Blue Devil Nation

BDN has moved to it's final new home!

Mark Watson — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 11:35:09 -0400

We have moved!

Bookmark this link for the new home of bluedevilnation.net

K lead Team USA wins GOLD! New home, football!!!

Mark Watson — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 14:04:41 -0400

Congratulations Coach K and Team USA!

We will move to our new home by the end of next week! Here is a link to our temporary home where you'll find the same great news you did here, including massive coverage of the Duke Football team going into next weeks opener versus James Madison.

Be sure to check us out this week as we will be covering K's return to Durham, Cutcliffe's press conference and well, all things Duke in our unique one of a kind and often copied "Duke-centrtic," way.

We'll have a link up to our new home at the site in the link above sometime this week! So, the Blue Devil Nation is alive and well and will be better than ever once we settle in.

Go Duke and congrats to K and Team USA!

Harrison Barnes Interview in BDN Premium

Mark Watson — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 00:45:50 -0400

As you know we are moving to another site. In fact the link is below. The BDN Premium Section is still going strong as evidenced by our latest offering, a 2000 plus word interview with 2010 prospect Harrison Barnes. You can join in the paypal links to your left. You will then have access to this site and of course the new one which is up. Keep in mind the new site is being refined and will launch for the final time soon.

We are moving

Mark Watson — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 14:26:59 -0400

Our premium section is still located here, but this will make a complete move and overhaul by the end of the month. This site will remain floating in cyber space for the foreseeable future. Go to the bottom for a link to the new site which is up and running. We will be making a lot of changes in the near future. Thanks for frequenting the Blue Devil Nation!

If you want to become a member of Blue Devil Nation Premium, the paypal logos on this site are the place to join. Come on in and see what kind of information you are missing. You will then be able to discuss recruiting and behind the scenes tidbits with other members. You will have access to the archives of past information and of course, the new stuff.

Peach Jam Updates, Andre Dawkins and Jamil Wilson talks

Mark Watson — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 10:49:10 -0400

Our premium section has several recruiting updates and interviews up. To join BDN Premium, go to one of the paypal links to your left.

Please note that this site will be moving within the month. Until that time, all premium articles will appear here and the new site will simply let you know they are published.

We will be making a lot of changes in the coming days, so we appreciate your patience. Rest assured, the Blue Devil Nation will be better than ever.

Nate Lubick and Live Peach Jam reporting

Mark Watson — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 12:59:56 -0400

Here is an artcle on 2010 prospect Nate Lubick at at our new site! We will be reporting live from the Peach Jam this weekend for BDN Premium members. To join, go to one of the three paypal links in the menu to your right.

Note that this site will be moving for good in about a months time, so bookmark both for now. We will be adding a lot to the new site when we start to build it next week,

Blue Devil Nation Premium - Harrison Barnes and more

Mark Watson — Mon, 07 Jul 2008 00:21:25 -0400

We will be moving to a new home due to this site unexpectedly going down last week, but Blue Devil Nation Premium is staying on top of hot recruiting news. At the top left is Harrison Barnes who is a top ten talent in the class of 2010. We have a brand new interview with Barnes giving you a chance to get to know him.

Pictured beside Barnes, is Brandon Knight which will be our next interview to go up. Then there is Jason Morris, another super 2010 wing! We have a very informative interview up with this youngster right now.

We talked to talented Josh Hairston on several occasions and give you a scouting report on his game in that we have now seen him play six times. Picture #5 is Andre Dawkins who recently committed to Duke. We will be covering him live at the Peach Jam this coming weekend where we will give live reports from courtside.

Jamil Wilson is currently nursing some injuries but still going hard at the camps. Will he get an 09 offer or will it go to Vinson or another player? Has he already got an offer? We'll let you know and then you can talk about it on our Premium Members Message Board after you have read our interviews with both of the aforementioned prospects.

Next is Kenny Boynton, the Devils top target. No Duke site has covered Boynton as close as the BDN. We have a feature on the way about this red hot star. There is also an interview with Doron Lamb awaiting you who is the last player pictured.

There are interviews with Travis McKie, Nate Lubick and more already in hand. And we will have reports from the many camps going on this week as well. It's time for you to join Blue Devil Nation Premium. The rate ar 100.00 for a year, 60.00 for six months and 36.00 for three months. The paypal links are to your left in the menu. Upon joining, you will have access to this site and the new one as well as the BDN Premium only message board. See you inside!

We are currently build the new site. Both sites will be up for awhile and all premium information will remain here until further notice. All new information and interviews are being archived for the new site and our existing archives will remain intact.

We'll be reporting on new AD White later tonight in the new sites free section. a

Olek Czyz Link

Mark Watson — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 12:58:14 -0400

Olek is on campus.

This site will be moving!!!!! ATTENTION!

Mark Watson — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 15:15:36 -0400

Attention! We have a new home!

