Duke Scores A Pair

By Chris Hansen
National Director of Scouting
Posted Thu, 10/18/2007 - 15:11 Duke strikes gold with two highly ranked verbal commitments in the 2008 class.

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October has been a very good month for Duke’s head coach, Joanne P. McCallie and her Blue Devil program on the recruiting front. She is yet to coach her first game in Durham, N.C., coming over after seven years as the head coach of Michigan State but she is off and running with two verbal commitments from the 2008 class, both in the month of October. Chelsea Hopkins last week and Kathleen Scheer on Wednesday night, both verbally committed to Duke and Coach McCallie.

These two commitments are in addition to the verbal commitment of Shay Selby, the No. 1 rated point guard in the 2008 class and No. 13 overall according to HoopGurlz.com. Selby committed to Duke before then coach Gail Goestenkors left to take the job at Texas. Sheer is ranked No. 21 in the class and Hopkins No. 61. The Blue Devils have one scholarship left in the class which has been pegged for Nneka Ogwumike, the nation’s No. 6 ranked player. Getting a commitment from Ogwumike would put Duke’s class up with the other top classes for 2008 such as Tennessee and Connecticut among others fighting over the nation’s top recruits.

The stories of Hopkins and Scheer are somewhat similar and its no wonder the two have been close friends since taking their official visits at the same time, September 21. Hopkins came from seemingly nowhere from playing locally for a Las Vegas-based team and getting regional interest from Division I schools to becoming a top 100 prospect with additional exposure of playing for a club team that travels nationally and is littered with high major prospects. Hopkins said she was looking for a change of scenery, something different and Duke offered that where USC, Texas and her other finalists weren’t quite the total change she wanted.

Scheer on the other hand comes from a small town in Missouri and a school of less than 200 where most people think the best you can be is some school in the Mid West. So many in her area just assumed she’d be going to her other finalist, Iowa State. She plays for a school in the 2A classification and often heard the whispers from the bigger schools in the surrounding areas that she can’t be good enough. She even quoted their sentiments, “Oh my gosh - Duke’s in the picture! How did that happen?”

Scheer is up for the challenge and uses the naysayers as motivation. Hopkins comes from an area, Las Vegas, where there haven’t been a ton of big time prospects. “Coming out of Vegas Me and Italee (Lucas) are the only ones to go to the ACC,” Hopkins said. Lucas is currently a freshman at North Carolina and was ranked No. 6 in the 2007 class by HoopGurlz. To be fair Vegas is bubbling with talent right now and Goestenkors got Las Vegas native, Ashley Gayle, to commit to Texas and she was drawing interest from the ACC and other power conferences as is junior Monique Oliver who recently moved to Long Beach, Calif., but she too helped put Sin City on the map.

Both also attribute their decision to the academic pedigree of Duke. Both love the opportunities they will have after their careers are over in basketball with a degree from Duke. They have been in constant contact thanks to text messaging since their visit. ” She’s been keeping me posted,” Hopkins said of Sheer and her choosing between Duke and Iowa State. “A couple of weeks ago I thought she was going to (commit to Duke).” Sheer sent Hopkins a text shortly after committing to let her know it was a done deal.

Chelsea Hopkins in traffic

Scheer said a couple of weeks ago she wasn't ready to make the decision.  Duke has some nice young guards with fellow 2008 commit Selby and freshman Jasmine Thomas, who was ranked No. 8 in the 2007 class. Both have the ability to play the point guard spot but have the strength, athleticism and scoring ability to play the scoring guard as well. “They really needed a true point guard,” Hopkins said. “With Lindsay Harding gone I can come in get some experience and can contribute my leadership and hopefully learn to run the team.”

Scheer, on the other hand, can play shooting guard or either forward position in a traditional lineup. Most colleges recruiting her say they see her as at both forward positions but she has a tremendous amount of skill for the guard position as well and at 6-foot-2 she will pose some serious mismatches. She recognizes her biggest area for improvement will be on the defensive side of the ball and working hard to defend quicker wing players in college. In high school she sees most of her time in the paint.

“I run a lot,” Scheer said. “When I’m on the court it’s run-run-run. I know I work hard. No matter what the situation I give it my all.”

Nneka Ogwumike, the final piece?

Scheer being ranked in the top 25 nationally should mean she gets some consideration for All American honors from McDonalds and the WCBA. Making those teams is a goal for her but she knows it’s an up hill battle being from a small town.

Scheer’s running style should fit well at Duke and the ACC and Hopkins is well known for her fast pace and ability to break defender’s down off the dribble. Both have tremendous talent but have been expected to fall in line with the stereotypes of those from their home towns. Both say they are determined to make it where others have told them they can’t and should show up to entertain the Blue Devil faithful with a chip on their shoulders as well. Ogwumike is the final piece to what is turning into a fantastic recruiting puzzle for Coach P. If they can secure a commitment from her they will have a cat quick point guard, a versatile combo guard and a nice swing player to add to Ogumike’s dominance in the paint. Regardless Duke is off and running with a great first recruiting class under the new coaching staff.

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Chris Hansen is the National Director of Scouting for Women’s Basketball at HoopGurlz.com. He leads the panel that evaluates and ranks girl's basketball prospects nationally for HoopGurlz. Chris has been involved in the women’s basketball community since 1998 as a coach, trainer, evaluator and reporter. He can be reached at chris@hoopgurlz.com.

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