2009 Duke commit Mason Plumlee has watched three games inside Cameron Indoor Stadium, but had never played in his future home arena until Friday night, when he scored 14 points and grabbed 11 rebounds as his AAU team, the Indiana Elite, won in the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Champions.
The 6-foot-10 power forward elicited “oohs” from the crowd when he slammed home a putback in the second half, and also wowed some spectators with a behind-the-back, backdoor pass to a cutting teammate late in the first half.
“It was fun, I like it,” Plumlee said after the game. “It’s my new favorite place to play.”
Mason’s brother, Miles, also committed to Duke in late April after being released from his Letter of Intent to Stanford. Miles, who will come to Durham for the second summer session, is at home in Indiana working on his game and hitting the weight room.
“When I was making the initial decision, playing with him was a big part of it, and I just didn’t want to go all the way to the West Coast and be that far from home,” Mason said. “Now that he’s coming to Duke, it’s really all I ever wanted…. He’s really skilled, but it surprises people how explosive he’s gotten. He’s been in the weight room, working really hard, and he’s so explosive now, he still surprises me sometimes.”
Mason, who goes to school four hours away in Arden and said he will come to as many games as he can next year, noted that he pressured Miles “as much as he could” to come to Duke. Their youngest brother, Marshall, was scheduled to play in the Triangle tournament, but twisted his ankle and stayed at home.
He also said he plans on watching Kenny Boynton, scout.com’s second-ranked 2009 shooting guard, this weekend to try to sell Duke.
--by Ben Cohen
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