You might think that the toughest part of Kyle Singler's new "Buckets 2.0" video was sinking a shot from the top of Duke Chapel into a portable basket down below.
The Duke Athletics folks who helped plan and shoot the video thought that may be the case, which is why they stuffed 15 basketballs into a big gear bag before ascending to the top of the 210-foot-high structure.
Turns out they would only need a fraction of that, as Singler, a possible first-round pick in the June 23 NBA draft, swished his fourth shot.
"Everyone was pretty shocked," said Dave Bradley, Duke basketball's recruiting/communications coordinator. "Kyle yelled down asking if he could shoot the rest of the balls and I responded that maybe he should try to bounce it in because those balls pick up great speed and I didn't want to damage the portable goal with a strong miss off the front rim or backboard. Sure enough, on his next shot, he bounced it in."
To date, the video has been viewed more than 660,000 times, which made it one of the top-watched videos on YouTube. It also was featured on the ESPN, CNN and yahoo.com websites, but still trails by 165,000 views Singler's initial Buckets video, which included a "Dickie V shot" from the crow's nest in Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Bradley said he and Singler talked about a 2.0 version toward the end of the season. "I wasn't sure if we would have time with Kyle graduating, but about three weeks after our season ended I got a text message (from Kyle) asking if we could 'get buckets from the chapel.'
"That got the wheels turning and then we brainstormed different ideas for shots and asked our fans via Twitter for suggestions. Kyle ultimately decided which shots he wanted to try and obviously we were extremely grateful that Duke allowed us to attempt shots from the chapel."
The filming was done from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. the day after graduation, with a break for lunch. "Along the way, a number of people stopped to watch and cheer us on," Bradley said.
Moving the portable hoop around campus -- including inside the pool -- "was almost as big of a challenge as some of the shots Kyle made," Bradley said.
He added that since the video was posted, "The reaction has been overwhelmingly positive. Kyle is a really genuine, fun-loving guy and I think Duke fans appreciated one last chance to see him 'get buckets.'"