DURHAM, N.C. – 
Mike Krzyzewski has never been afraid to turn his basketball team over to the freshman point guard.    
The Duke coach has had considerable success with first-year playmakers – Tommy Amaker quarterbacked Coach K's first NCAA team as a freshman in 1984; Bobby Hurley helped the Blue Devils to the national title game as a freshman in 1990; 
Jeff Capel played point guard on a team that reached the 1994 NCAA title game in his freshman season; freshman Jason Williams directed the 2000 Duke team to an ACC title and a final No. 1 ranking; Chris Duhon became the starting point guard late in the season during Duke's 2001 national championship run; even freshman 
Greg Paulus led the ACC in assists and played point for a Blue Devil team that won 32 games, the ACC title and finished No. 1 in the 2006 final poll.    
Now it looks like freshman 
Kyrie Irving will get his chance to try and match – or surpass – his first-year point guard predecessors.
“We'll change our whole offense, the way we play because of Kyrie," Krzyzewski told the New York Athletic Club in early May. “We'll run a lot more and we'll press. He's fortunate to have 
Nolan Smith and 
Kyle Singler on the perimeter with him and the Plumlees [inside]. He'll have good weapons with him.”
That's a vital point. Those successful freshman-led teams in the past all boasted a strong upper-class presence. Amaker was able to share the backcourt with 
Johnny Dawkins and had Mark Alarie up front. Hurley played alongside senior Phil Henderson, while Christian Laettner manned the middle. Capel shared the load with senior Grant Hill and sophomore shooting guard 
Chris Collins. Williams had senior 
Chris Carrawell and Shane Battier to help him out. Duhon had veterans 
Nate James, Battier, Williams, Carlos Boozer and Mike Dunleavy. Paulus played alongside senior J.J. Redick with senior Shelden Williams in the middle.
Irving will have Smith and Singler – a pair of seniors who starred on last year's NCAA title team – to carry the leadership burden.
“It's tough for a freshman in that role,” associate head coach 
Chris Collins said. “Because no matter how talented you are, you're still going to be a freshman. I think the fact that we're going to have some older guys – Kyle and Nolan – will help ease that transition. It's not going to leave a burden on our freshmen to do everything … to be our leader, to win.”
Krzyzewski is confident that Irving has the ability to handle the role that will be thrust upon him this season.
“Kyrie is really good,” the Duke coach said last summer. “We'll see when I coach him on a day to day basis. He reminds me a little bit of Chris Paul with his toughness and his ability to change directions. He's a very, very good player.”
Irving is a 6-foot-2, 180-pound product of St. Patrick's High School in Elizabeth, N.J. His combination of playmaking and scoring abilities played a large role in convincing Krzyzewski to replace the patient, halfcourt game that led to the 2010 national title with a more aggressive, up-tempo, pressure defense style of play.
“We'll play just like we did when we had Jason Williams,” Krzyzewski said. “Kyrie will make a big impact right away. [Last year] we didn't have a guard who could make things happen for other people. And Kyrie can do that.”
Jason Williams, who was also a New Jersey prep product, got a good look at his doppelganger last summer, when he was covering the FIBA 18-and-under world championships in San Antonio for ESPN. He saw Irving lead the United States to the gold medal with 12 points, seven assists and two steals in a semifinal rout of Canada, then a team-high 21 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in a narrow championship game victory over Brazil.
His reaction?
“John Wall is an exceptional talent, but if I had to pick a point guard, I'd take Kyrie,” Williams said.
John Wall … Chris Paul … Jason Williams … those are pretty lofty comparisons.
Can Irving live up to them?
The Education of a Point GuardKyrie Irving is the son of an exceptional basketball player.
Dederick Irving played his last college basketball game as a senior at Boston University in 1988, when the elder Irving scored 14 points in an NCAA Tournament loss to Duke.
“It's kind of ironic that he ended his career against Duke and I'm starting my career with Duke,” his son said. “He didn't bring that up until I committed.”
Dederick Irving, who was inducted into the Boston University Hall of Fame in 1995, finished his career as one of the top scorers in school history. After a brief tryout with the Celtics, the 6-4 guard traveled to Australia, where he averaged 38 points a game for the Bulleen Bombers.
