Next week, West Coast basketball prodigy DeMarcus Nelson will get a taste of what it's like to be a Duke Blue Devil.
The 6-foot-3 shooting guard, who committed to Duke as a sophomore in May of 2002, confirmed that he will be attending Midnight Madness and visiting the campus later this month.
The Sacramento, Calif., native is considered one of the nation's top recruits. As a junior last year, Nelson averaged a jaw-dropping 34 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists per game and even worked out with some of the Sacramento Kings.
"It was a good experience," Nelson said of the workouts. "Me and [current Kings guard] Bobby Jackson, we've been working out together for about a year now. He's been taking me under his arms and helping me to become successful at the next level," adding that he had also played against Mateen Cleaves and Mike Bibby.
This past summer, Nelson also spent some time at Duke's basketball camp and starring at the prestigious ABCD camp.
"ABCD I would say was really good," the talented Californian said. "I went down there, played some real good ball down there. I continued to establish that I am among the elite of the best."
Yet could Nelson, already considered an elite shooting guard prospect, be underrated?
"I still don't feel that I get the credit that I should, though, for what I've done so far when you read about the ABCD camp," Nelson said. "That's like a nuisance or nag, where you see other guys get more hype or ink than you when statistics show you had the better showing."
The statistics certainly seem to back Nelson's case. In addition to making the ABCD Camp All-Star game and averaging nearly a triple-double a game last year, Nelson led all scorers at the USA Development Festival in July and dished out as many assists as much-ballyhooed Brooklyn point guard Sebastian Telfair. Yet despite the gaudy box line, Nelson is only ranked in the low teens and high 20s by major recruiting services such as rivals.com and theinsiders.com.
Nelson, however, doesn't let his rankings detract from his game; rather, he uses them to fire himself up.
"It keeps me hungry," Nelson said. "It keeps me motivated to play well wherever I go."
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