It's clear that Miles Plumlee will help Duke now that he officially shifted gears, and spurned Stanford, and new coach Johnny Dawkins, to join younger brother Mason at Duke.

Miles Plumlee, a power forward in the 2008 class, committed to Duke on Thursday. Mason Plumlee had given a verbal commitment to Duke for the 2009 class earlier this year.

On Monday, Dawkins, the same day he officially was introduced as the new head coach at Stanford, said he wouldn't be surprised if Miles ended up at Duke.

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The elder Plumlee immediately gives Duke better depth, joining junior center Brian Zoubek, at the No. 5 position, where they need it most.

Anyone who saw sophomore Kyle Singler battling big man after big man, most carrying 20 pounds or more than Singler himself, while guarding the No. 5 position knows that Duke will only be as good as the guy manning that position.

Bottom line: Duke has to free Singler from that duty. Someone like Zoubek or Plumlee or incoming freshma Oleg Czyz has to be a regular presence inside or Duke will struggle to improve on 2007-08.

— Luciana Chavez

05/02/08 at 11:04
Wow...he must not like Johnny Dawkins.

How odd is it that both UNC and Duke will both have sets of brothers in their teams in 2009.

05/02/08 at 13:08
From the looks Plumlee (based on the accompanying photo), I'm not sure how he is going to have any more success than Singler. Unless of course he gains a hundred pounds or so.