Kyrie was born in Australia, meaning he has dual citizenship. But he grew up in New Jersey after his father gave up professional basketball for a career as a Wall Street broker.
The son did get to see his father perform in the highly competitive New York playground league.
“I saw him play in different tournaments when I was growing up,” 
Kyrie Irving said. “I'd have to say he's among the top three basketball players I've seen play. I have a lot of pride wearing Irving on my back. He basically set the standard. I just want to take it a step further.”
The younger Irving took up the sport early.
“I grew up around basketball,” he said. “I started dribbling the basketball when I was around 18 months, so I guess it was a predestined thing.”
Irving began playing youth basketball when he was eight years old.
“Two of my father's close friends were my coaches from when I was eight to 13,” he said. “After that, my father took over – from the fifth grade to the eighth grade. We won a bunch of county tournaments. It was a recreation league. We played against other towns. We won four championships.”
Irving said his father shaped his game.
“When my father started coaching me, my game changed,” he said. “Before, I was just a kid playing for fun. I wasn't the best on that team – one of my cousins was the best on the team at that time. Once I started playing for my father, he gave me the confidence I needed. For me, confidence has always been an important thing. That makes or breaks me. If I'm confident, I'm going to play well. And if my confidence is low, everybody can see it.”
Irving's father also taught him to be a basketball player, not just a point guard.
“I was always just a guard,” he said. “He taught me to play both spots. I could be the primary ballhandler or I could play off the ball.”
Irving started his prep career at Kimberly Academy in Montclair, N.J. The small, exclusive school was a top-flight academic institution, but played in an inferior basketball league. After leading Kimberly to the 2008 New Jersey Class B Championship as a sophomore, Irving transferred to St. Patrick's, where he joined an extraordinary collection of players to form one of the nation's top prep teams.
With Irving joining UNC-bound Dexter Strickland in the backcourt and Kentucky-bound Michael Gilchrist up front, St. Patrick's won its third straight state title in 2009 and was ranked No. 4 nationally by USA Today.
Irving had been under the national recruiting radar at Kimberly Academy. But his transfer to St. Patrick's and his performance on the AAU circuit during the summer of 2008 put him on the recruiting map.
“I felt it my junior summer,” he said. “That's what got the wheels going. I played in some of the biggest tournaments and I really played well. I went to all the top camps. All I needed was an opportunity and I took advantage of it.”
By the end of that summer, the fast-rising Irving was pushing to the top of the class.
“My first scholarship offer was St. Joseph's – I got that when I was going into my sophomore year,” he said. “My biggest letter was from Marquette, when Coach [Tom] Crean was there. That's what started it, my sophomore summer. I had [an offer from] Memphis, that was my biggest one.”
But Irving had caught the interest of even bigger programs, including Duke.
“Towards the end of my junior year, I met Coach Collins … I love Coach Collins,” Irving said. “He was there first. I was ridiculously nervous when he came to open practice. At that time, I wasn't acclimated at St. Pat's. I was still feeling my way through. I thought Coach Collins wouldn't come back because I didn't play that well. I was playing good, but I didn't play great. Coach Collins came back and that's when they started recruiting me.”
Irving was long linked to Indiana University, but he eliminated the Hoosiers midway through the recruiting season and trimmed his final list to five schools: Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, Seton Hall and Duke.
“Those were all great choices,” he said.
But Irving was blown away during a fall visit to Duke, where he was recognized by students on campus. He announced his decision live on ESPNU, just before signing day.
“When I went on my official visit, it felt like home and the place for me,” he said at the time.
At the time, it was considered a significant get for the Blue Devils. But at the time, few realized just how big a get it would be.
Rising in the WorldWhen 
Kyrie Irving committed to Duke, he was rated a very good prospect – a top 25 guy for sure … a top 10 player on many recruiting lists.
Nothing that Irving did as a senior at St. Patrick's did anything to hurt that perception. He averaged 24.7 points and 6.5 assists for a 26-3 team and was, as expected, invited to play in several all-star games last spring.
It was during those games that Irving elevated himself above most of his peers.
“I really set out some goals for myself going into my senior year,” he said. “It was an honor to play in the Jordan-Brand Classic, the McDonald's Game, the Nike Hoop Summit, the USA under-18s. Those were all great opportunities. I wanted to take advantage of it. 
