Medford's Finest: Kyle Singler

It would not be an exaggeration to say that Duke Freshman Kyle Singler was the biggest thing to happen to his hometown - Medford, Oregon- in the last half-century. Medford rallied around Singler as he carried his South Medford High School team to state supremacy and national renown.

Kyle's father, mother and grandfather (among other family members) were Pac-10 athletes, so his pedigree is true. His high school team featured his brother and younger cousin: three fundamentally-sound Singlers running circles around their competition. Were it not for Lake Oswego's Kevin Love (son of former NBAer Stan Love), Singler most likely would have won back-to-back-to-back state titles.

Singler's array of skills led his legion of gap-toothed followers on a statewide barnstorm, especially during his Junior and Senior year, as the Medford faithful made the hours-long trip up Interstate 5 to watch him play in nationally-recognized tournaments like the Les Schwab Invitational.

Watching Singler in high school, what stood out were his fundamentals, consistency and competitive edge. It's fairly common to see the most-skilled player on the court working his ass off to win games; it's less common to see the same player play end line to end line for 40 full minutes. It's even less common to see that player, at 16 or 17 years of age, playing the game hard, to win, and playing it the right way: boxing out, bounce passes, ball in the triple-threat position immediately upon receiving a pass on the wing, dribbling with his head up at all times, making free throws, getting low when playing defense in the post. The kid just does it all, and does it all well.

In conclusion, Kyle Singler was born to play for Duke University and Coach K. He knows it, the Medford faithful know it, and soon a national audience will know it.

- Ben Golliver
(http://draftkevindurant.blogspot.com/)