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Suddenly, "undersized" is a description that no longer applies to Duke.

The vertically challenged Blue Devils got a huge boost on Thursday when Miles Plumlee, a 6-foot-10 senior forward from Christ School in Arden, committed to Duke.

"Miles Plumlee is an excellent player," said Dave Telep, director of national scouting for Scout.com. "To have him available at the end of the spring is a real coup."

Plumlee, who was ranked No. 58 in the Class of 2008 by Scout.com, was available only because Stanford had released him from his letter of intent on Thursday. Plumlee, who averaged 15.8 points and 6.9 rebounds last season for Christ School, originally signed with the Cardinal in the fall, when Trent Johnson was still the coach in Palo Alto. But after Johnson left to become the head coach at LSU -- where he was hired by former Duke athletics director Joe Alleva -- Plumlee was left in limbo. It didn't help that Stanford's search for a new coach dragged on and that communication from Palo Alto to Arden was minimal.

"Stanford never sent an assistant here ever to just reassure Miles," said David Gaines, Plumlee's coach at Christ School.

According to Gaines, Plumlee had decided Stanford was no longer an option before the Cardinal finally got around to hiring former Duke assistant Johnny Dawkins last weekend. That gave the Blue Devils a second chance at Plumlee, whom they had overlooked during his initial recruitment. But after Plumlee chose Stanford, Duke began recruiting his younger brother Mason, a 6-11 junior at Christ School rated No. 20 in the Class of 2009 by Scout.com. During the time spent watching Mason Plumlee -- who committed to the Blue Devils in late February -- Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and assistant coach Chris Collins became more and more intrigued with his older brother. So when Stanford allowed Plumlee to start looking at other schools, the interest was strong on both sides.

"The way Duke plays perfectly suits Miles's skill set," said Gaines, who praised Plumlee's versatility.

And simply by being 6-10, 230 pounds, Plumlee perfectly suits what the Blue Devils need.

"This guy is a player," Telep said. "He was going to be a major, major impact player at Stanford.

The potential is there for Plumlee to play a pretty big role for the Blue Devils next season as well, provided he helps out with interior defense and rebounding, two areas that plagued Duke last season. The Blue Devils also needed someone down low to keep Kyle Singler having to guard bigger opponents, a task that wore him down toward the end of last season. If Plumlee can help out in those areas, he could play significant minutes.

So when Plumlee was finally free to choose another school, the other suitors -- Indiana, Notre Dame, Purdue and Georgia Tech were among the many offers -- never really had a chance.

"He looked and said, 'Geez, with a lot of work and things falling the right way, I've got a chance to play on a really good team,' " Gaines said.

A really good Duke team that just got better, and bigger, at the most unlikely of times.

Contact Rob Daniels at 373-7028 or rob.daniels@news-record.com

Contact Jim Young at 373-7016 or jim.young@news-record.com