“I really wanted to prove myself. I wanted to separate myself from the other point guards in the class. That's what everybody sets out to do. I wanted to be the best point, when all is said and done, for our class. In some cases, I did accomplish it and some I didn't. All in all, I'm really proud of myself and the progression I made.”
Irving's spring explosion was best illustrated in the Jordan Brand All-Star Classic in Madison Square Garden. The Duke-bound guard nearly rallied the East from a 12-point deficit in the game's final two minutes. He scored 12 of his game-high 22 points in that spurt, including one jaw-dropping length-of-the-court drive that started with a dribble between the legs of Texas-bound guard Cory Joseph.
Irving further built on his status when he teamed with prep senior Austin Rivers to lead the U.S. 18-and-under team to the world championship in San Antonio – the performance that so impressed Jason Williams.
“I'm proud of myself about the summer I had here, making the progression from high school to college,” he said. “I just want to continue to grow. I never want to stay in one particular spot.”
Irving spent much of the summer in summer school at Duke. He also gave area fans a taste of what's in store for ACC fans when he played in the North Carolina Pro Am at North Carolina Central.
“That was a great experience,” he said. “Playing in the pro am, there was so much electricity in the air. My first game, I had 35 points. I just really wanted to prove myself to everyone in North Carolina who doesn't know who I am because I'm from up North. I just wanted to give everybody down here a little taste of what they can expect.”
And what can Duke fans expect?
“I try to do everything on the court,” he said. “I try to do little things that don't show up on the stat sheet. But I do have the ability to score. I do have the ability to lead at point guard. That's one of the things I'm known for.”
Irving insists that he's not concerned about the pressure of directing what's likely to be the nation's preseason No. 1 team as a freshman.
“Honestly, I don't pay much attention to that stuff,” he said. “If people are going to pick us preseason No. 1, I'm not going to have any argument towards it. I don't pay attention to the freshman point guard talk either. Just knowing that the coaching staff and my teammates have trust in me is enough for me.”
Irving has already had time to work with his new teammates.
“I've grown to be comfortable with everybody on the team,” he said. “When I first came in, I was a little bit wary of that. Now I trust these guys. They're like brothers to me. There's a really special bond here, especially in our locker room. We hang out and we're really close.”
He doesn't believe it will be difficult for this year's team to recapture the togetherness and the sense of self-sacrifice that was so important to last season's title team.
“We're going to have a different bond because every year is different,” Irving said. “But when you have Nolan in the backcourt and whoever Coach K starts – our camaraderie is going to be there. We want to win. Our team is full of winners. I'm coming into a situation where they have just come off a national championship. I just want to win just as much as them.”
Irving is part of an amazingly deep and talented crop of incoming point guards in the ACC this season. Kendall Marshall at UNC was also a McDonald's All-America. Ryan Harrow at N.C. State and Ian Miller at Florida State are highly touted prospects. Wake Forest's Tony Chennault was player of the year in Philadelphia. Irving's new Duke teammate, 
Tyler Thornton, was player of the year in Washington, D.C.
Of course, none are rated as high as Irving.
“Our freshman class of point guards is very talented,” he said. “We all want to do well. We all want to start for our respective teams. Everybody's good, but we're all going to try and separate ourselves. That's one goal I always have to separate myself, especially at the point guard position. That's a really dominant position on the court. I just want to do well.”
Irving is rooming at Duke with Thornton and freshman forward 
Josh Hairston, who was a teammate on the world championship 18-and-under team.
“We've really grown on each other,” Irving said. “I didn't know that we were going to be that close before I came here. I knew them as 
Josh Hairston and 
Tyler Thornton. Now I know Josh as Jiggy and Tyler as Ty. We've grown so close … there's a special bond we share. I'm closest with them on the team, along with Nolan. Nolan has just taken all three of us under his wing. He's taken care of us. That's what I really need my freshman year.”
Duke's freshman point guard has a powerful motivation to succeed this season.
“This year is for my teammates and for my mom, who passed away when I was six, and for my little sister and my father. This is going to be a special year for me. There are a lot of expectations on my shoulders. I know my teammates will take some of that load off me.”