After proving all of the Blue Devils’ nay-sayers(and Duke haters) wrong last season, by winning their 4th National Title in school history, Nolan Smith and his Duke teammates were thought to possibly take a step back this upcoming season, after losing a number of players to graduation like John Scheyer, Brian Zoubek, and Lance Thomas. Most fans hang their hopes of a repeat on 1st Team All ACC player Kyle Singler’s return to school for his senior season, as well as the incoming talents of Kyrie Irving, the #1 ranked point guard coming out of high school, and Stephen Curry’s baby brother, Seth Curry who transferred from Liberty.
But after witnessing senior shooting guard Nolan Smith showing out at the Greater NC Pro-Am, Duke fans should rest a little easier considering he was one of the event’s most outstanding players, after dropping 41 points on an opponent in one game. Smith ranked 3rd on the Blue Devils in scoring last season, but is primed to move up a spot or two, considering that he will be on the receiving end of freshman phenom Irving’s spectacular passes.
And let’s not forget about rising sophomore Mason Plumlee, who also pulled off some of the event’s most spectacular plays by most notably showing major hops by jumping so high that his head nearly clears the rim. But, in order to not make this all about the Dukies, check out a video of the Top 10 Plays at the Greater NC Pro-Am, featuring amazing plays from several Blue Devil players, along with other top tier recruits like Class of 2011 Top 5 Player Quincy Miller, and the HS ranks consensus best dunker Deuce Bello. These plays will surely make you forget about the NBA Summer Leagues.
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
