Duke Football Recruiting 2011-12

[pbc2]

According to Scout, Michael Mann, DE from Colorado, has committed to Duke. He's a 6'5", 220 lb. teammate of Max McCaffrey, also a 2012 commit ready to sign on Signing Day.

Mann is a nice addition to the class, and the 4th defensive line prospect. All 4 DLs are rated 3-stars by ESPN. Duncan and Rayner will announce on signing day, and Duke will "have a hat on the table" for both.

[DukeSean]

I just think that perhaps we could do a better job at leveraging the amazing non-football offerings of Duke over other schools to perhaps compensate for our less than stellar football reputation. This should appeal to a lot of student-athletes, I'd think.

I'm sure our coaches/recruiters play that card as much as they possibly can. Hard to imagine that they're aren't. But sometimes, kids just don't care about that. Obviously we value education more than many things, but some kids/families value many other things more than education. Who knows what goes on in a 17-18 yr old recruit's mind?

[jimsumner]

I'm sure our coaches/recruiters play that card as much as they possibly can. Hard to imagine that they're aren't. But sometimes, kids just don't care about that. Obviously we value education more than many things, but some kids/families value many other things more than education. Who knows what goes on in a 17-18 yr old recruit's mind?

As adults, we know that an education is a life-long thing and the chances of a long and remunerative pro playing career are slim. Even the few who make it are one injury from getting-on-with-the-rest-of-your-life.

But darn near every 17-year-old good enough to be recruited by ACC schools in football or basketball is convinced that they'll make it at the next level. After all, they're the Alpha Dogs. They've dominated their AAU leagues, their high school teams and leagues, they've been kissed up to by peers and adults alike for year after year.

Maybe Chris Johnson makes ECU a more attractive option than Duke's academic credentials. After all, who needs a degree when you're going to be making big bucks in the NFL in a few years?

Obviously, this is a broad brush and not every prepster feels this way. Duke is full of student-athletes with a long view of things. But if using a university degree to ensure an ability to earn large amounts of money for the next fifty years were a priority, then Duke, Northwestern, Rice and the Ivies would be picking and choosing among the best high school football players.

And that doesn't seem to be the case.

[-bdbd]

Mann is a nice addition to the class, and the 4th defensive line prospect. All 4 DLs are rated 3-stars by ESPN. Duncan and Rayner will announce on signing day, and Duke will "have a hat on the table" for both.

Hey pbc2, given your good inside knowledge, are there any other last-minute recrtuiting decisions that we might want to be following on signing day besides just Duncan and Rayner? Any "outside chance" recruits? Also, given the smallness of this class, how many scholarship slots remain open?

And to echo Jim's point, who ever really knows what appeals to different recruits. I think in some (many?) cases the high academic standards actually HURTS us as kids, though they'd never admit it in public, are a bit imtimidated by those standards and the demand for extra work in that regard. And we all know that WINNING is a great recruiting aphrodisiac. That's why getting off the mat is just so hard - it isn't simply a matter of simply saying "OK, we're going to win now." Getting a few breaks/wins on the field will help in a lot of ways, including recruiting.

[devilirium]

I have read with some interest one thing that the current Vanderbilt coach ( James Franklin)cites when confronted with the negative recruiting about tough academics. If he hears about it from a kid then he'll turn it on it's end. He'll reply " what is it then that really saying about you? That you're not smart enough to do the work?"

[MartyClark]

Mann is a nice addition to the class, and the 4th defensive line prospect. All 4 DLs are rated 3-stars by ESPN. Duncan and Rayner will announce on signing day, and Duke will "have a hat on the table" for both.

Mann and Max McCaffrey both attend Valor Christian, a private school in the Denver suburbs. The best player on that team is Christian McCaffrey, the brother of Max, who is only a sophomore. I would guess that Duke is already on him.

[OldPhiKap]

Fingers crossed for a good signing day tomorrow! Go Duke!

[mkline09]

Fingers crossed for a good signing day tomorrow! Go Duke!

I second that motion. Big Bucks No Whamies!

[towerview road]

Duke should go after this kid - http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps...ale/52893378/1.

26 ACT (Low, but not lower than would likely function @ Duke), 4.0, recruitable.

Jontrey Tillman's story could be seen as a cautionary tale for recruiting season: It's often wise to not put all your eggs in one basket.

Jontrey Tillman won't be playing for Stanford next year, after the 4.0 student was denied entry.

Jim Z. Rider-US PRESSWIRE, US Presswire

Jontrey Tillman won't be playing for Stanford next year, after the 4.0 student was denied entry.


Jontrey Tillman won't be playing for Stanford next year, after the 4.0 student was denied entry..."

[duke09hms]

Duke should go after this kid - http://www.usatoday.com/sports/preps...ale/52893378/1.

