Ex-Duke b’baller turns Army Ranger

As a seven-foot basketball player, Marshall Plumlee's responsibilities on the court was to protect the rim. Now, he'll be protecting the country. Plumlee, who won a national title at Duke in 2015 and spent parts of two seasons in the NBA, graduated from Army Ranger School on Aug. 30 at Fort Benning, Ga. While at Duke, he was a member of the Reserve Officers' Training Corps. His college coach, Mike Krzyzewski, is a West Point graduate who served in the Army, too. When Plumlee signed with the New York Knicks for the 2016-17 season, he also enlisted in the New York National Guard. He played eight games with the Milwaukee Bucks the following year. Ranger school involves three phrases (Benning, mountain, swamp) and involves intense training, tactics and leadership skills for 62 days. (Source: USA TODAY 09/05/19) Gulf Coast Note: Camp Rudder, located on the Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., range serves as home of the third and final phase of Ranger School training before graduation.