What does the NCAA’s active winningest head coach on the nation’s defending national championship squad do to replace his unquestioned team leader, 4 year starter, and former Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four upon graduation?
That is the daunting task soon to be faced by Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski, who in addition to trying to repeat as national champions, will have to make do next season without program stalwart Kyle Singler, who graduates and will undoubtedly be taking his talents to the NBA.
Coach K and staff have hit the recruiting trail pretty hard this past year to secure commitments from 4 elite level prospects like Austin Rivers, Michael Gbinije, Quinn Cook, and Marshall Plumlee, all of whom are ranked among the Top 40 Players in the country. Three of those recruits(Rivers, Cook, and Plumlee) have been selected to participate in the prestigious 2011 McDonald’s All American Game taking place in Chicago, on March 30th.
To the delight of Blue Devil fans everywhere, Cameron Indoor will be now be the future home-court of Alex Murphy(St Marks, MA), arguably a Top 10 player in the 2012 Class, as one of the nation’s very best junior HS players. Fans may also be happy to know that there are rumors floating around that Murphy may decide to reclassify to the 2011 Class in order to play immediately next season. Getting a player early is nothing new for Duke as Andre Dawkins’ decision to reclassify early nearly 2 Summers ago is paying dividends already in just his sophomore season.
Getting back to Murphy, he is a consensus Top 15 player by all scouting sources and can be somewhat described as a Kyle Singler clone since he is described as having a tremendously high basketball IQ to go along with excellent size(6’8 and 215 lbs), and the now prototypical inside-outside game that the Dukies like to get out of their usually supremely skilled front-court players. He’s also is developing a nasty reputation for dunking on opposing players, no matter what the size, like recently when he banged on the 7 foot tall 2011 Pitt signee Malcolm Gilbert..
Here is his evaluation from ESPN:
Strengths:
Murphy is a very skilled with that has great size for the small forward position. He scores with athletic slashes to the rim where he can finish with either hand. Mid range pull ups and opens threes are also good weapons for Murphy. He is an excellent ball handler and passer with a matching basketball IQ. Murphy is a good decision maker and does a great job of taking what the defense gives him.
Weaknesses:
Murphy must add strength and should be more aggressive given his skill set because he could add to an already productive output. Murphy could be a better rebound and a more consistent shooter from behind the arc although his is pretty good at this stage of his game.
Bottom Line:
Murphy brings great size, skill and feel for the game to the small forward position. He is a match up problem because of his size and even could be a face up power forward in a small line up.
Alex is able to reclassify only because he repeated his freshman year. But even if he doesn’t, Murphy will be a key piece in yet another elite level recruiting class in 2012 with recent news that another Top 20 rated player Rasheed Sulaimon also will be in the fold after committing to Duke while on campus recently to watch the most recent Duke/UNC clash. They are also reportedly in the mix for Shabazz Muhammad, who is arguably a Top 3 player in the suddenly loaded 2012 Class.
Check out Alex Murphy in action:
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,mUpperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
