In viewing the banner, Winslow said on Instagram, "Duke Craziesss showing love this morning to me, TRaww and Big Jah on our official visit. First game of the season today! #BlueDevils"
On top of that, all three players watched Duke's exhibition game vs. Bowie State from behind the Blue Devils bench.
So do you get the sense that this could be an amazing haul for Duke? Okafor and Jones are ranked Nos. 1 and 2 in Sporting News' Mike DeCourcy's 2014 recruiting rankings, and Winslow No. 9.
NO CONSPIRACY
The Iowa State schedule poster piqued the interest of conspiracy theorists who believed that the poster was a sly way of reintroducing the team’s disappointment of a charge call that didn’t go the Cyclones’ way in the final minute of a round of 32 game vs. Ohio State in the NCAA Tournament.
While life can imitate art, art was not meant to imitate life in this case, a Cyclones official told WHO TV sports director Keith Murphy. The scene depicted was pure coincidence, and that was corroborated McLanahan Studio, which created the poster, in this Facebook posting.
“Who knew this year's Cyclone squad unleashing a fast-break against a fictitious team in Hilton Coliseum would be so easily confused with last year's squad playing a different-colored team in a different arena? I guess we should thank Keith Murphy for significantly increasing our blog traffic this week! Looking forward to a fantastic season from these guys. #hatersgonnahate #cyclonepower”
But come to think of it, it was a delightful coincidence, given the debate it stirred.
In a blog post, McClanahan Studio talked about how it painstakingly went about producing the poster, saying It was simply about portraying “the excitement of a fast-break sequence.”
Given the raw image McLanahan was working from, it would have been foolish not to have a defender placed in front of Melvin Ejim. At least in this case, this defender would have been called for a block. Dude’s foot is clearly in the lane!
Advantage, Cyclones. Conspiracy theory, dead.
ST. JOHN'S OBEKPA SUSPENDED
St. John's sophomore center Chris Obekpa has been suspended from the Red Storm's two exhibition games for a violation of university policy.
The 6-foot-9 sophomore, who led the NCAA last season with an average of 4.03 blocks per game, will miss exhibition games against San Francisco State on Nov. 2 and Humboldt State on Nov. 4.
The school said Friday that Obekpa would also miss that night's season tipoff event on campus.
Obekpa will continue to practice throughout the preseason and will be reinstated for the season-opening game against Wisconsin in Sioux Falls, S.D., on Nov. 8.
SMOTHERED MAN
With college basketball season less than two weeks away, teams across the country finished their pep rallies and Midnight Madness events over the weekend.
No preseason event can be complete without some sort of dunk exhibition. While Purdue didn't have a formal dunk contest, freshman Basil Smotherman still showed off with a nasty posterization on Sterling Carter during their intrasquad scrimmage on Saturday morning.
Basil Smotherman: Great name, amazing dunk.
Contributors: Roger Kuznia and Troy Machir
