UPDATED 6 P.M. SEPT. 16:
Duke received a commitment Tuesday afternoon from 6-foot-9 junior power forward Josh McRoberts at a press conference at his high school.
"I would like to announce that upon graduating from Carmel High School in 2005 I will be attending Duke University," McRoberts declared. "After spending time at Duke on several different occasions I feel that Duke is the place for me."
McRoberts has been to Duke on at least two occasions, most recently on an unofficial visit with his family this past weekend. McRoberts also attended basketball camp at Duke over the summer.
The talented and versatile power forward averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game last year as a sophomore. He is rated one of the top ten prospects in the class of 2005 by theinsiders.com. McRoberts becomes men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski's second commitment in the past month. He joins junior point guard Greg Paulus, who committed to Duke earlier in September.
Stay tuned to The Chronicle Online for more news on Duke's latest recruit, including an interview with the future Blue Devil later tonight. ORIGINAL STORY McRoberts to announce decision today, Duke expected to be Indianan's choice
Top class of 2005 recruit Josh McRoberts will announce his college decision at a press conference at 3:45 CST tomorrow. He is expected to decide between Duke, North Carolina, Indiana, Notre Dame, Kansas and Arizona.
The announcement comes right after McRoberts and his family took an unofficial visit to Duke this past weekend. As was reported in Monday's edition of The Chronicle, McRoberts seemed very pleased with his visit, and according to theinsiders.com, sources say he will commit to Duke.
Josh McRoberts' father Tim McRoberts would neither confirm nor deny such rumors in a telephone interview with The Chronicle Monday night. He said he has not yet been able to contact all of the schools involved in McRoberts' recruitment.
"I'd like to be able to call all of the schools that have been active with Josh," Tim McRoberts said. "The coach of the school to which [McRoberts] will commit knows where he's going to go but the other coaches don't."
Tim McRoberts did, however, confirm that his son's Duke visit was a success.
"We're very pleased," he said. "The trip went very very well." Josh McRoberts, a 6-foot-9 power forward from Carmel, Ind., averaged 16 points and 11 rebounds per game as a sophomore last year for Carmel High School. Versatile and athletic, he is considered to be one of the top-10 prospects in the class of 2005.
Were he to pick Duke, McRoberts would be men's basketball coach Mike Krzyzewski's second commitment in the class of 2005, joining point guard Greg Paulus, who gave Duke a verbal commitment earlier this month.
McRoberts will announce his decision at 4:45 p.m. Tuesday at a press conference at his high school. Check The Chronicle Online Tuesday night for an interview with McRoberts Tuesday night.
Russian native set to visit Duke campus later this month, looks forward to meeting current players
Just two years ago, Alexander "Sasha" Kaun was a 6-foot-10, 190-pound beanpole from Siberia with little basketball experience or knowledge of the English language.
Now two years more experienced, one inch taller and 50 pounds bigger, Kaun has blossomed into one of the premier big men in the class of 2004 and one of Duke's top recruiting targets.
"I talked to [Coach Mike Krzyzewski]; he actually was here last Thursday," the Tomsk, Russia native said in an interview with The Chronicle Monday night.
The big man, who has already taken official visits to Kansas and Michigan State, will visit Duke's campus the weekend of September 26.
"I know Coach K, what he has done...the program, the style of play, the motion offense," Kaun said. "The only thing I don't know is the relationship [between the coaching staff and the players], and I'd like to ask a couple of questions to the players."
The coach-player relationship and support system seem to be very important to the Russian native, whose family still lives overseas.
"If I had a hard time I could go and talk to someone like the coach or the players," the talented center said. He also said he would consider factors such as education, basketball program, style of play and fit in making his college decision.
Kaun is considered the 23rd best prospect in the class of 2004 by Rivals.com and is a consensus top-five center recruit. Last year Kaun averaged 13 points, 7 seven rebounds and two blocks per game as a junior for a Florida Air Academy team that had a second consecutive undefeated run to the state championship.
His statistics are somewhat deceiving, however. Kaun's high school team was very defense-oriented and balanced, according to Florida Today sports reporter Barbara Caywood.
"Everybody on the [Florida Air Academy] team averaged double figures," Caywood said. "They had such a balanced team and very, very outstanding guards...they were so good they beat a lot of teams by 40 points or so and their bench got a lot of playing time."
As of last night, Kaun was hesitant to name a leader for his services.
"I probably wouldn't be able to answer that question until I visited Duke," the Siberian said. He did, however, say he would likely announce his college decision "a couple of days" after his visit to the Gothic Wonderland.
"I don't know much about Duke," Kaun said. "Hopefully I'll find out."
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.