Q&A with Duke Recruit Kyrie Irving Fuels Speculation

New Jersey native Kyrie Irving dismissed rumors that he had promised his services to the Blue Devils on a UStream video broadcast for his fans Tuesday. Irving, the No. 9 prospect in the class of 2010 by Rivals.com, is generally considered very likely to be Durham-bound since eliminating Indiana from his college list.

"A lot of you guys were wondering if I was going to commit like yesterday or today. No, that can't happen," Irving said. "The team has a great relationship, they are like a family. That whole Duke visit, I loved everything about it.... [But] no, there is no truth to me already committing to Duke."

Irving did tell fans, however, that his visit went extremely well.

"The campus was great at Duke," the guard said. "When I went to the football game, they were yelling my name. That was great, I really enjoyed that."

But though the UStream broadcast was intended to put rumors to rest, it may ultimately only have kept the speculation alive. Near the end of the live address, Irving's good friend—whom he called Jerry—accidentally claimed that he would be accompanying Irving to Duke's "Countdown to Craziness" event Oct. 16. Irving fell back in the chair and looked at his friend in disbelief. Here is the transcript:

Jerry: "And yeah, I believe I'm coming with [Irving] to Duke's Midnight Madness."

Irving: "You mean Kentucky's Big Blue Madness. What are you talking about?"

Jerry: "So what is it? I'm going to Kentucky, I'm not going to Duke [with you]?"

Irving: "No you're not going to Duke!"

Jerry: "Oh I'm going to Duke? Oh word. Oh well, I'm going to one of them, it doesn't matter."

Irving: "What are you talking about?"

Jerry: "What, I'm just going to be in the building."

Irving: "Oh my gosh, dog. You're out, we're out dog."

A pessimist would insist Jerry knew something more than Irving has so far announced. But for now, there is no real option but to believe Irving's response (via Twitter) that the comment was a mistake: "Jerry made a mistake we are still going to uk for big blue madness."