Duke gets rare JUCO commitment

Duke has a commitment from a junior college transfer for the first time in coach Mike Krzyzewski's 30 years.

Carrick Felix, a 6-foot-6, 195-pound small forward at the College of Southern Idaho, has accepted a scholarship offer from Duke, CSI assistant coach Josh Dees confirmed.

The Blue Devils offered Felix a scholarship after failing to land their top two choices at the position. Harrison Barnes, the top-rated recruit in the nation according to scout.com, signed with North Carolina. Roscoe Smith then committed to Connecticut.

Felix gives Duke a small forward who has some college experience, which could be especially valuable if current junior Kyle Singler leaves after this season for the NBA.

Krzyzewski isn't allowed to talk about specific recruits, but talked generally about his philosophy on junior college players Tuesday at the end of his on-campus, pre-NCAA tournament news conference.

"In regards to general junior college recruiting we would never recruit a youngster who only had two years of eligibility, so it would be impossible to graduate from Duke," Krzyzewski said. "So as we look in the past, present and the future, we would only look at situations where a youngster might have three years of eligibility."

Felix redshirted his first season at the College of Southern Idaho because of a hand injury. He averaged 14.8 points and 4.7 rebounds per game this season.

As a senior at Millenium High in Phoenix, Ariz., Felix was most valuable player of the state championship after averaging 19.7 points and 13.2 rebounds per game over the course of the season.

He joins point guard Kyrie Irving, guard Tyler Thornton and power forward Josh Hairston in Duke's recruiting class. A fifth player, guard Seth Curry, will become eligible next season after sitting out this season as a transfer from Liberty.

Ken Tysiac