In the past month, men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski has snagged verbal commitments from junior standouts Greg Paulus and Josh McRoberts. Could super senior Shaun Livingston be next?
Livingston, a 6-foot-7 guard from Peoria, Ill., visited Duke officially this weekend with his father and grandfather and walked away impressed.
"It was real nice," the prized point guard told The Chronicle Sunday night. "I liked the scenery.... I had some pretty good talks with Coach K and the assistant coaches; we got to spend some time with them."
Livingston spoke of "a vision" that Krzyzewski had for him.
"He felt that I could be a special player," the gifted floor general said. "[Coach Krzyzewski said] I had a lot of raw talents that I hadn't developed yet, that I hadn't played up to my ability yet."
Livingston, who left campus Sunday morning, took in the many sights and sounds of the Gothic Wonderland over the weekend, including Duke's 28-10 football loss to Northwestern and a pickup game with the current men's basketball team.
"It was nice," the talented guard said of the pickup game. "I played okay; I felt I could've played better."
Livingston did, however, mention several current Blue Devils with whom he enjoyed playing and who made his visit more comfortable.
"I felt really comfortable playing with Luol [Deng]; he's really versatile and easy to play with," Livingston said. "Daniel Ewing... I liked his game; I think he's a better player than he gives himself credit for."
Livingston also mentioned spending some time with point guard Sean Dockery and that he enjoyed the company of all the current Blue Devils.
"All the players were pretty cool," Livingston said. "I got to hang out with them; they made me feel pretty comfortable."
Versatile and athletic, Livingston averaged nearly a triple-double last year in leading his Peoria Central (Illinois) team to a 31-1 record and the state championship.
Considered the top non-center prospect in the class of 2004, Livingston is expected to choose between Duke, North Carolina, Arizona and Illinois. But he does not anticipate making an immediate decision; rather, he intends to visit all four schools before announcing his collegiate plans.
Additionally, Livingston has maintained interest in North Carolina during the past few months despite its crowded scholarship situation.
"I talked with Coach [Roy] Williams and I got a pretty good idea of where he sat with me," the talented floor general said. "I'm pretty confident [a scholarship] would be there for me."
Including verbal commitments, North Carolina is at the NCAA-mandated limit of 13 scholarship players for next season. Were Livingston to commit to North Carolina, one current player would have to be released from his scholarship.
Additionally, North Carolina recently offered a scholarship to point guard prospect Quentin Thomas, which could make it even more difficult for Livingston to commit to North Carolina. Livingston, who will meet with Williams tomorrow in an in-home visit, was as yet unsure of what he would do were Thomas to accept his scholarship offer.
"That's something me and [Williams] would have to talk about," Livingston said. "We'll see what [North Carolina] is going to do."
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