Although basketball season is still months away, another season of near equal importance-recruiting season-is at a critical juncture.
This weekend two high school seniors--Kelly Cain and Karima Christmas--will make official visits to Duke as they try to sift through a number of scholarship offers and decide where to lend their talents for the next four years.
Both scout.com four-star recruits will attend the football game against Richmond, watch a practice with the women's national team in Cameron Indoor Stadium, meet the current Blue Devils and take tours of campus during their two days in Durham.
Cain is a 6-foot-6 center from Atlanta, where she has twice led St. Pius X Catholic High School to the 4A state championship. Last year, she also earned 4A state Player of the Year honors while posting 20.1 points, 13.2 rebounds and 6.0 blocks per game.
Over the summer Cain competed with the Under-18 Women's National Team at the FIBA Americas U18 Championships for Women in Colorado Springs. Although she started just one game, Cain averaged 1.8 blocks per game, the highest mark of the tournament.
"She has tremendous timing on blocked shots," Cain's high school coach, Stephanie Dunn said. "She is very dominating. She closes everything down in the paint defensively."
While Cain's size is an obvious advantage, Dunn noted her soft hands, exceptional timing and intelligence as other strong points.
"The best thing I can say about her is that she's very very coachable," Dunn said. "She's very unselfish. She's all about the team."
With Mistie Williams now gone and 6-foot-7 Alison Bales set to graduate in the spring, Cain would bolster the front court should the high school senior choose to join the Blue Devils.
Along with Duke, LSU and Tennessee currently sit atop Cain's short list of schools. Duke is the first school to which she will make an official visit.
Christmas, a 5-foot-11 guard, has twice been named a Street and Smith All-America honorable mention in her three years playing varsity at J. Frank Dobie High School in Houston.
Also a member of the track team, Christmas is a fast player with exceptional athletic ability who enjoys driving to the basket, said her mother, Vennita Christmas.
"She has great jumping ability," Vennita Christmas said. "She gets a lot of rebounds."
Coming out of a system that features four perimeter players, Christmas could potentially play guard or forward, said her coach, Doug Gibson.
"She brings a lot to the table with with her rebounding and speed," Gibson said. "The speed of the game picks up with her in it."
The Blue Devils are experienced and deep at the guard position. So, Christmas would likely move into a versatile forward position to bolster Duke's depth down low.
Along with Duke, Christmas is currently considering LSU, Texas, and Texas A&M, Gibson said. He added that Duke appears to be her top choice.
"She is a very aggressive player," Vennita Christmas said. "She's a winner. She doesn't give up no matter what. She wants to play until the end."
Last year, the Blue Devils added two recruits for the upcoming season. Forwards Joy Cheek and Bridgette Mitchell made a similar visit to Duke last year and later decided to sign with Duke.
Cheek and Mitchell will likely see playing time since sophomore Carrem Gay is the only experienced Blue Devil forward.
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