2012 standout Murphy commits

The Blue Devils have made their first recruiting splash in the class of 2012, landing a verbal commitment from 6-foot-8 forward Alex Murphy from St. Mark’s School in Southborough, Mass.

A native of Rhode Island, Murphy boasts a strong athletic pedigree. His older brother Erik is a sophomore forward at Florida and his father Jay played for Boston College in the early 1980s.

Scout.com ranks Murphy No. 2 at the small forward position and No. 11 overall in the class of 2012. According to the website, the decision was narrowed down to Duke and Florida, but Murphy cited his relationship with head coach Mike Krzyzewski as the deciding factor behind his commitment to play in Durham.

Murphy’s game has drawn comparisons to that of Kyle Singler and former Blue Devil Mike Dunleavy Jr. He has displayed the ability to both score from the outside and slash to the rim.

Murphy took an unofficial visit to Duke early last month and was in attendance when the Blue Devils defeated Maryland at home Jan. 9.

While Murphy is currently the Blue Devils’ only commit for the class of 2012, he presents an eligibility option for Duke. Similar to the path taken by Andre Dawkins in the summer of 2009, Murphy could opt to enroll at Duke as early as the fall of 2011 since his fourth year of high school is currently in progress. He started his high school career at Rhode Island’s Prout School before transferring to St. Mark’s and repeating his freshman year.

Should Murphy decide to leave St. Mark’s for Durham a year early, he would become the fifth member of Duke’s stellar 2011 class. Headlined by top prospect Austin Rivers, the group also includes forward Michael Gbinije, point guard Quinn Cook and center Marshall Plumlee.

Following the matriculation of these four and the graduation of Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler, the Blue Devils would have 12 scholarship players for the 2011-2012 season, one short of the NCAA limit of 13. With that final scholarship, Duke has space to add Murphy to the 2011-2012 roster.