by Alex Schwartz

When I first saw Kyrie Irving play in June of 2008, he was a little known 6'1 rising junior combo guard who was about two months into his tenure at national power St. Patrick's (NJ). Since then, Irving has developed into a 6'2 point guard who garnered scholarship offers from many of the nation's elite basketball programs and is a consensus top 10 player in the class of 2010.

I ranked Irving as the #1 performer at that first event I saw him at, which was the Hoop Group Showcase. At that point, he listed just three offers; Rutgers, St. Joseph's, and Seton Hall. That number eventually grew to well over 20.

Soon after seeing Irving play at the HG Showcase, I watched him break out onto the national scene, to some extent, at Hoop Group Elite Camp, where I ranked him as the #1 performer in camp, ahead of players such as Dalton Pepper '09 (West Virginia), Mouphtaou Yarou '09 (Villanova), and Rakeem Christmas '11. Kyrie was selected to the Top 20 All-Star Game and was named the Most Outstanding Prospect. A few days later I listed Irving as the #6 performer at Hoop Group Elite Team Camp, despite the fact that he only played one of the two days.

At the conclusion of the summer of 2008, myself, The Hoop Group, and The National Recruiting Report put together "Super Seven" Lists, which ranked players who participated in HG events in July in numerous categories. The rising junior checked in at #1 in the Best Players category (above Pepper, Yarou, Dexter Strickland '09, Aaric Murray '09, etc), #1 in the Best Shooters category, #1 in Best In Class of 2010, #1 in Best From New Jersey, and #1 in Best Point Guards.

At that point Irving was starting to make a name for himself, and his reputation continued to grow from there (for more on his rise to stardom, check out my Who is Kyrie Irving? piece from early June). He is now ranked #6 in Northstar Basketball's Class of 2010 Terrific 125 in addition to being #6 on ESPNU, #13 on Hoop Scoop, #9 on Rivals, and #5 on Scout. I also ranked him as the #2 player in my list of New Jersey's Fab 45 Upperclassmen.

Kyrie went to the 2009 NBAPA Top 100 Camp, where he was 9th in the camp in scoring and tied for the single game high. He was also at the 2009 Nike Global Challenge and was considered by some to be the best player in attendance and was named MVP. Other prestigious events Kyrie has gone to include the 2009 LeBron James Skills Academy/King City Classic and 2009 Boost Mobile Elite 24 Classic, amongst others (such as the 2009 Eddie Griffin Challenge, which took place today, and was named a co-MVP).

Needless to say, he is now on the radar of college coaches, reporters, scouting services, and NBA scouts, who will continue to track him when he gets to Duke in the fall of 2010, as he pledged to Mike Krzyzewski and Co. a few days ago.

Onto the more recent news about Irving, which is his commitment to the Blue Devils, which came Thursday night on ESPNU. How did he decide on the ACC school? "It was just the place for me, just my relationship with Coach K and the whole coaching staff." Asked what was the main factor in his decision that came from his visit to the school outside of the coaching staff, Irving replied, "The fan support, the family atmosphere. [That] . . . was the main thing."

Kyrie is also a standout in the classroom, so I inquired of him if Duke's academic reputation was a key part of his decision. "Academically, Duke speaks for itself. It was an important factor, but you know, it speaks for itself."

Irving, like most players, is happy to have the decision behind him. "It feels great. Now I can on being a better person and better basketball player." If the skilled Garden State superstar does get better, then St. Patrick's will be that much scarier, and Kyrie already has some lofty goals for his senior season. "To win a national championship, state championship, and personally, just to be a leader." Asked if he has any goals for his college career yet, Kyrie answered, "No, with the exception of winning a national championship, no."

The prolific guard reiterated to me what he said on ESPNU, stating, "I'm going to leave [recruiting other players] to the coaching staff." Speaking of other recruits, Irving informed me that right now he does have much of a relationship with fellow Duke-commits Tyler Thornton '10 and Josh Hairston '10. "A little bit, not really though.It's going to develop." Thornton is ranked #108 by Norhstar Basketball, while Hariston checks in at #41.

Duke has a history of getting talented New Jersey players, especially point guards. Past Garden State ballers to head to Durham—including players who transferred in—include Roshown McLeod, Dahntay Jones, Bobby Hurley, Jay Williams, and current Blue Devils Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek, amongst others. Did this play a role in Kyrie's decision? "Well, it obviously had an influence." Some have compared Irving to Williams, who went to St. Joseph's Metuchen (NJ) and became the 2nd pick in the NBA Draft after graduating from Duke in three years. Irving is honored by the comparison to the former NCAA National Player of the Year. "It feels good . . . to be compared to people like that, especially role models like him. . . . [He was] a great college player [and] . . . I strive to be where he is."

Irving, who credits his father and former Boston Universit star Drederick Irving with "most of" the influence on his basketball career, will not be feeling any added pressure that comes with being a future Blue Devil. "No, no. Every time I go out there, it's just a breeze. People know who I am [now and] . . . I have an 'X' on my back, I'm not chasing anybody, which is a better thing."

Duke's rivalry with North Carolina is considered by many people to be the best in all of sports. Recent St. Patrick's graduate Dexter Strickland '09 is a freshman for the Tar Heels now, spending his final 1+ year of high school with Irving. What will that be like for Kyrie to go up against Strickland at the next level in such a fierce rivalry? "It's a rivalry, and we're just going to hype it up even more. Playing against him for one and a half years, it's been a good experience. Moving on to the next level, it's going to be a good thing."

Asked how he feels to have gone from a an unknown to a future Duke Blue Devil, Kyrie Irving says, "Everything I've dreamed of has come true. I know people wish they were in the position I'm in, so I feel blessed."

Note- photo on the left is from http://www.heraldtimesonline.com/ and photo on the right is from http://scouthoops.scout.com/