PG Problem? What PG Problem? How Nolan Smith Will Keep Duke on Top

If you are anything like me, you have lamented the relative lack of recruitment success by our beloved Duke Blue Devils. If you are like the rest of America, your euphoria increases as Duke strikes out with elite recruit after elite recruit.

My dozens of fans may recall how I implored prep phenomenon John Wall to select Duke for his year-long audition for the NBA. After citing numerous statistics and exhausting every argument I could surmise, my disappointment was palpable when coach John Calipari convinced yet another point guard to sign up for his “dribble-drive” tutelage.

The Internet aftermath has consisted of blogger after blogger lambasting the failures of Duke’s recruiting efforts. Some have even suggested that 2010 could be a make or break recruiting class for the Blue Devils. To be candid, I considered writing a piece myself.

But then I had an epiphany: How could I sell someone else on Duke’s program unless I genuinely believed it myself?

The reality is that Duke continues to haul in McDonald’s All-Americans and turn them into NBA Draft Lottery picks. In other words, coach Mike Krzyzewski and the rest of the Duke staff still know what they are doing.

While I won’t argue that Duke continues to lack a dominant low post presence (a staple of past Final Four success), partially because I’m curious to see how this year’s crop of recruits pan out and partially because I agree with the position, I do beg to differ with the argument that Duke lacks a capable lead guard: case in point, rising junior Nolan Smith.

If President Barack Obama wasn’t a huge basketball fan already, his tenure here in Washington, DC would likely have converted him anyway. Smith hails from what can arguably be considered one of the premier hotbeds of basketball talent on Earth: the DC Metro "Err-rea."

From Elgin Baylor to Austin Carr to Dave Bing to David Robinson to Kevin Durant, the DMV (Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia) has produced hoop standout after hoop standout after hoop standout.

Many of them have honed their craft on the collegiate level at Duke: Tommy Amaker, Danny Ferry, Nate James, and Grant Hill, just to name a few. Every Duke fan knows that it was a DMV hoop product that helped vault Coach K and his fledgling program to national prominence and NCAA success: Johnny Dawkins.

FYI, you heard it here first: In another couple years Kevin Durant will be winning NBA scoring titles (in addition to having his college degree—why don’t his summer efforts to finish his degree at UT-Austin garner more media attention?).

Smith and future NBA MVP Durant also share a genuine passion for the game that drives their tireless work ethic. Anyone who witnessed Smith’s evolution from his freshman to sophomore seasons can appreciate that work ethic. If you are a local and have insight into the local basketball scene, Nolan is a mainstay of early AM workouts, followed by afternoon pickup games and PM workouts.

You heard it here first yet again: The summer of 2009 will be another transformative summer for Nolan Smith. The ACC and the rest of America will be in for quite a surprise next season. Don’t believe me? Maybe you should take a trip one summer and experience the summer hoop scene here in the Nation's Capital for yourself.

Guess who won’t be surprised though: Coach K and the rest of the Duke staff.

Neither will I.

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