By Steve DiMiceli
The Duquesne staff has spent most of the summer and even a good part of the late spring searching for the class of 2013. I've already profiled the type of recruits they're after, but when when will they land them?
Looking at years past, the bulk of fall commitments don't happen until mid to late October. The only recruit who committed before October 1st who stuck with the program was Mike Talley. Of course, TJ McConnell committed in October of his sophomore year. He's the only player in the last 10 years to commit prior to the beginning of the senior year in high school.
The Dukes aren't the only team in the conference without a 2013 recruit. According to Rivals, only Butler, Dayton, Lasalle, Xavier and VCU had early commits. Umass picked up two verbal commitments this evening meaning eight teams are still without their first pledge for the next season. I've seen action pick up across college basketball over the last few weeks but clearly we're closer to the beginning than end of the rush of commitments leading up the fall signing period.
So when should we expect our next commitment? There has been lots of movement on the recruiting front across college basketball. Really, it could happen anytime now, but in all likelihood, it's probably a couple weeks away. As we've seen over the years, guys who sign in the fall don't always make it to campus, but it's important to get the class together early. Anybody who pledges now for the Dukes would without a doubt be a "Plan A" type player since so few players with Duquesne offers have already committed elsewhere. I say the sooner the better, but I think we're at least a month away from filling the two scholarships available for the next class. Of course we're another nine months away from knowing whether or not they'll actually make it to campus.
