The early college basketball signing period is now upon us. From today through November 16th, verbally committed players in the class of 2012 will put pens to paper and officially sign letters of intent with their chosen schools. Duke has one commit thus far: 6’3″, 175 lb guard Rasheed Sulaimon who will be signing during this early period. Sulaimon, the #10 overall player in Scout.com’s 2012 top 100, verbally committed to Duke in February. To round out their class, Duke hopes to land big man Tony Parker (ranked #19) and the consensus #1 player in 2012, Shabazz Muhammad.
Despite having only one commitment at this point, Coach Krzyzewski and the Duke coaching staff believe they have the best guard in the class in Sulaimon. An excellent prospect for his entire career, Rasheed has really improved and become an elite all around player over the summer. The 6’3 guard has good length and athleticism and is a high energy player. He has a nice mid-range game, is adept at getting to the rim and is one of the best shooters in his class from long distance. To put it simply, he can flat out score the ball. Sulaimon has all the tools to be a ferocious defender if he puts his mind to it, and that is just what he did on the AAU circuit this past summer. Krzyzewski has said he plans to use Sulaimon at both the point guard and the shooting guard spots during his time at Duke. “I was just talking to the coaching staff and they said they are comfortable with me playing both the one and the two, they think I’m versatile enough to do both,” Sulaimon said in an interview with Duffy Hoops last April. Duke is not only getting an excellent player in Sulaimon but a great person as well. “I can’t wait to get to Duke.” Sulaimon says in the Duffy Hoops interview. ”Each and every night I put on a Duke uniform I am going to try my hardest to win each and play my heart out for the Cameron Crazies.” Duke fans are going to love this kid.
As for Parker and Muhammad, neither is planning to sign in the early period as of now, although many thought that Parker would. Duke has been recruiting the power forward from Georgia for a long time and many scouts believe they are in his top two, especially after his visit to Duke the weekend of the Bellarmine exhibition game. With Miles Plumlee graduating after this year and Mason Plumlee expected to enter the NBA draft, Parker is a must get for Duke; even more so now that the Blue Devils have missed out on big man Mitch McGary. If they do not land Parker, big men will most likely be very scarce at Duke next year, with only the youngest Plumee and Ryan Kelly to fill that void. Krzyzewski has done everything possible to let Parker know how badly he wants him and has gone all out to get this big man to Durham. Parker is down to Duke, Ohio State, Memphis, UCLA and Georgetown. ”I am narrowing it down.” He told recruiting analyst Evan Daniels. “I’ll probably make my decision in December.”
Muhammad plans to take his time and decide on a college in the spring. He will be taking an official visit to Duke in March for the UNC game. Much like with Parker, Duke has done every thing they could have to show Muhammad they want him. Most scouts predict that he will end up at either Duke or UCLA, although he does still have a fairly long list of schools at this time. His recruitment is going to be marathon not a sprint, and Krzyzewski will be running this one to the finish. “I’m taking the process slowly. I probably will take all five of my visits.” Muhammad says in an interview with CBS Sports.com. “I want to make sure I make the right choice.”
–Taylor Ostrick (Follow me on twitter @Bleed_DukeBlue1)
