Cameron Indoor Stadium came to life again Friday night.
A gritty, heady point guard swished threes and dished out eye-popping assists. Later, an athletic power forward wowed journalists and coaches alike with a wide array of skills and a knowledge of the game well beyond his years. Then, a surging star dropped thundering dunks--and spectators' jaws--all evening long.
Ghosts of Blue Devils past? Not quite.
But there were performances by future Blue Devils that Friday, some of whom took part of the Tournament of Champions, one of the nation's most prestigious AAU basketball tournaments.
Hosted every year by recruiting guru Bob Gibbons, the Tournament of Champions has become a Triangle mainstay and a prime opportunity to catch the ACC's best before they ever don college uniforms. Five years ago, for example, head coach Mike Krzyzewski was quite taken with a junior guard who was dominating the competition. Today, Chris Duhon leaves Duke with an armful of awards, including a national championship and numerous All-America and All-ACC selections.
Two years ago, a dazzling performance by then-sophomore DeMarcus Nelson resulted in an immediate Duke scholarship offer, which he accepted to become what is believed to be the earliest Blue Devil commitment ever. Now a high school senior and McDonald's All-American, Nelson will enter Duke as the Blue Devils' top incoming recruit with Shaun Livingston expected to make the jump directly to the NBA.
This year's edition of the Tournament of Champions was no different. A bevy of possible Duke recruiting targets--highlighted by sophomore Greg Oden and junior Eric Boateng--competed in the event, as did Duke class of 2005 commitments Greg Paulus and Josh McRoberts. Both future Blue Devils had outstanding tournaments: Paulus finished the tournament as one of the top five scorers for a Syracuse/ Rochester SRAP team that made it to the third round of the playoffs. Not to be outdone, McRoberts' Spiece Indy Heat team--which ousted Paulus' squad from the tournament--won the championship thanks in large part to McRoberts' All-Tournament performance.
"I thought I played pretty well," McRoberts said. "It was a good experience to come out and win a big-time tournament against highly respected teams."
McRoberts was one of many stars on a stacked Indy Heat team that stormed the tournament. In addition to McRoberts, the Spiece Indy Heat boast two of the class of 2006's best guards in Mike Conley and Daequan Cook and a pair of super freshmen in Eric Gordon and Aaron Pogue. Sophomore superstar Greg Oden, however, was by far the team's strongest player. The 7-foot-1, 250-pound center dominated the competition, winning the tournament's Most Outstanding Player award for his efforts.
McRoberts was particularly impressive in the championship game against the New Orleans Jazz. With under a minute remaining in the game, the future Blue Devil intercepted an entry pass from Tasmin Mitchell, the top-ranked rising senior in the country, and converted it into a layup on the other end, sealing a 67-63 victory.
Paulus was equally impressive, dropping 27 points and dishing out nine assists in six tournament games. Led by Paulus and senior power forward Andray Blatche, SRAP made it to the third round of the playoffs before being knocked off by Spiece.
"We played well at times and we didn't play well at times, but all in all it was okay," Paulus said. "We went 5-1, which is pretty good, though obviously we wanted to win it all."
Dave Paulus, Paulus' father and the SRAP AAU coach, however, was happy with the team's performance despite the loss.
"We were kind of undermanned in the tournament to begin with," Dave Paulus said. "I thought that by the time they got to the sixth game they were out of gas. I had to play Greg almost every minute, every game."
Additionally, Dave Paulus dispelled fears that Greg might renege on his Duke commitment to play football elsewhere.
"He's going to Duke, and he's playing basketball at Duke," Dave Paulus said. "There's no truth about him going to any other school, and he's not playing football."
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