Plumlee Named Candidate for Senior CLASS Award
Mason Plumlee has been selected as one of 30 candidates for the Senior CLASS Award, an honor presented annually to the college basketball player who most excels in four areas: classroom, competition, community and character. The Warsaw, Ind., native is among the top returning post players in the NCAA after averaging 11.1 points and 9.2 rebounds with 12 double-doubles a year ago. A double major in psychology and cultural anthropology, Plumlee earned Capital One Academic All-America first team honors in 2011-12, becoming the fourth Duke player in school history to earn Academic All-America first team honors. He also earned NABC Honors Court, All-ACC Academic Team and ACC Academic Honor Roll citations.

Plumlee is also active in the Durham community, most notably with Duke's award-winning "Read with the Blue Devils" program and the Emily Krzyzewski Center, a non-profit organization designed to inspire students to dream big, act with character and purpose, and reach their potential as leaders in their community.

Duke Wraps Exhibition Play with 69-45 Win
Duke concluded its exhibition schedule on Thursday, Nov. 1 with a 69-45 win over Winston-Salem State. Senior Mason Plumlee paced the Blue Devils with 19 points (on 7-of-7 shooting), 10 rebounds and two blocks, while freshmen Amile Jefferson and Rasheed Sulaimon combined for 25 points and eight rebounds. Duke posted a dominant defensive effort in the first half, limiting the Rams to 13 points on 5-of-30 (.167) shooting. The Blue Devil held Winston-Salem State to just one field goal during a 22-4 run over the final 10 minutes of the half.

For the game, Duke forced more turnovers (19) than it allowed field goals (17) and held a decisive 29-4 edge in points off turnovers.

Three-Peat for Duke
Every five years since 1997, Basketball Times has evaluated the best of the best NCAA programs -- those that have won two-thirds of their games over 10 seasons. And for a third time in a row, the winner is located in Durham, N.C., as Duke topped the Basketball Times semi-decennial analytical ranking of Division I programs. Duke, along with Arizona, Connecticut, Kansas, Kentucky, Murray State, North Carolina, Syracuse and Xavier are the only schools that have qualified all four times the project has been done.

A complete breakdown of the analytical ranking by Basketball Times is available at http://works.bepress.com/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1030&context=jack_styczynski.

"Inside Duke Basketball" on Nov. 5
The Duke men's basketball program and the Emily Krzyzewski Center are teaming up once again to provide basketball fans with a rare glimpse inside Duke's four-time national championship program. "Inside Duke Basketball" guests will have floor side seats in Cameron Indoor Stadium as Hall of Fame head coach Mike Krzyzewski leads the 2012-2013 Blue Devils in a preseason practice and shares his thoughts and insights with attendees. Attendees will also tour the Duke Basketball Museum & Athletics Hall of Fame and have dinner in Scharf Hall with Coach K. To cap off the evening, Coach K will welcome surprise guests and give fans a truly rare glimpse inside this storied program.

Tickets for the Monday, Nov. 5 event are $250/person with proceeds benefiting the Emily K Center, a non-profit organization in Durham serving academically-focused, low-income students in out-of-school programming designed to help them achieve in school, gain entry to college, and break the cycle of poverty in their families. Check-in for the event begins at 2:30 p.m. Practice starts promptly at 3:15 p.m. Tickets are available online at http://2012insidedukebasketball.eventbrite.com/#.

Season Openers
The Blue Devils open the 2012-13 season against Georgia State on Friday, Nov. 9 at Cameron Indoor Stadium. The game, scheduled to tip at 7pm, will be shown nationally on ESPNU. Duke is 78-29 all-time in season openers, including a 30-2 mark under head coach Mike Krzyzewski. The Blue Devils have won 12 straight season openers with the last loss in a season opener coming in 1999 when Duke opened the season with a 80-79 loss to Stanford in the opening round of the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic in New York City.

