The Amile Jefferson recruitment just got a little more complicated.

Alex Schwartz of NBE reports that Duke is now going after the 6-foot-7 Philly Friends Central forward who plans to sign in the spring.

Duke head man Mike Krzyzewski and assistant Chris Collins watched Jefferson play Tuesday, as did Villanova head coach Jay Wright and assistant Billy Lange.

“They got in touch with me and my father,” Jefferson told NBE of Duke. “They had been looking [at me during my] . . . sophomore year . . . The school speaks for itself.” (more…)

NEW YORK – The best thing about the NBA lockout for Austin Rivers was that it brought him even closer to his father.

Without the Boston Celtics to coach, Doc Rivers attended his son’s first eight games at Duke, including making that, ahem, tough trip to Maui.

“My first eight games he was at every single game front and center supporting me, which is really neat,” Austin said after scoring a team-best 18 points despite fouling out in No. 5 Duke’s 86-80 win over Washington on Saturday at Madison Square Garden.

“I’ve never once been part of an NBA lockout, and the fact that my dad got to come to my games for once was pretty neat because he usually never got to. Back in my high school and my whole life, he’s come to one to three games a year.”

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NEW YORK — Alex Murphy re-classified from the class of 2012 to bypass his final year of high school and become a member of Duke’s 2011 recruiting class.

Yet it certainly appears that the 6-foot-8 Murphy will redshirt this season and actually start his college career in 2012.

“It’s still to be determined but a redshirt is most likely that’s going to be the plan,” Murphy told SNY.tv after No. 5 Duke beat Washington, 86-80, Saturday at Madison Square Garden. (more…)

Matt Jones has already committed to Duke.

Now he’s working on his Texas Titans teammate Julius Randle to join him in 2013.

“I’d probably tell him, since it’s our last year together playing AAU, ‘J, I know you are going to miss me. But if you come to Duke, you don’t have to, we’ll be right there together,’” Jones told Harrison Sanford of FiveStarBasketball.com.  (more…)

Matt Jones, the Rivals No. 6 shooting guard in the Class of 2013, pulled the trigger for Duke on Monday.

“After long consideration with my parents and people around me , we felt it was best that I commit to DUKE UNIVERSITY !” Jones tweeted.

The 6-foot-4, 180-pound Jones out of DeSoto, Texas also held offers from North Carolina, Ohio State, Kansas, Texas, Baylor, Oklahoma, Missouri and Colorado, according to ESPN.

“I committed because of how they play,” Jones told Alex Kline of The Recruit Scoop. “Academics was a big factor, too. I felt like the coaches could take me to the next level, as well. It felt like a home away from home and my whole family liked Duke and the decision. It was the right timing.” (more…)

At the moment, Duke does not have a Top 25 recruiting class for 2012.

That’s because their class currently consists of just one player — Rasheed Sulaimon, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Houston Strake Jesuit.

But the Blue Devils could shoot up dramatically in the rankings if they land one, or both, of their targets for the spring signing period: Shabazz Muhammad and Tony Parker.

“Me and him in the same program would be a really good thing and we would win a lot of games,” Muhammad, the No. 1 prospect in the Class of 2012, told Five Star Basketball in an exclusive interview.

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NEW YORK — In a cordoned off area at Madison Square Garden, far removed from the ESPN cameras and the horde of reporters covering the game, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski shared a private moment with his family.

The group included not only his wife Mickie, and his immediate family, but his extended Duke family, too.

Former players Bobby Hurley, Jay Williams, Shane Battier, Mike Dunleavy, Jay Bilas, Carlos Boozer, Elton Brand, Billy King, Roshown McLeod and many others listened in as Coach K told them all career victory No. 903 — the one that moved him past his mentor Bob Knight and into first place on the all-time Division 1 wins list– was a “program win.”

“I hope all you former players still view me as your coach the way I still view Coach Knight as mine,” Coach K told them after his Duke squad beat Michigan State, 74-69. “I’ve never called him anything else.”

Ah, Coach Knight. (more…)

With Mike Krzyzewski on the brink of making coaching history, the compliments and analogies are pouring in.

St. John’s coach Steve Lavin may have paid Coach K the supreme compliment during a conference call Monday to promote the 2K Sports Classic.

“I think the highest compliment that I can pay Mike Krzyzewski is that he’s the modern-day Coach Wooden,” Lavin said.

“And while they’re unique in their own respects, I think there are similarities between the two coaches, in terms of the standard of excellence, the longevity in their careers and [having been] recognized for their outstanding teaching and using basketball as a metaphor for life to instill all the important traits or attributes or characteristics that go into success beyond basketball.” (more…)

Duke.

Kansas.

Kentucky.

Michigan State.

Sounds like enough history and talent to stock a Final Four, doesn’t it?

Yet when these four teams get together Tuesday at Madison Square Garden, it will take place in the inaugural Champions Classic — not the Final Four.

“These are some of the premier programs in all of college basketball, not only currently, but in the history of the sport,” Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said. (more…)

NEW YORK — Bobby Hurley thinks Coach K could easily get to 1,000 career victories and remain the all-time wins leader potentially forever.

“I would assume, [if] he stays healthy,” Hurley, who led Duke to back-to-back NCAA titles in the early 1990s, told SNY.tv. “I don’t think that they’re going to start losing games anytime soon.” (more…)