Andre Dawkins to enroll at Duke a year early

At the end of this past season, it was obvious to many that Duke was going to be heading into this year shorthanded in the back court. With Greg Paulus heading to Syracuse to play football and Gerald Henderson headed to the draft, the Devils were left with Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith, and Elliot Williams as the only three guards on their roster.

But then came the unexpected news that Elliot Williams, a freshman that changed the course of Duke's season over the last 12 games when he was inserted into the starting line-up, was transferring (back home to Memphis) in order to be closer to his mother, who is battling cancer.

With no guards in their recruiting class, Duke is going to be stuck with just two guards on their roster, right?

Wrong.

Earlier today, FOXSports broke the news that Andre Dawkins, a top 25 recruits in the class of '10, will try (and is almost a lock) to enroll at Duke a year early. While only a junior in terms of academics, Dawkins is in his fourth year of high school (after his freshman season at Deep Creek High (Va.), he transferred to Atlantic Shores High (Va.) for basketball reasons, repeating his freshman year). According to Andy Katz, Dawkins was most likely headed to Hargrave Military Academy next season.

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Andre Dawkins will be enrolling at Duke a year early.
(photo credit: Rivals)

Dawkins has taken all 16 core classes required by Duke, has received qualifying test scores, and has a 3.2 GPA. All he needs to do in order to enroll at Duke is to graduate high school, which is is looking to accomplish through summer school.

This would be a very important addition to the Blue Devils roster. Dawkins is cut from the same cloth as Williams and Henderson - a 6'4" wing with impressive athleticism, although it seems he may be a better shooter than either Williams or Henderson.

While this does provide Duke with another perimeter player, as well as the option of playing Scheyer at the point where he was much more effective last season, Blue Devils fans should not view Dawkins as their saving grace.

When Duke was playing their best basketball last season, it was when Scheyer was at the point and Kyle Singler was at the four. Why? Because Scheyer had all kinds of problems scoring against the bigger, more athletic two-guards you find in the ACC and Singler was most effective when he was guarded by power forwards, creating a mismatch on the offensive end. Even with the addition of Dawkins, Duke is going to have to either use Singler at the three or Scheyer at the two.

And while Dawkins will provide a bit more versatility and depth in the back court, going into the season with just three guards still means the Devils will be playing shorthanded. They have a talented front line (Singler, Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek, Ryan Kelly, and Mason and Miles Plumlee), and it will be interesting to see how Coach K runs this team considering he won't be able to run his the system he has these past few seasons - apressuring man-to-man defense and a three-point shooting offense.

It never hurts to add a player with the talent that Dawkins has. But Duke will still be forced to change up their style of play, likely playing some zone this year. If Dawkins has a freshman campaign on the same level as Henderson's or Williams', then expect Duke to stay near the top of the ACC.

But it still won't be enough for them to compete with UNC.