Duke has also won 30 consecutive home openers and is 31-1 in home openers under Krzyzewski. Duke's last loss in a home opener was a 76-75 double-overtime defeat to Vanderbilt on Nov. 28, 1982.

Blue Devils in Pros
Duke ranks second among college teams with 18 former players currently on NBA rosters, with the former Blue Devils combining to make a league-high $96,439,883. Former Duke players have led the league in combined salary in seven of the last nine seasons.

Player - Team
Shane Battier - Miami Heat
Elton Brand - Dallas Mavericks
Carlos Boozer - Chicago Bulls
Luol Deng - Chicago Bulls
Chris Duhon - Los Angeles Lakers
Mike Dunleavy - Milwaukee Bucks
Gerald Henderson - Charlotte Bobcats
Grant Hill - Los Angeles Clippers
Kyrie Irving - Cleveland Cavaliers
Dahntay Jones - Dallas Mavericks
Corey Maggette - Detroit Pistons
Josh McRoberts - Orlando Magic
Miles Plumlee - Indiana Pacers
J.J. Redick - Orlando Magic
Austin Rivers - New Orleans Hornets
Kyle Singler - Detroit Pistons
Nolan Smith - Portland Trail Blazers
Lance Thomas - New Orleans Hornets

Most Former Players in the NBA - By Coach
1.  Mike Krzyzewski .....18
2. John Calipari .....16
3. Roy Williams .....15
4. Jim Calhoun .....12
5. Rick Barnes .....11

Most Former Players in the NBA - By School
1. Kentucky.....19
2. Duke.....18
3. North Carolina.....17
4. Kansas.....14
5. Connecticut.....12
    UCLA.....12

Highest Combined NBA Salary - 2012-13
1. Duke.....$96,439,883
2. UConn.....$75,424,578
3. Florida.....$61,998,530
4. Kentucky.....$58,348,525
5. UCLA.....$58,305,682

Duke Excels on the Court & In the Classroom
The men's basketball team was one of 16 Duke teams to achieve a 100 percent GSR, while Duke's remaining programs all achieved a GSR of 92 percent of better.  A record 74 percent of Division I basketball players from the 2005-06 freshmen class left school with a degree, a six-percentage point increase over the one-year measurement from the class of 2004-05. Senior Mason Plumlee, a 2012 first team Academic All-America, leads the way in the classroom along with senior Ryan Kelly. Both players are two-time ACC All-Academic Team selections.

Linked In
Duke senior Plumlee set for bigger role - http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/ncaab/2012/10/30/duke-senior-mason-plumlee-set-for-bigger-role/1669779/

Hood improving his game at Duke - http://duke.rivals.com/barrier_noentry.asp?ReturnTo=&sid=&script=content.asp&cid=1427752&fid=&tid=&mid=&rid=

Quinn Cook: Nobody Knows Him - http://duke.scout.com/2/1233121.html

Duke alum Adam Silver named next NBA commissioner - http://www.dukechronicle.com/article/duke-alum-adam-silver-named-next-nba-commissioner

Duke's Dawkins takes season away to finally heal - http://heraldsun.com/view/full_story/20675118/article-Duke-s-Dawkins-takes-season-away-to-finally-heal

Tweets
@RealNateJames: Wife asked my son who's his fav player.He quickly responded DADDY.Only 1 King James n my house pic.twitter.com/KAyrhT2w

@SethDavisHoops: Until Derrick Rose comes back, is it overstating things to call Kyrie Irving the second best PG in the NBA next to Chris Paul?

@ShaneBattier I'm not a huge jewelry guy but I lll make an exception for this. http://yfrog.com/nyaudekj

Jay Bilas‏@JayBilas: On October 31, 1950, the great Earl "Big Cat" Lloyd was the first African American to play in the NBA. A great man, Naismith Hall of Famer.

Steve Wojciechowski‏@steve_wojo: At the close of this NBA season, Coach K's former players will have made $1 BILLION in NBA salary... The most all-time. #dukefacts

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