All in the Family

Michael Duncan, brother of Jake Duncan, Hampden-Sydney College basketball’s leading scorer, commits to play basketball at their father’s alma matter in 2016

“We were trying to get Jake to commit on his visit and his brother was like, ‘I think you should do it! If you do it, I’ll do it,” stated Dee Vick, head coach of Hampden-Sydney College basketball. He reflects on one of the first times he met Williamsburg Christian Academy senior, Michael Duncan.

“When we went to see Jake…we saw him in a practice and his brother Michael was there and, at that time, he was probably in 9th or 10th grade and he had broken his arm. And so he couldn’t practice and he sat with us in the bleachers, myself and Coach Sanborn, and… he was a very talkative young man and just really fun to hang out with..,” said Vick.

According to Michael Duncan, 17, he called Coach Vick about three weeks ago, in January, to verbally commit to playing Hampden-Sydney basketball in the future 2016–17 season. “…I haven’t put anything on paper…I’m definitely committed to Hampden-Sydney. I don’t wanna go anywhere else,” he stated.

Perhaps the biggest pro on Michael’s list of deciding factors was that not only his father, Gregory Duncan, is a Hampden-Sydney alum, but his older brother, Jake, is currently a junior on Hampden-Sydney’s basketball roster.

Jake Duncan, 20, affirmed, “Our relationship’s always been really good and I think that’s what I’m most excited about is to have one last year until I have to enter the real world, with my brother.”

Similarly, Michael Duncan stated, “I’ve always kind of looked up to him, not even on the basketball court, but kind of just in life because he…definitely my role model. He’s been a huge part of my life.”

Jake Duncan transferred into Hampden-Sydney his sophomore year, after playing for the New Jersey Institute of Technology his first year out of high school. He averages 27.4 minutes per game and 11 points, leading the categories for made field goals and 3-pointers.

According to Vick, they attempted to recruit Jake his junior year at Williamsburg Christian Academy. According to Jake Duncan, in high school he was set on not attending Hampden-Sydney, but when he made the decision to transfer and toured the campus he “knew it was the place to be.”

Maybe the Hampden-Sydney and the Duncans are a match made above. Jake and Michael Duncan’s father, Gregory, graduated from the institution in 1978 after playing football there. But Jake Duncan says that wasn’t a huge part in his decision. “I think the big thing is he never pushed it and I think if he would have pushed it I would have been like no,” said Jake.

Michael Duncan stated, “When I told my mom she started crying. And my dad almost started crying too because he’s always wanted me to go to Hampden-Sydney, since he went to Hampden-Sydney.”

According Vick, the recruiting process is a long and complicated one. He feels they are somewhat limited considering the fact that Hampden-Sydney is a private institution and their annual tuition and fees are around $56,000. Since they are recognized by the NCAA as a division III college, they do not have athletic scholarships to offer and do not participate in the National Letter of Intent signing day program, according to their website.

Vick stated, “We start in the summer months. We go to a lot of AAU events to collect names. And then we come home and do our research as far as calling the high school coaches, calling the kids, calling the AAU coaches, guidance counselors to request transcripts. Through that process we start with maybe 2 or 300 names and that list dwindles down to about 40 or 50 this time of year.” This process is handled with the assistance of their recruiting coordinator and assistant coach, Tyler Sanborn.

This year one of those names is Michael Duncan. As a senior, point guard at Williamsburg Christian Academy he averages nine points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals per game.

“They‘ve seen him play multiple times and it wasn’t me like “go recruit my brother,’ I wasn’t pushing anything onto them…they’ve been multiple times to see him play and finally offered him a position about a month ago to be on the team. I think me being on the team helped them find him, but I don’t think in any way they went after him because he was my little brother,” said Jake Duncan.

This isn’t the first time in Hampden-Sydney basketball history that a band of brothers were part of the show. Vick stated, “It dates back to when I played at Hampden-Sydney, in fact, we had Brad and Scott Pomeroy which were two of our better players in the early 90s…we also had Jack and Bat Barber. So we’ve had several brother connections on our team before, as well.”

The Duncan brothers won’t be alone. Sophomore Hunter Kuehn and freshman Harrison Kuehn are two brothers that already sit on the team roster. According to both Jake Duncan and Vick, it may be a conflicted situation if the brothers were playing the same position, but in both cases they “compliment each other well” from their contrasting positions on the team.

Vick believed that having a sibling on the team does help to recruit their brother, but added, “We would have recruited them if they didn’t have brothers, both of them.”

Jake and Michael Duncan never got much experience playing on the same court in high school, but both look forward to the experience next year. “…I think my job as point guard is to find shots for others and I think it’s gonna be really cool to find Jake and maybe give him a few open shots a game. That’s what actually excites me the most,” said Michael Duncan. Their family looks forward to supporting them both from the sideline.