Even on a team that gets as much attention as Duke, there is only so much hype to go around. Among Duke’s three incoming freshmen, point guard Kyrie Irving has made the most headlines, and deservingly so, since he’s the player ranked second overall in his class by Scout.com.
But there’s a reason the freshmen—Irving included—have taken to referring to themselves as “The Trio”: The Blue Devils will benefit greatly from the contributions of the other two Duke rookies, 6-foot-2 point guard Tyler Thornton and 6-foot-8 power forward Josh Hairston.
Thornton isn’t the flashy point guard that Irving is, but his leadership in the half-court offense is valuable.
“Tyler’s never going to be measured in stats,” associate head coach Chris Collins said. “You may look at the stat sheet and not see gaudy numbers, but you always see a guy who makes big plays when they matter most.”
Thornton calls himself “somebody who likes to get his teammates involved.” He’s a quality floor general, an excellent passer and a tenacious defender. While he doesn’t possess the sheer athletic ability of Irving, Collins said he is not intimidated by the more famous guard at all.
“Tyler’s such a tough-minded player; if there are times where Kyrie is slipping in his play or he’s not ready to play at the level he can play, Tyler makes him pay for it…. It’s great for those guys to bring out the best in one another,” Collins said.
In fact, Thornton played some of his best basketball in the Blue-White Scrimmage when Irving was on the floor. Irving’s quickness and creativity allowed Thornton to be open for two 3-pointers, as Thornton scored 10 on the day to go with six assists. Thornton said he’s used to playing with another lead guard, so he’s comfortable playing alongside Irving. Collins said the coaching staff values the versatility of Duke’s numerous backcourt players, and it won’t be out of the question to see both of the team’s only true point guards on the floor together.
“You can play Tyler with Kyrie, with Seth, with Nolan,” Collins said. “Everybody has the ability to shoot the ball to keep the defenses spread, and everybody has the ability to handle the ball.”
Thornton’s demeanor off the court reflects his unselfishness on it: When asked what he works on most in practice, he mentioned not his own game but the games of his teammates.
“[I’m] making sure when we scrimmage each other, I push Kyrie and Nolan—because that’s who I check most of the time in practice—push them and make sure they stay on top of their game,” he said.
As calm and measured as Thornton appears, Hairston is that energetic. His latent energy is obvious just from talking to him. He even speaks up-tempo, and it’s clear from his shifting weight that he’d prefer not to be standing still. Hairston’s spirited play has been infectious for his team already, so much so that Collins compares Hairston to Lance Thomas, whose energy and hustle were critical to last year’s championship effort.
“I wish I would’ve come in the way he has, because he’s just been aggressive and played hard, and it’s showing,” said Hairston’s fellow big man Mason Plumlee.
Hairston’s hustle showed through in the Blue-White Scrimmage, as he led all scorers with 18 points in the second half while scrapping for loose balls and pulling down three offensive rebounds.
“The second half was probably the best half I’ve ever played of basketball,” he said.
Scout ranks Hairston No. 33 in his class, and he played with Irving and Class of 2011 commit Austin Rivers on the U-18 national team that won gold at the FIBA World Championships. He possesses a solid midrange game that will help him when he’s matched up against bigger defenders.
He said he wants to keep working on his ball-handling and jump-shooting, both of which will both prove critical against opponents who will frequently be larger than he is. Asked if he’s used to playing against bigger players, Hairston responded, “Never…. I’ve always been the biggest man on the court.”
Hairston is one of just four scholarship post players on head coach Mike Krzyzewski’s roster this year and is thus expected to get plenty of playing time. Collins, however, acknowledged that Hairston faces an adjustment period to get used to his size disadvantage.
“He’s learned… how to work around that. Use your quickness, use your ability to run the floor, use your smarts instead of trying to just overpower people like maybe you could in high school,” the coach said.
Fortunately for both Hairston and Thornton, as they adjust to life in college, they’ve got the friendship they’ve developed through long years of playing together. Hairston played his high school basketball at Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Md. Thornton played less than 12 miles from there, at Gonzaga College High School in downtown Washington, D.C. They both played for DC Assault, a summer AAU team based out of Washington. Duke’s coaching staff recruited both at the same time, and while Collins emphasized that the Duke staff recruited each one individually, the pair took many of their recruiting visits together and ultimately committed to Duke on the same day, Sept. 13, 2008.
“He didn’t like a couple of the schools, and I didn’t really like a couple of the schools, but [Duke] was the one school that we both really agreed on,” Thornton said.
After more than two years of waiting, the pair stood behind the curtain together at Countdown to Craziness, filled with emotion as they were introduced to a raucous crowd in Cameron Indoor Stadium. Their close bond was evident as soon as the scrimmage started.
“Sometimes you’ll see where Tyler starts to drive, and Josh just knows where to be because he knows his tendencies, and vice-versa,” Collins said. “You get a chemistry with somebody when you’ve played together for so long.”
Hairston and Thornton have opened their friendship to include Irving, the third member of “The Trio.” They show no resentment over the fact that Irving has become a media darling, making the cover of newspapers and ESPN the Magazine.
“They’re aware that because of Kyrie’s talent level, he has gotten maybe a little more publicity than they have. But each of them knows that what they bring to the table is very important to our team. I think that’s what Coach K does so well as a coach…. They push each other every day,” Collins said.
For now, Hairston and Thornton have had to yield the spotlight to their more-heralded teammate, but Irving will need the other two if he hopes to share in postseason glory.
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