Duke prospect Plumlee a big player with small-player skills

CHAPEL HILL - Saturday was no ordinary spring day for Mason Plumlee.

He had three games to play in the Bob Gibbons AAU Tournament of Champions in the Triangle, the first starting at 11 a.m. The hectic day helped start an important year for Plumlee, a 6-10 forward at Christ School in Arden and a future ACC player.

“It’s really just about getting better and stronger,“ Plumlee said. “One of my goals is to the make the national team (for players 18 and younger). I want to improve my jump shot.“

He committed to Duke last winter, so that part of his future is set.

Plumlee lives in Warsaw, Ind. His mother, Leslie, played basketball at Purdue, and his paternal grandfather taught at Purdue. His family lived in West Lafayette, the site of Purdue, until Plumlee was 10.

Plumlee was glad to get his commitment out of the way. Although he was only a junior when he decided, the recruiting process was intensifying and was beginning to annoy him.

“I had to take all the calls and deal with everybody,“ Plumlee said. “Coaches were starting not just to recruit for their program but were telling me why others were terrible. I had to listen to that. I just wanted to get it out of the way.“

Plumlee’s older brother, Miles, will also be at Duke. Miles, a 6-9 forward, signed with Stanford last November but asked to be released from his national letter of intent after a coaching change at the school.

Miles will enroll at Duke in the fall and will be a sophomore in 2009 when Mason joins the program as a freshman. The brothers led Christ School to consecutive independent schools state championships and are hopeful of taking Duke to a fourth NCAA Tournament title.

“I’m really excited about him coming to Duke,“ Mason Plumlee said. “I thought about going to Stanford since he was going there. Now that he’s coming to Duke, everything has just worked out perfect, although I know that he had to deal with it all.“

Plumlee’s team won its first game Saturday, and he was instrumental, although not in a traditional big man’s way.

Plumlee played a great deal of the game on the perimeter. He is an exceptional ballhandler and passer for a player almost seven feet tall. Most of his passes begin with both hands on the ball, a rare trait these days.

Plumlee moves so fluidly and handles the ball so well that he seems like a 6-10 guard. He is thin at 218 pounds and seems better suited to playing small forward despite his height.

“The perimeter is where I’ve always played,“ he said. “I haven’t always been this tall. I like playing out on the floor. It’s fun for me to set other people up and play on the perimeter. I’ve been trying to get stronger inside.“

Plumlee does work around the basket, however. On one play he caught a pass while moving toward the basket from his right to his left. He was under the basket and put in the shot over his head with both hands.

He later drove the left base line, banked in a reverse layup and drew a foul. Then he made the free throw. Later he drove from outside on the right wing for another layup and was fouled again, resulting in another three-point play.

“Playing post defense, I know that’s going to be expected no matter where I go, but especially at Duke,“ Plumlee said. “All the other stuff will come. I just need to get in the weight room and get stronger.“

Plumlee is in his first season with his AAU team, based in Bloomington, Ind., although the coach, Kenny Blackwell, has known the family for many years. Blackwell has noticed that Plumlee isn’t as timid on the floor as he was as a high-school freshman and sophomore, and he no longer is wary of contact.

Blackwell considers Plumlee a significant addition to the team but wants to work on at least one aspect of his play in the rest of the AAU season.

“He doesn’t play at 100 percent all the time,“ Blackwell said. “He’s not used to winning. He’s got to understand that if you’re going to win all the time you’ve got to play hard 100 percent of the time. When we get up 18 he starts coasting.“

Blackwell doesn’t consider that shortcoming a fatal flaw. He understands that Plumlee is still developing.

“He’s a pro,“ Blackwell said. “He’s going to play a couple of years in college and he’s going to be a pro. That’s all there is to it. It’s because he can handle the ball.“

Bill Cole can be reached at .