Cameron Indoor Stadium was a planetarium Friday night.
Countless stars from Duke's past were on display at the charity basketball game--including six stars whose jerseys hang opposite Duke's three national championship banners. But tucked quietly in the crowd was a potential star of the future.
Ndudi Ebi, a 6-foot-10 senior at Westbury Christian in Houston, Texas, was attending the game as part of his official visit to Duke this weekend. The big forward, who is listed at only 195 pounds, sat next to the Duke team behind the home bench during the festivities.
"He's a great player," said Seth Davis, a college basketball analyst at Sports Illustrated. "I don't think Duke has ever had a player like him. I'm not saying he'd be the best Duke player ever, but I don't think they've ever had a rebounder/shotblocker like this guy. He's a tremendous talent and he plays bigger than he is--and he's pretty big."
Not quite dazzled by the array of NBA talent on the floor--he worked at Michael Jordan's Flight School camp and was nonchalant about meeting 'his airness'--Ebi was impressed by what the event in Cameron said about the program.
"It shows me they have wonderful tradition and they care about their players and they're really dedicated to their guys," Ebi said.
Ranked second by Dave Telep of TheInsiders.com's rankings for the class of 2003 behind Sports Illustrated cover boy Lebron James--the near-certain first pick of the 2003 NBA draft--Ebi averaged 23 points, 10 rebounds and four blocks per game as a junior. On the court, Ebi is an athletic defender and rebounder.
"I pretty much do everything," he said. "For the last years, I've been limited as a player, so I'm looking for a system to showcase my talent, because I'm ready to show everybody what I can really do. When I'm given the opportunity, all of my game can come out.
"I'm versatile. I'm a one through five at the defensive end and a one through five on the offensive end, but I still have a lot of work to do. Hopefully I can go to a program that will help me develop my perimeter skills and develop my strengths so I can be versatile a little bit better."
Although it is unlikely the big man will see any minutes at guard in college, Davis believes he will be able to play small forward in college if need be.
"In some respects he's raw, but he's so good it's hard to think of him as raw," Davis said. "It's just that he's got so much better to get. He won't reach his potential until after he's through college."
College may never see Ebi, said Davis, who believes the NBA will be an option for the high schooler. But, Ebi would be immediately valuable to Duke.
"At the defensive end, he'd be an instant impact player," Davis said. "His offense could still use some polish, but that's not uncommon for high school big men. He's just flat out great."
If Ebi ultimately commits to Duke, he may well be joining one of his friends. Luol Deng, a 6-foot-7 small forward at Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., who is ranked one place behind Ebi in Telep's rankings, is also an early Duke target.
Duke would like to see Ebi and Deng join early commitment Kris Humphries, a 6-foot-8 forward from Minnetonka, Minn., as part of a three-man class.
Ebi will visit the Univerity of Texas next weekend and has plans to schedule a visit to Arizona and possibly other schools as well.
He listed the finalists for his services Friday as Duke, the University of Houston, Texas, Arizona and Indiana in no particular order before smiling and adding, "I like Duke a lot."
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