GERALD HENDERSON
THE EPISCOPAL ACADEMY, PA. • 6’5” • 205 LBS • 18.4 PPG
According to most scouts, rising high school senior Gerald Henderson isn’t even the best player on his team. Rumor has it, however, that his future head coach Mike Krzyzewski believes he may become one of the better players ever to come through his illustrious program.
“When [Krzyzewski] was up here talking to Gerald, he said he thinks he’s going to fit in very well with what they want to do down at Duke,” Henderson’s high school coach Dan Dougherty said. “He has compared him to some of the former Duke players—as a type of player with great versatility, who can play many positions, does different things well. He’s not solely a shooter or a playmaker. There is a great combination of things he can do.”
At 6-foot-5, Henderson was the second-leading scorer and leading rebounder for Episcopal Academy, which finished the year ranked No. 1 in the Philadelphia area by the Philadelphia Inquirer in 2005.
The leading scorer for Episcopal, and the player ranked ahead of Henderson by most recruiting services, is fellow rising senior Wayne Ellington. Fortunately the friends won’t be living too far apart since they chose to attend colleges only eight miles apart. One day after Henderson committed to Duke, Ellington elected to join the North Carolina class of 2010.
“They are very good friends,” Dougherty said. “I think it is great. It’ll only add to the rivalry.” —Andrew Yaffe
JON SCHEYER
GLENBROOK NORTH HS, ILL. • 6’5” • 180 LBS • 26.3 PPG
Head coach Mike Krzyzewski is hoping that his newest recruit from Glenbrook North High School is as good as his last, former player and current assistant coach Chris Collins.
Jon Scheyer, from Northbrook, Ill., provides ball handling and a sweet shot to the recruiting Class of 2006. The 6-foot-5 guard scored more than 26 points per game and carried Glenbrook North to the state championship his junior year.
The sharp-shooter picked Duke over Illinois after months of widely speculated deliberation. He is the fifth-rated shooting guard in the nation, according to Scout.com, but may play both guard positions at Duke. Scheyer has long-distance range but has played down comparisons to current Blue Devil J.J. Redick.
“[Redick] is the best shooter ever to come through college basketball,” Scheyer told the Charlotte Observer. “I don’t think I’m at his level shooting the ball, but I’m different. I can handle a little better and do more things with the ball.”
Both of Scheyer’s final school choices included close ties to his high school. Scheyer’s high school coach is David Weber, brother of Illinois head coach Bruce Weber; and Collins, who handled much of Scheyer’s recruiting, was a player at Glenbrook North in the early ’90s.
“Chris Collins factored into a lot of it,” Scheyer said during the press conference to announce his decision. “He was so consistent and understanding. I felt he could relate to me.” —Michael Moore
BRIAN ZOUBEK
HADDONFIELD MEMORIAL HS, N.J. • 7’1” • 270 LBS • 21.0 PPG
When Brian Zoubek comes to Duke in the fall of 2006, he will give the Blue Devils something they have not had in over a decade. The 7-foot-1, 270-pound center from Haddonfield, N.J., who verbally committed to attend Duke May 19, will be the first 7-footer to don a Blue Devil uniform since the seldom-used George Burgin in the late 1980s.
A mammoth-sized presence in the low post, Zoubek possesses the ability to finish strong around the basket and utilize a bevy of moves with both his right and left hands. He averaged 20.8 points and 13 rebounds as a junior while leading his high school team to its second state title in as many years.
“Brian’s main strength is his size underneath,” said Paul Wiedeman, Zoubek’s coach at Haddonfield Memorial High School. “He takes up a lot of space so he can get the ball on the block where he wants to. Then when he catches it, he does have a variety of moves with his back to the basket, and players now-a-days are not used to covering players that have a variety of moves inside.”
Zoubek’s size and strength down low should draw significant attention from opposing defenders and could open up the floor for his teammates so they can get better looks from the outside.
It remains to be seen, however, how Zoubek will fit into Duke’s motion offense and Zoubek must continue to develop his athleticism.
“Teams nowadays play an up and down game in transition,” Wiedeman said. “[Brian] will be able to get the rebound, but now I think Coach K wants him to run the floor and establish himself down on the block.” —John Taddei
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