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View Full Version : Cutcliffe Bags Another for '11



airowe
03-22-2010, 04:34 PM
Kaylen Pearson (http://insider.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting/tracker/school?schoolId=150&page=briefingroom&season=2010&id=14638&action=login&appRedirect=http%3a%2f%2finsider.espn.go.com%2fncf %2frecruiting%2ftracker%2fschool%3fschoolId%3d150% 26page%3dbriefingroom%26season%3d2010%26id%3d14638 ):

Hibriten athlete Kaylen Pearson gives early commitment to Duke

The Blue Devils have added Kaylen Pearson of Hibriten (Lenoir, N.C.) to their 2011 recruiting class.

The 5-foot-10, 185-pound running back/defensive back/slot receiver has also received interest from Clemson, Georgia Tech and North Carolina.

Duke has four pledges.

OldPhiKap
03-22-2010, 04:43 PM
Way to go Cut and Crew! Another in-state athlete with interest from top programs.

Welcome, Kaylen!!!!

DukeSean
03-22-2010, 08:14 PM
Intersting that ESPN finally caught up to this news. Although reports seemed mixed, I was under the impression that he committed a while ago...?

airowe
03-22-2010, 08:20 PM
Intersting that ESPN finally caught up to this news. Although reports seemed mixed, I was under the impression that he committed a while ago...?

Yeah, I realized that after I got a reply to the same thread on TDD. I even read about this commitment in early February but as I don't pay too much attention to Football Recruiting, it slipped my mind. The ESPN article was new, so I assumed it must be a new commit.

Evidently, he is not a very solid commit...

pbc2
04-27-2010, 10:03 AM
Duke is actually up to 6 commitments for the class of 2011:
LB Britton Grier
P Will Monday
TE Brendan Downs
RB Jalen Simmons
DE Mario Sanders
RB Kaylen Pearson

Here's a series of free interviews up with some 2011 offensive line prospects, for those interested in some of Coach Cut and the staff's targets:

Marcus Aprahamian (http://bit.ly/9STz38)

Grant Jones (http://bit.ly/deXWpe)

Marc Mustoe (http://bit.ly/a65gLY)

Mack Crowder (http://bit.ly/9Qge3P)

Cody Robinson (http://bit.ly/cqH455)

roywhite
04-27-2010, 10:11 AM
Duke is actually up to 6 commitments for the class of 2011:
LB Britton Grier
P Will Monday
TE Brendan Downs
RB Jalen Simmons
DE Mario Sanders
RB Kaylen Pearson

Here's a series of free interviews up with some 2011 offensive line prospects, for those interested in some of Coach Cut and the staff's targets:

Marcus Aprahamian (http://bit.ly/9STz38)

Grant Jones (http://bit.ly/deXWpe)

Marc Mustoe (http://bit.ly/a65gLY)

Mack Crowder (http://bit.ly/9Qge3P)

Cody Robinson (http://bit.ly/cqH455)

Like to see Mack Crowder at Duke, for his name alone.

Howard "Max" Crowder from Cherryville, NC spent over 30 years at Duke in the Athletic Dept. and was a long-time trainer for football and basketball; Max was about as true-blue Duke as anyone could be.

Miss you, Max...you would have liked this last championship.

duke09hms
04-27-2010, 01:19 PM
Duke is actually up to 6 commitments for the class of 2011:
LB Britton Grier
P Will Monday
TE Brendan Downs
RB Jalen Simmons
DE Mario Sanders
RB Kaylen Pearson

Here's a series of free interviews up with some 2011 offensive line prospects, for those interested in some of Coach Cut and the staff's targets:

Marcus Aprahamian (http://bit.ly/9STz38)

Grant Jones (http://bit.ly/deXWpe)

Marc Mustoe (http://bit.ly/a65gLY)

Mack Crowder (http://bit.ly/9Qge3P)

Cody Robinson (http://bit.ly/cqH455)

Don't forget commit WR Joe Watson

Getting NC in-state recruits is nice, but I hope we can eventually get a national focus on recruiting like Stanford.

jimsumner
04-27-2010, 01:52 PM
Duke's most recent recruiting class included quarterback Brandon Connette and juco tight end Cooper Helfet from California, highly-touted offensive lineman Laken Tomlinson from the Chicago area, a defensive end from Texas, a tackle from Arizona (preferred walk-on) and a tackle from Mississippi.

