Hurricane Isabel might not be the biggest thing visiting Durham this week.
Right after it blows through, Shaun Livingston looks to take Duke by storm.
The Peoria, Ill., native will be making his official visit to Duke this weekend. The 6-foot-7 point guard is considered one of the best players in a very deep and talented class of 2004.
"[Livingston] has had just uncommon ballhandling skills and court vision since he was in kindergarten," Peoria Journal-Star sports editor Kirk Wessler said. "What he has, you just don't see many basketball players on any level who see things, develop, and watch things that are going to happen at high speed...and he has it."
Livingston averaged 16 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists per game last year in leading his Peoria Central basketball team to a 31-1 record and a state championship. He is a consensus top-three player in the class of 2004 and is considered by many to be the second-best or even the No. 1 high school player in the nation. Even more tantalizing is the fact that Livingston seems dead-set on going to college instead of bolting to the NBA.
"I'm definitely a college-first type of guy," Livingston told The Chronicle two weeks ago. His coach, Chuck Buescher, echoed similar sentiments in a Wednesday evening interview with The Chronicle. "I truly believe Shaun wants to go to college," Buescher said. Neither he nor Livingston, however, would rule out the possibility that Livingston may test NBA waters.
"If the NBA's still looking at me [in April] then I can maybe look at them a little, but right now I'm definitely a college-first guy," Livingston said. He did, however, give an indication of what it would take for him to declare for the NBA draft.
"Right now I would have to be a top five pick for me to go," the lanky guard added.
The talented Illinois guard is considering Duke, North Carolina, Arizona, and hometown school Illinois. Some speculate that Duke may be his favorite; according to Buescher, both Livingston's father and grandfather are quite taken with men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski and the Gothic Wonderland.
"I know his Dad and Grandpa have very strong feelings about Duke," Buescher said. "I think his Grandpa in particular has very strong feelings toward Coach K and Duke, I do believe that."
According to Buescher, both Livingston's father and grandfather will be making the trip to Durham with him.
Livingston did visit Durham unofficially in late May during the prestigious Tournament of Champions, a renowned AAU competition that perennially features many of the country's best players. And in the past month, Krzyzewski had a tremendous in-home visit with the gifted floor general.
"[Coach Krzyzewski] did an outstanding job," Buescher said. "He had a presence in the room, and I thought he did a great job...it's pretty obvious why Duke has a great basketball program."
Yet Buescher was hesitant to call Duke the leader for the top senior point guard. He was also unsure of Livingston's current college preferences.
"Shaun may know [where he's going]," Buescher said. "But if he does know, he's not letting anybody else know."
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