Some of the same Cameron Crazies that chanted "We want Corey" for freshman Corey Maggette last year during an exhibition game were present in full force on Saturday night for the annual Blue-White basketball scrimmage.
Like last season, the Crazies were hoping to sway yet another big-time recruit to come to Duke-but this year their cheers were directed at 6-foot-7 standout Mike Dunleavy.
The warm reception that Maggette received from the Cameron crowd a little less than a year ago coupled with an overall positive recruiting visit made clear to him that Duke was the right place to be. Maggette committed to Duke just 10 days later.
Now, the ball is in Dunleavy's court.
While reluctant to commit firmly to one school, Dunleavy seemed very impressed by his visit to Duke this weekend.
"Hopefully next year I will be playing here," Dunleavy said after the scrimmage. "I've got to work out a few things and talk it out with my parents, but it's looking good."
After spending time with current Blue Devils Elton Brand, Shane Battier and Chris Burgess (among others) and touring the Duke campus, Dunleavy was still most impressed by what he experienced inside Cameron Indoor Stadium.
"There's nothing like it," Dunleavy said at halftime. "I'd like to come back for a game. I hear that it's even better. This is pretty spectacular."
Dunleavy, who was visiting with his father, Mike Sr., must choose between Duke, North Carolina and Stanford, the three remaining schools on his list sometime before the early signing period begins Nov. 11.
"All the schools provide a great education and have great basketball programs," said Dunleavy. "Now, it's just going to come down to getting to know the players and campuses and whatever I feel is best for me."
Mike Sr., current coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, is very familiar with the recruiting process that his son is going through and has confidence that whatever decision his son makes will be the right one.
"Michael has done a great job of narrowing it down to three terrific schools." said Mike Sr., of his son. "For him, there are really no bad decisions in the process and he's been very mature about it, and I'm sure he's going to made a great decision."
All that remains for Dunleavy now is a visit to North Carolina, and after that he plans to announce his decision on the 11th, the first day of the week in which high-school seniors throughout the country generally make their decisions official.
While numerous factors will ultimately influence Dunleavy's decision, one area that he emphasized as being especially important was meshing well with players on the team.
"It was pretty impressive with Elton Brand and Trajan Langdon and the rest of the guys," Dunleavy said. They are all very down to earth and easy to get along with."
Surrounded by possible future teammates in the locker room after the scrimmage, Dunleavy was a little more revealing about his feelings toward the Blue Devils than he was at halftime.
Whether Dunleavy was simply caught up in the excitement of the evening, or whether he was actually closer to a final decision remains to be seen.
Whatever the case, clearly Duke has an excellent chance of landing this prized recruit to add to its already-impressive class of 2003 recruiting class.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.