So, they aren't all local boys.

Indoor66
04-27-2010, 06:15 PM
Like to see Mack Crowder at Duke, for his name alone.

Howard "Max" Crowder from Cherryville, NC spent over 30 years at Duke in the Athletic Dept. and was a long-time trainer for football and basketball; Max was about as true-blue Duke as anyone could be.

Miss you, Max...you would have liked this last championship.

I, too, miss Max. He was a wonderful man. I know he watched over the Duke team this year - and every year.

His spirit is still probably wandering around the tower of Card Gym....

Devil in the Blue Dress
04-27-2010, 06:32 PM
I, too, miss Max. He was a wonderful man. I know he watched over the Duke team this year - and every year.

His spirit is still probably wandering around the tower of Card Gym....

You're right about his presence in Card Gym. With the tailgating tents now along one side of the Card Gym Lot during the football season, I think of him often while I'm sitting there enjoying the people and surroundings.

Indoor66
04-27-2010, 06:47 PM
You're right about his presence in Card Gym. With the tailgating tents now along one side of the Card Gym Lot during the football season, I think of him often while I'm sitting there enjoying the people and surroundings.

With that great, big Cherryville smile. I do miss Max.

OZZIE4DUKE
04-27-2010, 08:04 PM
Duke has four pledges.
I guess that Duke football could be considered a fraternity!

Pledge! Drop and give me 20! Oh, wait. That's not allowed anymore. :eek::rolleyes:

airowe
04-27-2010, 08:06 PM
I guess that Duke football could be considered a fraternity!

Pledge! Drop and give me 20! Oh, wait. That's not allowed anymore. :eek::rolleyes:

What's your frat called?

pbc2
04-28-2010, 10:02 AM
Don't forget commit WR Joe Watson

Getting NC in-state recruits is nice, but I hope we can eventually get a national focus on recruiting like Stanford.

Of course, he was the most recent commit, as well.

Duke's 7 commitments is the second-highest total in the ACC to date, behind FSU and MD with 11, and tied with Clemson and UVA. For comparison, our Tobacco Road Rivals have 5 (UNC), 4 (WF), and 1 (NCSU). Obviously, some of the higher-profile guys have more offers to consider and can take longer to decide. That being said, the staff is doing a nice job of targetting players who will fit the system and have the potential to take the program to new heights.

OZZIE4DUKE
04-28-2010, 10:20 AM
What's your frat called?
My frat, Phi Kappa Psi, was kicked off campus about 10 years ago when they were on double secret probation.

airowe
04-28-2010, 04:28 PM
My frat, Phi Kappa Psi, was kicked off campus about 10 years ago when they were on double secret probation.

I figured it would be Phi Phi Phi Phi Phi Phi Phi Phi Phi

:D

OldPhiKap
04-28-2010, 04:53 PM
My frat, Phi Kappa Psi, was kicked off campus about 10 years ago when they were on double secret probation.

Max Crowder was a Phi Kappa Sigma.

Devil in the Blue Dress
04-28-2010, 05:13 PM
Max Crowder was a Phi Kappa Sigma.

Learn something new everyday. :)

pbc2
04-29-2010, 10:23 AM
Another OL prospect, Shane Mertz (http://bit.ly/cxyDMb).

-bdbd
04-29-2010, 12:01 PM
My frat, Phi Kappa Psi, was kicked off campus about 10 years ago when they were on double secret probation.

Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi!
Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi!
Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi!
Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi!
Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi! Phi -Psi! Phi-Psi!


:D :D :D :D


(Sigh, a real shame about no longer being at Duke...)

greybeard
04-29-2010, 12:11 PM
Saw a kid running routes with coverage at Wison High School in DC. Kid has strength, blazing speed, great hands, and an ability to adjust to the ball. Chatted with him and he said he is on Duke's radar, Class of 2011.

