In light of former Duke point guard Kyrie Irving's meteoric rise to an elite NBA player in just his second year, The Chronicle ran a story on Tuesday about the 6-foot-3 floor general's journey to stardom. Here are some additional quotes from ESPN recruiting analyst Dave Telep, former high school teammate and current North Carolina guard Dexter Strickland and former Duke teammate, as well as current Blue Devil forward Josh Hairston on Irving.
Strickland on the St. Patrick high school team (N.J.) with him, Irving and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist:
“My senior year I had meniscus problems, and I did not play every game. But the games I played in it was like an All-Star game with me, Kyrie and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. It was fun.”
Strickland on Irving's ability to finish:
“I first noticed it in practice [during high school]. To this day, I still think he’s one of the best at finishing around the rim, and if you foul him he’s still able to get the ball to go in. I remember one time we were doing a drill in practice he went up for a layup, I tried to block it and end up fouling him. He did this crazy shot and it went in. He would do that in games, and it was a consistent. He’s a great finisher in the NBA, and he was a great finisher in high school.”
Strickland on his relationship with Irving off the court during high school and now:
“Oh, we were really close. There were nights were he spent the night at my house, and I'd kick it as his house. We hung out together all the time, went out to the movies, went on double dates with our girlfriends, just little stuff. We were best friends on the team...We stay in close contact now. I talked to him the other day.”
Telep on Irving's development through high school:
“I think that if everyone developed the way Kyrie had, we’d probably have a better product on the floor. Kyrie is a guy that ran his own race. He wasn’t caught up in rankings, camps or AAU tournaments. His father had his finger on him and he was just dedicated to working hard and getting better.”
Telep on Duke's recruitment of Irving:
"I think Duke was there from the very start...I just kind of always had that feeling. I felt that his family behind the scenes had connected with Mike Krzyzewski, and I kind of always thought they were going to get him.”
Telep on seeing Irving play during a Duke practice prior to the start of the 2010-11 season:
“I remember going to a Duke practice a year after they won the national championship. Afterwards, Noland Smith and Kyle Singler came up and we were talking, and they are like, ‘[Kyrie] is the best player on our team.’ Again, these are two guys months off playing in the national championship, and they deferred to Kyrie. You talk about the best you’ve ever seen a guy play. This was a scrimmage and literally your jaw dropped. He was throwing alley-oops from just across halfcourt to Mason Plumlee. I remember a reverse finish he had. This was an 18-year old kid on the floor with the defending national champs. That was just one of those moments were you sat there shaking your head like, 'this is a joke how good this guy is.'”
Hairston on what could have been if Irving had stayed healthy at Duke:
“I'm right there along with [the fans wondering what could have been]. Obviously, I'm always in [Irving's] corner. He made the best decision for him. It's really like he has never left. He's down here all the time in the summer...Obviously, you think about if he did not get hurt against Butler and what could've happened that year. So many people say different things—could've went undefeated or could've won a national championship or things like that. But that’s all we can do is just wonder. I'm just as hurt as everyone else because I would love for him to still be in school and still hanging out with us.”
Hairston on his relationship with Irving at Duke and now:
"You would've thought that Kyrie and I had known each other for years and grown up together. I think that's just the chemistry we had from day one... Right away the bond that we had was great. Even today, we are best friends... I try to stay in constant communication with him. I visit him all the time in the summer. He was here for almost a couple weeks before his preseason time."
Hairston on watching Irving dominate in the NBA:
“I am just as amazed as anyone else. I almost feel like a fan talking to him. It’s crazy the stuff he is doing. We always knew it.”
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