Monday was a good day for the women's basketball team.
First, word circulated that Brittany Hunter, the All Star Girl's Report's top-ranked recruit in the country, had verbally committed to the Blue Devils Sunday afternoon. Then, the preseason AP poll was released with Duke heading the list.
Hunter, who ASGR's Bret McCormick described as a "very physical" player, is a 6-foot-3 senior at Brookhaven High School in Columbus, Ohio, where she averaged 19.6 points and 14 rebounds per game last season.
She visited Duke two weekends ago and attended the men's basketball Blue-White scrimmage. After narrowing her finalists to Duke and defending national champion Connecticut, Hunter decided over the weekend and called Duke head coach Gail Goestenkors Sunday.
"I took basketball out of the whole equation about the schools," Hunter said of her decision. "They're both really good schools for basketball, great coaches, great teams. I had fun at both places. But, if I weren't playing basketball--which I'm not going to be 15 or 20 years down the road--what school would I go to? And I chose Duke."
Goestenkors's besting of legendary Connecticut head coach Geno Auriemma for a player that both coaches wanted badly, along with the team's preseason No. 1 ranking, announced that Duke has arrived in the women's basketball world.
"Things are changing in women's basketball," McCormick said. "Not all the best players are going to Connecticut or Tennessee anymore."
The Blue Devils, who received 38 of 44 first-place votes in the AP poll, return seven players from last year's eight-person squad. In addition, they added five freshmen, a class that McCormick said was last year's best.
Hunter figures to see time at center and power forward for the Blue Devils, playing alongside freshman centers Mistie Bass and Brooke Smith as well as junior forward Iciss Tillis.
"Iciss would like to move outside, so I'd be helping her out," Hunter said. "Mistie would probably be the [center] with Brooke. I'd add to the running side, to the more athletic side [of the] team, alongside Iciss."
With 12 players, Duke is currently very deep, and with only two seniors, the Blue Devils will likely remain so for Hunter's freshman season. Nevertheless, Hunter will likely be able to find minutes right away next year.
"When she comes in, she's already physically ready to make the move from high school to college," McCormick said. "She's not going to have to get in the weight room for a year. She's already got the strength."
In addition to Hunter, Duke is also heavily recruiting Alison Bales and ASGR's No. 2 recruit Tiffany Jackson. Bales visited Duke at the same time as Hunter and Jackson visited the first weekend in October.
Even though all three players spend most of their time in the paint, Hunter has expressed interest in playing with them.
"Earlier this summer, Tiffany Jackson expressed to a lot of coaches that we wanted to play with each other," Hunter said. "If she wanted to come, that would be awesome."
After learning that Duke had landed Hunter, McCormick--also an assistant coach for the Premier Players exhibition team that will play the current Blue Devils tonight at 7 p.m. in Cameron--sees great things in Duke's future.
"In my mind, over the next few years, the only people who can beat Duke are themselves," McCormick said.
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