The kid really caught my eye. He seems well spoken and poised, and very happy to have Duke's interest. You guys might have yourselves a real catch. ;)

CameronBornAndBred
04-29-2010, 02:09 PM
Want to see something fun? Take a look here..and see how often Duke is listed amongst these guys' schools of interest. Of course we won't be landing that many of them, if any, but it shows the payoff for the recruiting job that Cutcliffe and his staff are doing right now.

http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=4&yr=2011

I can't remember the last time I saw us listed that high that often.

alteran
04-29-2010, 03:10 PM
Want to see something fun? Take a look here..and see how often Duke is listed amongst these guys' schools of interest. Of course we won't be landing that many of them, if any, but it shows the payoff for the recruiting job that Cutcliffe and his staff are doing right now.

http://recruiting.scout.com/a.z?s=73&p=9&c=4&yr=2011

I can't remember the last time I saw us listed that high that often.

Obviously a sea change. Yet another indicator of what an amazing job Cutcliffe is doing-- I agree, even being mentioned by these kids is huge sign of progress.

Thanks for highlighting that.

mattman91
04-29-2010, 03:33 PM
I've seen this guy play a lot. i go to South Caldwell high school, right outside of lenoir. hibriten is a big rival of ours. he is pretty good. His teammate Darius Lipford is going to UNC, he originally commited to duke, then changed his mind. he will be a nice addition

airowe
05-01-2010, 02:06 PM
And another. This one's a 6'3" 280lb Offensive Lineman:

http://duke.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=1080371

Lucas Patrick

pbc2
05-01-2010, 03:09 PM
Great addition to the class. Interview with him from just before his commitment: Lucas Patrick (http://bit.ly/cASIOt)

pbc2
05-15-2010, 08:50 PM
Kelby Brown will join the Blue Devils this fall as a freshman linebacker from Charlotte Christian.

Here's an interview with his brother, who is a junior with a Duke offer: Kyler Brown (http://bit.ly/c5xTKg)

Also, Matt Lubick recently took in a work out for Torrey Campbell, a running back from Florida with a Duke offer (among many others).

pbc2
05-19-2010, 06:09 PM
Coach Cut added another commit today. Marcus Aprahamian, a 6'5" 300 lbs offensive guard from Wisconsin called coach Matt Luke and told him he will be a Blue Devil. Here's a recent profile on Marcus (http://bit.ly/9STz38).

The staff is also looking at Shaquille Love, a defensive tackle from Tennessee. Here's an interview with Shaquille (http://bit.ly/baCofL) and one with his coach (http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/mar/25/032610shaqlove/?partner=RSS).

CameronBornAndBred
05-19-2010, 07:36 PM
Coach Cut added another commit today. Marcus Aprahamian, a 6'5" 300 lbs offensive guard from Wisconsin called coach Matt Luke and told him he will be a Blue Devil. Here's a recent profile on Marcus (http://bit.ly/9STz38).

The staff is also looking at Shaquille Love, a defensive tackle from Tennessee. Here's an interview with Shaquille (http://bit.ly/baCofL) and one with his coach (http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2010/mar/25/032610shaqlove/?partner=RSS).
Notice that Love is already a Blue Devil. :D
That's great about Aprahamian..he sounds like a tank on feet.

pbc2
05-19-2010, 09:56 PM
Here's a statement from Marcus (http://bit.ly/9E9gd5) on his commitment.

pbc2
05-27-2010, 08:51 AM
Kenny Anunike was named the best spring position change by ESPN's Heather Dinich: http://espn.go.com/blog/acc/post/_/id/11202/best-of-the-spring-in-the-acc-2
We definitely need Kenny to develop into a force on the defensive line, as we have very little depth there.

Also, the Duke staff recently took in spring workouts for Florida athlete Torrey Campbell: http://bit.ly/9ocHgi

OldPhiKap
05-27-2010, 10:42 AM
Glad to see that Cut continues to move us forward. (Re)Building a program takes time, and I am glad we have the right staff to do it.

SilkyJ
05-27-2010, 02:17 PM
Max Crowder was a Phi Kappa Sigma.

I was under the impression the technical name was Phi Kappa Kocktail?

:D

formerdukeathlete
05-28-2010, 10:30 AM
I would really like to see Cut land a tall, elite QB.

Such as a Dave Brown who was 6-5, from Summit NJ, a town which sends a good number of students to Duke each year - had friends going to Duke, which no doubt helped in our landing him.

