Plumlee Ties Run Deep At Purdue
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
His oldest son will do just that tonight, as the fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils (7-0) come to West Lafayette to battle the ninth-ranked Purdue Boilermakers (5-1) in the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge.[[In-content Ad]]The game will air live on ESPN at 9 p.m.
But rather than wearing the black and gold of the host Boilermakers, the 6-foot-10, 230 pound Plumlee, a freshman, will don a blue and white No. 21 jersey for recent Olympic gold medal-winning coach Mike Krzyzewski.
"I used to dream of Miles playing at Mackey Arena," said Perky Plumlee, who grew up 10 minutes from the Purdue campus and played high school basketball at Lafayette Harrison. "I always dreamed he'd wear the black and gold, but that's not the case. I'm just going to be happy being there. My parents are going to be so happy just seeing him take the floor, no matter what uniform he's in."
Tonight's game marks the first time Miles Plumlee, who has played in all seven of Duke's game and started once, will have played a game in the Hoosier State since transferring to Christ School in North Carolina following his junior year at Warsaw Community High School.
And because the game is at Purdue, it makes things even more special for the whole family.
"Purdue is a huge part of my family," Miles Plumlee said in a phone conversation after practice Sunday evening. "When I was little, I lived just five or 10 minutes from the campus. I have a cousin that goes to school at Purdue. I went to Purdue Basketball Camp every year when I was a kid. Purdue has always been a big part of my family."
Miles Plumlee's mom, Leslie (Schultz) Plumlee, played basketball for the Boilermakers. In fact, 27 years ago today she set the Purdue women's single-game record for rebounds with 25 in a contest at Miami of Ohio. Her record still stands today.
Perky and Leslie Plumlee met while they were camp counselours at Purdue Basketball Camp.
Miles' Plumlee's grandfather, Perky's father, was a professor in the Ag Department at Purdue for 37 years.
"Everyone in my family went to Purdue, everyone except me" said Perky Plumlee, who played collegiately for Tennessee Tech and later played for Athletes In Action. "I went to games at Purdue when Rick Mount was there. To see Miles play at Mackey Arena will be pretty special."
Purdue's roster features seven players from the Hoosier State. Players like Chris Kramer from Huntington, Robbie Hummel from Valparaiso, E'Twaun Moore from East Chicago and JaJuan Johnson from Franklin Central High School.
All were heavily recruited by the Boilermakers during their prep careers.
Miles Plumlee, who transferred to Christ School and led the Greenies to two-year record of 63-6 with two state championship, wasn't.
"I'm not gonna lie, we were disappointed Purdue didn't show a lot of interest in Miles," said Perky Plumlee. "The truth is, they did later offer a scholarship after Miles got out of his commitment to Stanford, but it was too late by then, he was set on going to Duke and playing with Mason."
Mason Plumlee, a 6-11 nationally ranked power forward and senior at Christ School, commited to Duke last year and signed his letter of intent in early November.
Miles and Mason have a younger brother Marshall who is a 6-10 sophomore center at Christ School. The youngest of the three Plumlee brothers has already been offered a scholarship to play at Purdue, as well as Indiana and Notre Dame.
While many so-called basketball experts spoke highly of Mason and Marshall when they were younger, Miles didn't draw as much attention, even though he won award after award at basketball camp after basketball camp.
Needless to say, coach David Gaines and Christ School are a big part of Miles getting the scholarship to Stanford, which he was able to get a release from when then-Cardinal coach Trent Johnson resigned and went to LSU, and eventually his scholarship to play at Duke.
What his parents saw in him all along, Gaines was able to get out of Miles.
"Miles has always had incredible skills," said Leslie Plumlee. "Coach Gaines really believed in Miles and Miles was very successful at Christ School."
Miles, who averaged 16 points and seven rebounds as a high school senior, was named All-State twice in North Carolina.
Following his senior year at Christ School, he was named North Carolina's Major Sport Male Athlete of the Year.
"Miles has always accepted challenges," said Leslie Plumlee. "He's always pushed himself and not paid attention to a lot of discouragement.
From Krzyzewski, Leslie Plumlee said her oldest son gets a lot of encouragement, and that she and her husband admire the way Coach K deals with his players.
"Coach K is a man of integrity," she said. "He's so much more than basketball. The things Miles and Mason will learn from him will have a lasting effect on them."
The Plumlee parents said that Miles has lived his life by the motto, "I'd rather be a dog among kings than a king among dogs."
It's a saying Miles learned from his grandfather.
And so Miles Plumlee has stood tall - in more ways than one - and he now plays for a legendary coach at one of them most prominent universities in the country.
From his birth in Fort Wayne to living in West Lafayette to moving to Warsaw to transferring to Christ School to signing with Stanford to ending up at Duke, Miles Plumlee has been on the go.
Tonight, at least in a small way, he will be home.
