DURHAM — Duke's students apparently welcomed basketball prospect Kyrie Irving a bit too enthusiastically last weekend during his official visit to campus.
Student-made signs welcoming Irving were removed by Duke's NCAA compliance personnel to prevent the school from running afoul of NCAA rules, Duke associate athletic director Jon Jackson confirmed.
"Once the Duke compliance staff became aware of the activity, it acted immediately and appropriately in addressing the situation," Jackson said in an e-mail to a reporter for The News & Observer.
Jackson wouldn't say whether Duke self-reported a violation, but said the school acted in an appropriate manner. If any violation occurred, it almost certainly would be classified as "secondary" and not "major."
In an e-mail, NCAA spokeswoman Gail Dent said it's NCAA policy not to comment on self reports or violations.
Irving, a point guard from St. Patrick High in Elizabeth, N.J., is rated as the fifth-best player in the nation in the Class of 2010 by Scout.com.
According to Jackson, Duke's compliance staff followed an NCAA rules interpretation from February of 1991 in removing the signs. The interpretation refers to a previous situation at an NCAA school in which students displayed a sign about a recruit during a game the recruit was attending on campus.
The interpretation requires a school that becomes aware of such activity to take steps to stop it. That's why Duke removed signs and posted requests on message boards asking students to stop hanging signs.
