NORFOLK, Va. -- From what was evident in the 21st annual McDonald's All-American High School Basketball Game, Corey Maggette should fit well into the Duke basketball team next year.
A 6-6, 210-pound guard/foward from Oak Park, Ill., Maggette showed off the skills needed to be a part of a very successful basketball team.
Duke's only signee for this year is a very athletic player, with good ball-handling skills and a solid defensive base -- perfect attributes for a Blue Devil.
"I'm going to come in and do whatever Duke wants me to do," said Maggette. "I know that defensive play will be emphasized, so I will be working my tail off this summer getting ready to play defense."
Maggette was a highly-recruited player who chose to attend Duke instead of staying in his home state and attending Illinois.
"I like the coach and the players. I felt comfortable with Coach K and so did my parents," explained Maggette. "The coaches and players are like a family. When I'm far away from home, I want to feel comfortable, and I felt comfortable with them."
On his visit to Duke, Maggette got to know Elton Brand and Shane Battier.
"I've stayed in touch with Elton, especially while he was injured," said Maggette. "I checked on him a couple of times to see how he was recovering and was glad to see him get back to playing."
Maggette looks forward to meshing in with the team.
"I'm going to try to work right into the team," he said. "I'm not really intimidated by any of the upperclassmen, I just want to become a part of the team."
On his high school team, Maggette was the leader in scoring and rebounding, with 24.8 points and 11 rebounds per game. He ended his career as the all-time leading scorer in Fenwick High School history.
Fenwick had a 28-3 record, losing in the state playoffs. They play in one of the nation's strongest prep leagues, the Chicago Catholic League.
"We play a difficult schedule and everyone has been pointing to our games this year to try and stop Corey, and they haven't been able to do it," said Fenwick coach John Quinn.
As is the case in most all-star games, the players basically ran up and down the court showing off their offensive talents with a variety of alley-oops and slam dunks.
But with 16:07 left in this game, Jason Capel of the East team received a pass following a West turnover and looked to be heading in for a slam dunk. This was not what Maggette was thinking. He cut Capel off at the basket and blocked the shot and Capel, drawing the foul but preventing the showboat slam.
Could this have been the first in many Duke-Carolina battles between Maggette and Capel, who is one of UNC's signees for next year?
"Maybe," was the only comment from Maggette along with a sheepish grin.
Maggette was able to show off his athletic ability on Tuesday night in the slam dunk contest. While UNC recruit Ron Curry won the contest, which was held at his high school gym, most observers felt Maggette should have won the contest.
Maggette looks to be a strong wing player for the Devils, much in the role of a Chris Carrawell.
Let's just hope he plays as hard and has a will to win the way Carrawell does. If so, then the future of Duke basketball is in good shape.
The final item returned in the thefts between Duke and North Carolina was the jersey banner of former Duke player Grant Hill. The banner, stolen Feb. 26 from the rafters of Cameron Indoor Stadium, was recovered by UNC-Chapel Hill police Sunday and returned to Duke on Monday.
A man who identified himself only as "John" called the campus police dispatcher around 2 a.m. Sunday from a campus call box to say the banner could be found outside the UNC Student Union, police Lt. Larry Caldwell said.
The Hill banner theft was part of a rash of basketball-related thefts from the UNC and Duke campuses this year.
A replica Michael Jordan jersey was stolen from the Smith Center on Jan. 31. A few days later, on Feb. 4, someone broke into Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski's office and stole six practice shorts and a signed 1992 USA Olympic "Dream Team" poster valued at $20,000.
Jordan's jersey and the poster have been recovered in recent weeks.
UNC students Benjamin Hartmere, 20, and Kenneth Kerr, 31, and former UNC student Charles Bailey, 22, of Kittrell have been charged with felonious breaking and entering and felonious larceny in connection with the theft of the poster.
Jeff Sheppard finished with 18 points and 11 rebounds for Kentucky (33-4), which rallied from a 17-point deficit in the final 9:34. The game helped erase the painful memories of the 1992 East Region final in Philadelphia, where Duke defeated the Wildcats 104-103 in overtime.
The Wildcats will play Stanford, the Midwest Region champion, next Saturday at the Alamodome in San Antonio. Kentucky became just the eighth team to reach three consecutive Final Fours.
Roshown McLeod scored 19 points and Trajan Langdon added 18 for the Blue Devils (32-4), who lost in the region final for the first time in eight tries under coach Mike Krzyzewski.
Duke had a chance to put away the game at the 10:18 mark when Heshimu Evans intentionally fouled Elton Brand, holding him from behind when he went up for what would have been an easy layup.
Brand missed the two free throws, but Chris Carrawell salvaged the ensuing possession with a follow shot that gave Duke a 71-54 lead with 9:38 to play.
But Kentucky coach Tubby Smith went to a zone defense with a smaller lineup and the move paid off. Evans hit a three-pointer before Padgett pulled up for a three-pointer of his own to make it 71-60 with 8:41 to go. Wayne Turner then drove the lane and had a three-point play to cut the deficit to eight.
Steve Wojciechowski hit one of two free throws, but Allen Edwards nailed a three-pointer with 7:21 left to make it 72-66. Wojciechowski missed the front end of a 1-and-1, but Roshown McLeod hit Sheppard with a forearm as he tried to fight through a screen and was called for an intentional foul.
Sheppard made the two foul shots, and Turner turned into a four-point possession when his 10-footer fell through to make it 72-70 with 6:40 left. Sheppard added one more free throw at the six-minute mark and Kentucky had a chance to take the lead, but Turner missed a running eight-footer.
Two free throws by Shane Battier pushed the margin to three, but Turner drove to his left and his layup spun around the rim twice before falling in to make it 74-73 with 5:03 to go. McLeod had a follow dunk and added a free throw to give the Blue Devils a 77-73 lead with 4:20 left.
Evans and Trajan Langdon traded baskets before Turner pulled up for a 12-footer to make it 79-77 with 2:56 to play. After a miss by McLeod, Kentucky got four chances and Cameron Mills drained a three-pointer -- his first basket in the four NCAA Tournament games -- to give the Wildcats an 80-79 lead with 2:16 to go.
McLeod answered with two free throws, but Padgett made the first of two with 80 seconds left, knotting the game at 81-81. Duke's William Avery missed a 12-footer in the lane off the front of the rim, and Padgett got free for a three-pointer from the top of the key to make it 84-81.McLeod missed a three-pointer, and Turner made one free throw with 17 seconds left to push the lead to four. McLeod hit a 24-footer to make it 85-84 with six seconds to go, and Edwards was fouled less than two seconds later. He made the second of two free throws, allowing Kentucky to call timeout to set up a defense.
The Wildcats called a second timeout after Duke set up its offense. Battier inbounded the ball to Avery, who was hounded as he dribbled upcourt. He let fly with a 35-footer that caromed hard off the glass as time expired.
Turner finished with 16 points and eight assists with only one turnover for Kentucky, which shot 46 percent (29-of-63) overall but made 7-of-11 three-pointers in the second half. Evans contributed 14 points and 11 rebounds off the bench in 24 minutes.
Carrawell finished with 12 points, and Battier added 11 and eight rebounds in a reserve role for Duke, which hit 33-of-67 (49 percent) of its shots. The Blue Devils made 10-of-25 three-point shots but only 3-of-11 in the final 20 minutes.
