healthy Duke low post player as of now.
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. 1: Plumlee leads comeback over Ohio State with 21 points and 17 rebounds.
The date: November 28, 2012
Plumlee’s 21 points and 17 rebounds helped Duke complete it’s comeback against No. 4 Ohio State.
The game: Duke 73, Ohio State 68
Plumlee statline: 21 points and 17 rebounds in 39 minutes of play against No. 4 Ohio State
The breakdown: The Blue Devils had one of the hardest November schedules in recent history, facing off against No. 3 Kentucky, No. 2 Louisville, and future NCAA Tournament teams Florida Gulf Coast, Minnesota and Virginia Commonwealth before a road-weary Duke team returned to Cameron Indoor Stadium for a date with No. 4 Ohio State.
After playing three games in three days during the Battle 4 Atlantis Tournament, the Blue Devils were sluggish offensively to start the game. Except for Mason Plumlee. The senior forward kept Duke afloat in the first half, scoring 10 of Duke’s 23 first half points as it went into the locker room trailing by eight points.
The highlight of Plumlee’s first half was an awe-inspiring alley-oop pass from Quinn Cook that sent Plumlee well above the rim and the crowd into a frenzy.
The second half the Blue Devils rallied around their leader and completed the comeback to keep their perfect record and their non-conference winning streak. The hallmark of the second half came when Plumlee corralled his own miss on the offensive glass, then kicked out the ball to Ryan Kelly for a 3-pointer that gave Duke the lead for good late in the game.
When there was no other Blue Devil who could provide any sort of offense, the team leaned on its best player to keep them in the game. It was a total team performance in the second half that ultimately pushed Duke over the top, but without Plumlee’s consistent production in both halves, Duke never would have had a shot against No. 4 Ohio State.
The quote: “He’s one of the best players in the country. His performance tonight was magnificent,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said.
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
No. 3: Plumlee scores 32 and pulls down 12 boards against Demon Deacons
Seth Curry, Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee have all been invited to participate in the 2013 NBA Draft Combine in Chicago. The NBA released the names of its 60 invitees Thursday evening. The Combine will take place May 16 and 17 at the United Center.
Mason Plumlee was one of three former Blue Devils invited to the NBA Draft Combine. (Eliza Bray/Chronicle File Photo)
Plumlee is likely to be Duke’s only player to fully participate in the Combine. Curry and Kelly both underwent offseason surgery, Curry on his right leg and Kelly on his right foot. The rehabilitation process is expected to take 10-12 weeks for Curry and 12-16 weeks for Kelly.
Participants in the NBA Draft Combine will have the opportunity to show off their skills for professional scouts and interview with coaches and executies from NBA teams.
Other participants from ACC schools include North Carolina’s Reggie Bullock, N.C. State’s Lorenzo Brown, Richard Howell, Maryland’s Alex Len, Miami’s Kenny Kadji and Shane Larkin and Virginia Tech’s Erick Green.
Over the next three weeks, The Blue Zone will be counting down the top five performances from each of Duke’s graduating seniors during their collegiate careers. This week, we start with forward Ryan Kelly.
No. 5: Kelly registers a career-high against the Hurricanes
Ryan Kelly returned from his foot injury to score a career-high 36 points against Miami. (Chronicle Photo Illustration by Nicole Savage)
The date: March 2, 2013
Kelly statline: In his first game back from injury, Kelly poured in 36 points in 32 minutes on the court, shooting 10-of-14 from the field, including 7-of-9 from behind the arc, and 9-of-12 from the free throw line. The senior also grabbed seven rebounds.
The breakdown: After losing at Miami in late January and watching the Hurricanes’ home crowd storm the court, Blue Devil fans placed a special significance on March’s game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Not only did the rematch provide a chance for revenge against ACC-leader Miami, but Duke fans would also witness Kelly’s return after a 13-game hiatus due to a right foot injury.
With some speculation about whether or not Kelly would play, the Blue Devils faithful were on edge on game day; ready to see the forward back in action. When the senior come out onto the court to warmup rather than heading to the bench with a boot on his foot, the Cameron Crazies erupted.
And the White Raven did not fail to impress.
Kelly lined up for his first shot, a three-pointer, just 25 seconds into the game. 9,314 fans held their breath as the ball soared towards the basket and—missed. The senior forward would only fail to connect on two shots from the field the rest of the game.
Kelly’s next attempt, again a three-pointer, came 2 minutes and 26 seconds into the half. Once again, the crowd held its breath as the ball went up and—nothing but net.
With chants of ‘Ryan Kelly’ and ‘White Raven’ resounding throughout Cameron, the senior proceeded to put on a clinic for the rest of the opening period, pouring in 19 points in the first half. Kelly knocked down open threes, shots with defenders plastered all over him and buckets in the paint, confounding an athletic Miami defense that could not find an answer for the forward.
Despite Kelly’s monster first half, Duke trailed by two heading into the locker room.
The start of the second period went much like the first—Kelly remained relatively quiet for the first ten minutes as both teams traded baskets back an forth but failed to build any significant leads.
The last roughly 10 minutes of the game, much like the second half of the opening period, turned into the White Raven’s show. Kelly scored 12 points over the time span, and also picked up two steals in the final four minutes, to carry the Blue Devils to victory in one of the most exciting games played in Cameron over the past decade.
The quote: “We were all privileged to see one of the performances of the ages, I think, by Ryan Kelly,” Duke head coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “[It was] probably as good of a performance as any Duke player has had at Cameron.”
Previous Kelly performances:
No. 5: Kelly scores 20 points against Wake Forest