This is shaping out to be a pretty important weekend for Mike Krzyzewski.
Not only will the coach watch his team kick off the new season with a midnight practice tonight, this weekend also marks a key moment in his attempt to lure star recruit Jared Jeffries out of the state of Indiana.
Jeffries, a 6-foot-9 forward from Bloomington, Ind., makes his official visit to Duke today as he prepares to choose between the Blue Devils and hometown school Indiana.
The prep star will be joined by 6-2 point guard Adam Boone from Minnetonka, Minn., and both will attend midnight practice, which begins at 12:01 a.m. tomorrow morning. A charter jet picked up Jeffries in Indiana and Boone in Minnesota before touching down in North Carolina last night. Their visit officially begins today.
Although Jeffries is still considering several schools, including Florida State and Southern Cal, experts believe that Krzyzewski and mentor Bobby Knight are fighting a two-team race. Jeffries lives just eight miles from the campus of Indiana, who has been considered the front-runner for some time.
"All things being equal, it's hard to bet against the hometown school," said recruiting expert Brick Oettinger of The Sporting News. "But I also understand that Duke has made some serious inroads.... This is a battle. It's not a clear-cut one-way street."
Oettinger rates Jeffries as the fourth-best senior in the country, though he said that if Jeffries had been a senior any of the last two years, he would likely be rated No. 1. Duke, who already has big men Casey Sanders and Carlos Boozer, is recruiting Jeffries primarily as a wing forward.
"He is dangerous," Oettinger said of Jeffries. "He takes it to the basket with quickness and agility and he has the body control to hang up in the air, move the ball around and finish the play. He passes it very well. He handles the ball exceptionally well for a kid that size, and that's why he can play wing forward."
A lot of schools did not recruit Jeffries that heavily, feeling they would not be able to beat out Indiana. But Krzyzewski and the Blue Devils have apparently made a good impression.
"I think if anybody besides Indiana can get Jared Jeffries, it's Duke," Oettinger said. "This is a critical weekend [for Duke]. This is a great chance to impress, and I think he will be impressed. The bottom line is whether he wants to stay home with his parents, who have said they want to see him play."
While Jeffries' decision seems to be down to just two schools, few experts seem to have a handle on Boone's decision. The senior guard, rated 29th in the nation by Insiders Report, has not tipped his hand, only saying that he will make a decision after all of his official visits.
"I really can't say that I'm leaning one way or the other," Boone said from his Minnesota home. "I don't think it's fair for me to make any kind of pre-judgment before I see all my schools."
Boone has already visited Miami and Kentucky and will visit North Carolina mid-week. His last scheduled visit is Oct. 29-31 at Minnesota. Even though Duke already has point guards Jason Williams and Chris Duhon, Boone says that is not a major concern.
"It worries me a little bit," Boone said, "but I can see past that. Any program needs strong guard play, and if you put us three on the court on the same team, you're going to have strong guard play. It would be a worry, but I don't think it will deter any decision I make."
North Carolina, another school Boone is considering, could also have a logjam at point. The Tar Heels recently signed Brian Morrison and are heavily recruiting Omar Cook. John Hedstrom said Boone's high school coach, Tar Heel coach Bill Guthridge has said that he will not take both Cook and Boone.
Boone is a versatile player who led his team in rebounds and assists last season at Minnetonka Senior High School. He averaged 15 points, nine rebounds and seven assists a game last year.
"He doesn't do anything poor," Hedstrom said. "He's well coached fundamentally, he has tremendous skills and is a great verbal leader. He's the type of kid who lets you know he's with you, not against. He'll do anything to help you."
Boone is also a strong student and eventually wants to attend medical school and become a surgeon.
"The possibility of being involved in my undergraduate work with a school that's strong in medicine would be appealing to me," Boone said. "But at the same time, it's not the main factor."
Oettinger says he has a "gut feeling" that Minnesota could emerge as a school to watch out for. But the Gophers have been ripped by scandal this offseason, and their future is still in question.
"[The scandal] is obviously something you have to think about," Boone said. "I don't think the NCAA sanctions will be as hard as everyone says because right now there's not a lot of concrete facts. It's a lot of he said-she said. But don't get me wrong, I do think about it."
While Boone said he will likely announce his decision in the first week of November, Jeffries could make a decision shortly after his weekend visit. It is unlikely that he will make an official visit to Indiana, and Oettinger indicated a decision could come fairly soon depending on how the weekend goes.
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