It didn’t take long for Duke Blue Devils fans to have something to cheer about after their squad was un-ceremonially bounced a tad early from the NCAA Tournament a few weeks ago. Besides the fact that Coach K and staff have assembled another Top 5 recruiting class led by Austin Rivers, Michael Gbinije, Quinn Cook, and Marshall Plumlee, they also got the good news that Alex Murphy, their Top 15 rated recruit in 2012, has decided skip his senior year at St. Marks in Massachusetts to enroll a year early.
As we reported a few months ago, Murphy is a Kyle Singler clone as a 6’8 and 215 lb elite level small forward that was originally the #15 rated prospect in the 2012 Class, but after being re-evaluated because of age and current skill level, is now the #40 rated prospect among all 2011 prospects.
He has a game that is eerily similar to that of the now graduated Kyle Singler in that he has an already high basketball IQ and a now prototypical inside/outside combo game that Coach K and staff loves. The Dukies have recruited nicely to fill the mixture of graduating upperclassmen(Singler and Smith) and NBA Draft Lottery bound freshmen (Irving) with the incoming Murphy and Rivers along with Cook taking over PG duties.
Here’s a quote from Murphy on his decision to re-classify:
“It was a very difficult decision but in the end I just thought this was the best thing for my future,” Murphy said. “It’s a great opportunity.”
The native of South Kingston, Rhode Island has already completed 4 years of high school after transferring to Massachusetts basketball powerhouse St. Marks and repeating his freshman year. So after meeting all academic requirements, Murphy will enroll early and participate with the other incoming freshmen for next season.
Check out Alex Murphy’s HS mixtape:
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.