We are trying to contact the new server owners of this site. If you are out there, e-mail me at watzonebdp@gmail.com.

There is a new site in the works, bookmark this address http://bluedevilnation.wordpress.com/

The address will change to bluedevilnation.net in the coming days. There is a chance we may still use this site, but be sure to mark down the new addresses.

We will be taking down some pictures for bandwidth issues. All photos will remain on this site as a perk for BDN Premium Members. In fact, we plan to keep the archives here if at all possible. All new premium members will have access to both sites.

What happened? The server which we used has new owners and we don't know who they are. Bandwidth restrictions shut us down a week ago. Still stop by this site for some news, but we will be building a new site and it is up. Be patient for the new site is a shadow of what it will be. In the end, it'll be better than ever for we have a lot planned and will have some changes in store. For one we will be getting back to original articles and always have game recaps from our perspective. Look for podcasting as well. For now, both sites will be up and running. We may also be venturing in another direction with a spin-off site concerning recruiting in time.

If you are an existing member or you have just joined, you have access to both sites and the premium only message board. Need help? E-mail me at the address above but be patient.

Want to join BDN Premium? The rates ares till the same which is 36.00 for 3 months, 60.00 for six and 100.00 for a year. That's 8.33 a month at the yearly rate. Lock in now, for we may have a small rate hike.

Will we still have the free Dukecentric cool stuff? Of course we will, but we are concentrating on getting the site up the way we want it.

Blue Devil Nation is now two years old and we are thankful to loyal readers and supporters. We've come a long ways since being called the Blue Devil Chatter Box, a name that lasted a week. You, the Blue Devil Nation has made the site what it is today and we thank you for that!

So, sorry for the disappearing act! In the end, we will have an easy to remember URL and more. We will not have a free message board. We feel there are plenty of places to have fan discussion. We recommend the Duke Basketball Report Forums, the first real Duke site on the net and the one with the biggest fanbase.

BTW, our premium section is loaded with new information as is our premium discussion forum. The paypal links are in the menu to your left.

Duke Football hosts juniors and gets a local commitment

Mark Watson — Sun, 22 Jun 2008 00:00:00 -0400

Charles Westfall covered the Duke Football Camp on Saturday. Here are his thoughts -

Familiarity can be a comforting thing. That thought struck me as I lumbered down the steps of Wallace Wade for the second edition of Duke's Junior Day. Because as I approached the field, you could hear chants of "do not round your cuts, son", "nice catch, #35", and "finish, finish, finish....I don't care if you're going to win that drill, you will complete it". These were the types of things that I heard the Saturday before.

Duke's Junior Day is considered an evaluation type of camp, but there were subtle teaching points going on. If you walked over to the practice field, then you could spot Mike MacIntyre telling his offensive line proteges to "always have your hands open and making a small target. Your hands have to be your camera. Remember what the guy said in the movie The Patriot: Aim small, miss small". Receivers were instructed to keep their cuts sharp and not cross their hands when catching a ball. Simple, but important stuff.

Though the names of the 270 attendees weren't provided, the effort by the players and coaches to do the right thing was always visible. Coaches and players from Hillside, Southern Durham, Myers Park (Charlotte), R J Reynolds (Winston-Salem), and players who ventured outside the state from places like Pittsburgh eagerly lined the field.

Not surprisingly, there was an abundance of talent making a mark. A tall receiver from the Midwest surprised campers and coaches alike with his separation. A local product, Kendrick Williams, prevented a receiver from getting off the line by utilizing good leverage. In fact, I spoke with one local coach who said that 10 skill players showed up to the camp. He calmly told me that "we've got several guys at this camp who can run and hit, and are quick as lightning". After witnessing these kids, I looked up and half jokingly said, "Coach, do you have any players that don't run a 4.4". He said, with a big grin, "Yeah, they're just not here today".

Drills ranged from defensive lineman hitting obstacles and taking precise cuts to cornerbacks alternating between press and zone coverage on wide receivers. Offensive linemen diligently used "step slide" techniques instead of "hopping" from one foot to the next. Defensive linemen speared tackling dummies with purpose. At the end of the day, sprints between the linebackers, tight ends, quarterbacks, linemen, cornerbacks/wideouts really punctuated the day. The kids were straining to finish in the top 3 of each race for nothing other than pride.

Some things to note:

Danny Parker, Colin Jones, Thad Lewis, Alfred Williams, and Kinney Rucker were on hand to assist the "campers". All looked to be in fine shape. Colin even took some time to speak to this reporter's nephew who was attending the camp, and offered a lot of encouragement and some good advice. Coach Cutcliffe made a special point to recognize these individuals.

Hillside product Corey Gattis verballed an offer to Duke after the event, and this is particularly significant. The last very talented recruit to matriculate to Duke (and someone can feel free to correct me) was Emmitt Tilley. Tilley starred at Duke, and later became a standout linebacker for the Miami Dolphins.