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His oldest son will do just that tonight, as the fourth-ranked Duke Blue Devils (7-0) come to West Lafayette to battle the ninth-ranked Purdue Boilermakers (5-1) in the annual ACC/Big Ten Challenge.[[In-content Ad]]The game will air live on ESPN at 9 p.m.
But rather than wearing the black and gold of the host Boilermakers, the 6-foot-10, 230 pound Plumlee, a freshman, will don a blue and white No. 21 jersey for recent Olympic gold medal-winning coach Mike Krzyzewski.
"I used to dream of Miles playing at Mackey Arena," said Perky Plumlee, who grew up 10 minutes from the Purdue campus and played high school basketball at Lafayette Harrison. "I always dreamed he'd wear the black and gold, but that's not the case. I'm just going to be happy being there. My parents are going to be so happy just seeing him take the floor, no matter what uniform he's in."
Tonight's game marks the first time Miles Plumlee, who has played in all seven of Duke's game and started once, will have played a game in the Hoosier State since transferring to Christ School in North Carolina following his junior year at Warsaw Community High School.
And because the game is at Purdue, it makes things even more special for the whole family.
"Purdue is a huge part of my family," Miles Plumlee said in a phone conversation after practice Sunday evening. "When I was little, I lived just five or 10 minutes from the campus. I have a cousin that goes to school at Purdue. I went to Purdue Basketball Camp every year when I was a kid. Purdue has always been a big part of my family."
Miles Plumlee's mom, Leslie (Schultz) Plumlee, played basketball for the Boilermakers. In fact, 27 years ago today she set the Purdue women's single-game record for rebounds with 25 in a contest at Miami of Ohio. Her record still stands today.
Perky and Leslie Plumlee met while they were camp counselours at Purdue Basketball Camp.
Miles' Plumlee's grandfather, Perky's father, was a professor in the Ag Department at Purdue for 37 years.
"Everyone in my family went to Purdue, everyone except me" said Perky Plumlee, who played collegiately for Tennessee Tech and later played for Athletes In Action. "I went to games at Purdue when Rick Mount was there. To see Miles play at Mackey Arena will be pretty special."
Purdue's roster features seven players from the Hoosier State. Players like Chris Kramer from Huntington, Robbie Hummel from Valparaiso, E'Twaun Moore from East Chicago and JaJuan Johnson from Franklin Central High School.
All were heavily recruited by the Boilermakers during their prep careers.
Miles Plumlee, who transferred to Christ School and led the Greenies to two-year record of 63-6 with two state championship, wasn't.
"I'm not gonna lie, we were disappointed Purdue didn't show a lot of interest in Miles," said Perky Plumlee. "The truth is, they did later offer a scholarship after Miles got out of his commitment to Stanford, but it was too late by then, he was set on going to Duke and playing with Mason."
Mason Plumlee, a 6-11 nationally ranked power forward and senior at Christ School, commited to Duke last year and signed his letter of intent in early November.
Miles and Mason have a younger brother Marshall who is a 6-10 sophomore center at Christ School. The youngest of the three Plumlee brothers has already been offered a scholarship to play at Purdue, as well as Indiana and Notre Dame.
While many so-called basketball experts spoke highly of Mason and Marshall when they were younger, Miles didn't draw as much attention, even though he won award after award at basketball camp after basketball camp.
Needless to say, coach David Gaines and Christ School are a big part of Miles getting the scholarship to Stanford, which he was able to get a release from when then-Cardinal coach Trent Johnson resigned and went to LSU, and eventually his scholarship to play at Duke.
What his parents saw in him all along, Gaines was able to get out of Miles.
"Miles has always had incredible skills," said Leslie Plumlee. "Coach Gaines really believed in Miles and Miles was very successful at Christ School."
Miles, who averaged 16 points and seven rebounds as a high school senior, was named All-State twice in North Carolina.
Following his senior year at Christ School, he was named North Carolina's Major Sport Male Athlete of the Year.
"Miles has always accepted challenges," said Leslie Plumlee. "He's always pushed himself and not paid attention to a lot of discouragement.
From Krzyzewski, Leslie Plumlee said her oldest son gets a lot of encouragement, and that she and her husband admire the way Coach K deals with his players.
"Coach K is a man of integrity," she said. "He's so much more than basketball. The things Miles and Mason will learn from him will have a lasting effect on them."
The Plumlee parents said that Miles has lived his life by the motto, "I'd rather be a dog among kings than a king among dogs."
It's a saying Miles learned from his grandfather.
And so Miles Plumlee has stood tall - in more ways than one - and he now plays for a legendary coach at one of them most prominent universities in the country.
From his birth in Fort Wayne to living in West Lafayette to moving to Warsaw to transferring to Christ School to signing with Stanford to ending up at Duke, Miles Plumlee has been on the go.
Tonight, at least in a small way, he will be home.
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