The Plumlee basketball story begins at a Purdue basketball camp in the summer of 1979. Leslie Schultz, a 6’1” forward on the Purdue women’s team, was working as a counselor. Millard "Perky" Plumlee, a 6’7” forward from Tennessee Tech, was there too. They noticed each other but didn’t connect. Years later, at a summer tournament in Indianapolis, Leslie fouled out and sat down on the bench. Perky was sitting right behind her, waiting for his game. This time, the connection held.
Leslie had grabbed 25 rebounds in a single game at Purdue — a record that still stands. Perky was known for his leaping ability at Tennessee Tech. Their genetic match, as one writer put it, was meant to bear future post players. That was confirmed when their first son, Miles, was born at 11 pounds and 23 inches long. The nurse found his feet were too long for the ink pad.
The lineage ran deeper. Leslie’s father, Albert "Bud" Schultz, played at Michigan Tech in 1944 and on the U.S. Air Force Service Team in 1945. Her brother William played at Wisconsin-Eau Claire (1972 NAIA National Championship game). Another brother, Chad, played at Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The Plumlees’ youngest child, Madeleine, would play volleyball at Notre Dame. Every branch of the family tree led back to a gymnasium.
Mason Alexander Plumlee was born March 5, 1990, in Fort Wayne, Indiana — the middle of three brothers. Miles was two years older, Marshall two years younger. They moved to Warsaw, Indiana, population 13,500, into a house with an adjustable hoop in the driveway. That driveway was where it began. Perky called it cheap entertainment. The one-on-one games between Miles and Mason were ferocious. Marshall, smaller and younger, got in when he could. Miles admitted: it wasn’t always literally a fight, but we never finished a lot of the games.
After Mason’s freshman year at Warsaw Community High School, Perky and Leslie made a controversial decision: they sent Miles and Mason to Christ School, an all-boys boarding school in Arden, North Carolina, 600 miles from home. Both were getting D-I attention but playing only 13 minutes per game at Warsaw. The letters to the editor in Warsaw were brutal: What kind of parents are these? Perky and Leslie wiped away tears all the way across the mountains.
Mason adjusted. At Christ School — 200 students, all boys — he won three state championships, compiled a 99–8 record, was named NC Mr. Basketball, and earned McDonald’s All-American honors. He also cleared 6’8” in the high jump. Miles had committed to Stanford, but when the coach left for LSU, Mason convinced him to come to Duke. When Coach K asked if it was okay to recruit Miles, Mason didn’t hesitate: That’d be great. I’d love it if you’d recruit Miles.