Brand completes stellar recruiting class

This is the second installment in a two part series featuring the men's basketball team's spring signees. Today: forward Elton Brand.

It became an all-too-familiar scene for the men's basketball team over the latter part of its season: Duke would play tenacious defense and force a missed shot, only to watch helplessly as its bigger, stronger opponent pulled down an offensive rebound and scored on a put-back.

While the Blue Devils' mid-season switch to a smaller lineup initially sparked a seven-game winning streak, their lack of size eventually caught up to them both on the boards and in the standings. Duke went 2-4 over its final six games, getting out-rebounded by an average of 14.5 boards in each of the four losses and falling to Providence in the second round of the NCAA Tournament. With the Blue Devils' two centers on the bench in favor of shorter, quicker players, their fans could only sit tight and endure Duke getting pounded inside.

But before future Duke opponents drift into dreams of dominance on the boards, they might want to have a little talk with any team that had to face Detroit Country Day, Woodbridge (Calif.) or, perhaps most importantly, Peekskill (N.Y.). Then they would hear about three players who happen to be attending Duke next year: 6-foot-8, 205-lb. Shane Battier, 6-foot-11, 240-lb. Chris Burgess and a 6-foot-9, 245-lb. power forward-who this year averaged a mere 16.2 rebounds per game-named Elton Brand.

"The difference between him and a lot of players his size is his strength and physical stamina," Brand's high school coach, Lou Panzanaro, said. "He's 6-foot-9 and 245 pounds. He's got a wide frame and is just very strong."

Brand-who also averaged 26.4 points in leading Peekskill to a 17-5 record this season-became the last of the Blue Devils' incoming freshman class to officially sign his letter of intent on Tuesday, joining Battier, Burgess and 6-foot-2 point guard Will Avery. Despite his physical bulk and seven-foot, four-inch wingspan, Brand doesn't believe he's guaranteed his share of rebounds.

"You've got to have the will to go get the ball," he said. "You can't be nonchalant and let someone else get it. You've got to go after it yourself."

Panzanaro agreed that Brand's prowess on the boards is due to more than brute strength.

Brand knew when he committed to Duke that he'd face stiff competition for playing time. While other players might have chosen a school where they could star right away, he looked at the Blue Devils' depth as a plus.

"Elton was well aware of it," Panzanaro said. "We talked about it in depth and his attitude was-his exact words were, 'Coach... I want to compete against the best players in college. What's wrong if they're all at Duke?' "

Brand will also have to contend with his classmates for minutes. At the very least, the recruiting class of Avery, Battier, Burgess and Brand is considered by most college basket analysts to be the best in the country for next year-some have gone as far as to call it the best of all time. But don't go calling him and his future teammates the Fab Four in front of Brand.

"I don't think there's any pressure," he said. "We want to get in and be part of the team. I've talked to the other guys and we just want to fit in. We don't want to be our own little entity but a part of Duke basketball. There's not going to be any jealousy or hatred if you're part of the team. And they already have a lot of good players, so it's not going to be just us but the whole team."

Brand has had to play with and against his fellow signees in several recent high school all-star games. He even roomed with Battier at the McDonald's All-American game last month and with Avery at Sunday's Capital Classic. Brand said he had a good time hanging out with his future teammates off the court, but he managed to outshine them on the court. He put up 16 points and nine rebounds at the McDonald's game and won Most Valuable Player honors at the Capital Classic for his 22 points and 11 boards.

But it hasn't always been that way. While Avery, Battier and Burgess have been considered top prospects for years, Brand failed to gain the same elite status until this summer. He attributes this to Peekskill not being a national high school power known for producing college standouts, pointing out that Battier, for example, attended Chris Webber's alma mater.

"[The recruiters] just had never seen me," Brand said. "I needed the exposure and that's what happened at the big camps. It was my first time at the Nike camp and I played in the national AAU tournament too. If the scouts couldn't see me they couldn't rate me."

Panzanaro added that Brand has shown tremendous growth as a person and player over the last few years.

"I believe in developmental maturity," he said. "When he was 14 he had his first varsity experience, and he was six-foot-five or six but he still had to develop his footwork. He's been learning every year. He's developed mentally and came to understand what he could do. Over the summer a whole lot took place. He was growing into his body, and he started to understand more of what it took to be effective offensively."

Soon the big-time colleges were calling and Brand had to make a decision about his future. An A student with SAT's of over 1100, he was drawn by Duke's academics, but felt that it bested the competition in other areas as well. It didn't hurt that he had long been a Blue Devil fan, spurred on by his older brother's rooting interest.

"It was kind of planted in my head early on," he said. "It was just embedded there."

Brand recalled watching Bobby Hurley play and seeing Duke win consecutive national championships. He would love to follow in the footsteps of his basketball predecessors to win another title for the Blue Devils. But don't look to him to set a precedent that they did not: leaving early for the NBA.

"It would take extreme circumstances," Brand said. "I want to take full advantage of my Duke education. It takes away from the team; if it loses marquee players it's just not going to be as good unless it can make it up in recruiting. Players leaving after two to three years is a lot harder on the team. The players in the NBA are getting paid millions but the team's going to be struggling."

Team is a word that seems to come up frequently when Elton Brand speaks. Panzanaro has seen what Brand can do for a team over the last four years, and he had no qualms about recommending his player for any team.

"There's something special about the way he always carried himself on the court and in the classroom," the coach said. "He's just a very mature young man who happens to be a great basketball player."