In what has to be a bit of a surprise and of course an amazingly pleasant one for Duke fans, Amile Jefferson has chosen to become a Blue Devil. After weeks of hand wringing over the last remaining target, Duke fans were holding out hope, even it wasn't a great deal of hope that the 6-foot-8 forward would choose Duke over the likes of Kentucky, NC State and Villanova.
It has been an offseason to forget for many reasons for Duke.
It started with the Blue Devils' unceremonious first round exit to a No. 15-seeded Lehigh team. That was followed up by the loss of its best freshman player to the NBA for the second straight year.
Then the rejections started flooding in. First there was top target Shabazz Muhammd choosing UCLA and Adidas over the Blue Devils. Then Tony Parker followed suit and went out west to UCLA.
Duke also lost Michael Gbinije to transfer and Andre Dawkins' status for next year is still up in the air and he could very well end up redshirting next season.
So the decision of Jefferson to become a Blue Devil is one that gives boost to the depth and talent level of next year's team which could be down to 10 scholarship players, nine if Dawkins doesn't play.
Jefferson obviously won't start and playing time could depend on how well he adjusts to college and of course the defensive requirements of being a Blue Devil under Mike Krzyzewski.
He will have to pick up some weight and strength if he is going to bang down low in the ACC, but he has the length and athleticism to play out on the wing and spell Alex Murphy and or Ryan Kelly, especially if he can develop a jump shot.
How much he plays still remains to be seen but it is a big boost for the program. Jefferson will join fellow class of 2012 recruit Rasheed Sulaimon who is expected to be an immediate impact player with his ability to shoot and defend out on the perimeter.
We'll have more on his decision but for now it is great news for the Blue Devils.
