Duke strikes again with Pocius

The class of 2005 recruiting class for the Duke Blue Devils is rounding out nicely as the national power landed shooting guard Martynas Pocius. The 6-foot-5, 190-pound Lithuanian native from The Holderness School in New Hampshire verbally committed to the Blue Devils on Monday afternoon, a day after visiting the Durham campus, according to his coach Jamie Gallagher.

Pocius officially visited Duke and took in the team’s annual Blue-White scrimmage as well as the customary things for a visit. He visited Kansas the week before. In the end, Duke won out.

“Duke wanted him to be there (for the Blue-White) game so he could see the guys play and how they interacted with each other,” Gallagher said. “I think he saw himself working well with them.”

The sharp shooting guard became one of the hottest prospects in the country during the October evaluation period. A number of high-major schools made the trip to the school and evaluated Pocius. What they found was a player that can shoot, run the floor and according to one source, “an athletic version of Jeff Hornacek.”

“I think he has a lot of potential to play well at Duke. He loves to shoot the ball and push it for that up temp style that they run as a team. He likes to get out and go,” Gallagher said.

“He grew an inch over the summer and he’s only 18 so it’s possible that there are a couple more inches in him. Right now, he just needs to get into the weight room and get stronger. Of course, there is some room to grow as a player.”

Pocius averaged 18 points a game as a junior. For Duke, he’ll be a nice compliment to a backcourt with point guard Greg Paulus. The Blue Devils already have commitments from Josh McRoberts, Jamal Boykin and Eric Boateng.