Guard Andre Dawkins set to enroll at Duke

By Jeff Gravley

Andre Dawkins has been cleared to enroll at Duke and join the basketball program, the school announced Friday.

Dawkins recently received his high school diploma after passing his final course requirement this summer.

"We are excited about Andre joining our program," said Krzyzewski. "He is a very talented player and an excellent student. He worked hard throughout his high school career and this summer to put himself in this position. He will be an outstanding addition to the university and our basketball team."

Dawkins, a 6-foot-4 shooting guard from Atlantic Shores Christian Academy in Virginia, will help the Blue Devils offset the loss of Elliot Williams, who transferred to Memphis.

Dawkins previously told WRAL he expected to graduate early from high school and enroll.

"As far as the NCAA goes, I have all of my core credits. I could enroll now, but I have to be graduated from high school," Dawkins said July 16. "[My family and I] called [Duke assistant coach Steve Wojciechowski], and he looked at it, and he said that as far as the NCAA goes, I was good. Atlantic Shores said 'OK, as long as you finish English 12.'"

Dawkins, a native of the Washington D.C. metropolitan area, played his first year of high school basketball at Deep Creek [Chesapeake, Va.] before transferring to Atlantic Shores Christian [Chesapeake, Va.], where he elected to repeat his freshman year. He and his family decided to pursue forgoing a fifth-year of high school after realizing that he had all of the core credits required by the NCAA Eligibility Center and only needed to pass English 12 to graduate.

Last season, Dawkins averaged 20.5 points and 4.8 rebounds per game to lead the Seahawks to a 32-2 record and an appearance in the Division II state private school final. He was named All-Tidewater area and also was a first team Division II private school all-tournament team selection.

As a sophomore, he guided Atlantic Shores to a 29-7 ledger and was named the Metro Conference Player of the Year and All-Tidewater area. In his first season, Dawkins helped the team to a 29-6 record that included a 21-game win streak following an 8-5 start to the season.

Dawkins, a 6-4, 190-pound guard, is ranked as one of the top players in the Class of 2010. ESPN.com ranks him as the No. 2 shooting guard in the country and the No. 10 overall prospect, while Scout.com rates him as the No. 3 shooting guard and No. 22 overall.

With his enrollment this fall, Dawkins joins freshman Ryan Kelly and Mason Plumlee in the 2009 recruiting class. Duke’s 2009 class was already ranked No. 9 overall by Scout.com prior to Dawkins joining the group