26 ACT (Low, but not lower than would likely function @ Duke), 4.0, recruitable.

Hmmm, 26 ACT comes to about 1190 SAT (http://www.act.org/aap/concordance). About 300 pts below the Duke student average, but still a great score for a FB player, especially w/ a 4.0 GPA, although we don't know what GPA scale his HS uses.

Didn't Cutcliffe try to (foolishly) get Duke admissions to take a few kids with 800s SAT? Thankfully Duke admissions said hell no.

Sounds like this poor kid got recruited over by Stanford. Maybe he'll be interested in Duke.

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Coverage of Signing Day begins for Duke at 7A. Inside Access will provide on site interviews and highlights of all the activity for free. Following are details. http://www.goduke.com/ViewArticle.db...DB_OEM_ID=4200

[airowe]

Some info on the Class of 2012.

Offensive Linemen (Casey Blaser and Tanner Stone)

Offensive Skill Positions (Anthony Nash, Thomas Sirk, Shaq Powell, Max McCaffrey, Dan Beilinson, Erich Schneider)

[devildeac]

Just texted to me from a former FB manager:

"Duke got Duncan and Rayner! HUGE pickups!"

[DukeSean]

Just texted to me from a former FB manager:

"Duke got Duncan and Rayner! HUGE pickups!"

WOW, that would be HUGE to get both!

[watzone]

http://bluedevilnation.net/2012/02/d...ning-day-2012/ The two late pick ups came at the midnight hour. Jela Duncan and Raynor are legit prospects and those added two are all Duke Football Recruiting could ask for. We are updating the latest as the LOI's come into the football office.

[OZZIE4DUKE]

Just texted to me from a former FB manager:

"Duke got Duncan and Rayner! HUGE pickups!"

Great news!

I'm watching the video link of the 8:30 broadcast. Seeing WR Anthony Nash - 6'5", 190# with SUB 4.3 speed, all I can say is WOW! Just WOW! They commented that he came from a small, run oriented team so he was under rated by most of the services, and that he should have been a 5 star recruit! He'll look great across from Donovan Varner next year! No way this guy gets redshirted!

I see the list on Watzone's link that Nash is only a 2 star recruit. In Cut I trust! Great find!

[Highlander]

http://bluedevilnation.net/2012/02/d...ning-day-2012/ The two late pick ups came at the midnight hour. Jela Duncan and Raynor are legit prospects and those added two are all Duke Football Recruiting could ask for. We are updating the latest as the LOI's come into the football office.

Looks like we have some height at the TE position. Good to see, given the NFL trending there in NO and NE!

TE Erich Schneider
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 220 pounds
High School: Episcopal
Hometown: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
ESPN ranking: 3 stars, #151 WR

TE Dan Beilinson
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 240 pounds
High School: Panther Creek
Hometown: Cary, North Carolina
ESPN ranking: 3 stars, #22 TE

[Devil in the Blue Dress]

Looks like we have some height at the TE position. Good to see, given the NFL trending there in NO and NE!

TE Erich Schneider
Height: 6’7″
Weight: 220 pounds
High School: Episcopal
Hometown: Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida
ESPN ranking: 3 stars, #151 WR

TE Dan Beilinson
Height: 6’5″
Weight: 240 pounds
High School: Panther Creek
Hometown: Cary, North Carolina
ESPN ranking: 3 stars, #22 TE

Have you watched the video of Schneider's one handed catch? A scene I'd love to see repeated many times for a TD!

[jimsumner]

Great news!

I'm watching the video link of the 8:30 broadcast. Seeing WR Anthony Nash - 6'5", 190# with SUB 4.3 speed, all I can say is WOW! Just WOW! They commented that he came from a small, run oriented team so he was under rated by most of the services, and that he should have been a 5 star recruit! He'll look great across from Donovan Varner next year! No way this guy gets redshirted!

I see the list on Watzone's link that Nash is only a 2 star recruit. In Cut I trust! Great find!

I know that you know Varner graduated. But they don't know that that you know that Varner graduated.

But Vernon is coming back. Along with Braxton and Watkins.

Duke played two true freshmen WRs last year, Crowder and Holliday and redshirted Nick Hill. So, there's likely to be some real competition for Varner's spot.

[-bdbd]

Just texted to me from a former FB manager:

"Duke got Duncan and Rayner! HUGE pickups!"

That would be really huge. Great news. Is Rayner confirmed, as I didn't see him on the BDN LOI list yet?

For the recruitniks, are there any other long-shots that we might still be looking to hear from? Regardless, this seems like a terrific signing day for Duke FB!

Nevermind - just checked and Scout has Rayner as having a signed LOI to Duke!
Now let's get that Powell letter in too...

The team seems to be assembling the weapons capable of competing very well in the ACC. Yeah.

P.S. What ultimately happened with the kid who decommitted last week?