If you look at the offer spread this year, Cut is adjusting his recruiting strategy to include more highly-regarded recruits nationally. Among the highly-regarded recruits for whom we are still in the running, almost without exception these tend to be the very good students among those prospects. Marcus Aprahamian was such a student and pretty highly-regarded, with 3 other BCS offers. We just have to keep knocking on these kind of doors.

CrazieDUMB
05-28-2010, 11:01 AM
I would really like to see Cut land a tall, elite QB.


Isn't sean renfree supposed to be our elite guy? I know he went to Nike Elite 11 camp, but Thad beat him out this year as the ranking senior. I'm excited to see what happens once Renfree can get some reps.

El_Diablo
05-28-2010, 12:09 PM
Isn't sean renfree supposed to be our elite guy? I know he went to Nike Elite 11 camp, but Thad beat him out this year as the ranking senior. I'm excited to see what happens once Renfree can get some reps.

This is a thread for 2011 recruiting. Renfree won't be around forever.

jimsumner
05-28-2010, 12:15 PM
FDA,

Shouldn't Duke be recruiting 6-5 quarterbacks who are also being recruited by Stanford? :)

OldPhiKap
05-28-2010, 01:04 PM
Maybe Zoubek could steal another year of eligibility and play QB. If Cut allows players to have beards, that is.

formerdukeathlete
05-28-2010, 03:29 PM
This is a thread for 2011 recruiting. Renfree won't be around forever.

Yeah, Renfree was an elite level recruit, and at around 6-3 is at a good height, though 6-4, 6-5 works better all things being equal, Eli and Peyton Mannning, 6-4 and 6-5, respectively.

Schroeder is 6-3, Connette 6-2, and Boone 6-0. While Connette looks even better than folks expected and may give Renfree a run for his money in camp, Seems to me that at any position, with Cut, Duke's best chance, right now, to land more Parade All Americans (more Renfrees) is at QB.

jimsumner
05-28-2010, 03:37 PM
Renfree was indeed an elite QB recruit. He was going to Georgia Tech until the coaching change. He didn't see himself running Johnson's option.

He's recovered nicely from his ACL surgery. But he didn't do any contact work last spring. That did give Schroeder and Connette lots of reps but put Renfree a bit behind where he would have been otherwise.

Connette came in early and did quite well in the spring for someone who should have been a high school senior. Still, Schroeder and Renfree have been redshirted once and Connette hasn't. So, Connette likely would have to be much better than Schroeder to avoid a redshirt.

So, I would expect Renfree to start, with Schroeder off the bench and Connette as insurance.

formerdukeathlete
05-31-2010, 10:39 AM
Renfree was indeed an elite QB recruit. He was going to Georgia Tech until the coaching change. He didn't see himself running Johnson's option.

He's recovered nicely from his ACL surgery. But he didn't do any contact work last spring. That did give Schroeder and Connette lots of reps but put Renfree a bit behind where he would have been otherwise.

Connette came in early and did quite well in the spring for someone who should have been a high school senior. Still, Schroeder and Renfree have been redshirted once and Connette hasn't. So, Connette likely would have to be much better than Schroeder to avoid a redshirt.

So, I would expect Renfree to start, with Schroeder off the bench and Connette as insurance.

Jim, doing a QB recruit prospect search, based on position ranking, for the 2011 class, http://duke.scout.com/a.z?s=167&p=9&c=11&cfg=null&yr=2011&pid=10&sspid=-1&iRatingValue=-1&iGetJUCOFlag=0&iCommitFlag=-1&iGroupbyPosition=0&toinid=652&iInterestLevelId=-1&iOffer=-1&iRecruitVisitFlag=-1&OrderbyColumn=RatingValue , Duke seems to be in the running for 3 of the top 30 QBs. Rivals rankings, ratings apparently are not yet available for the 2011 class, but if one does a search at QB for prospects who have listed Duke and Stanford, on gets the following http://rivals.yahoo.com/duke/football/recruiting/recruit-search-results

notice the prospect spread is national, though emphasis on the East and Southeast. When you do a Stanford only search at QB, you see that their reach is truly national. They are recruiting heavily whereever and with whomever pass their initial academic screens among the top prospects. See that Boston College grabbed a QB out of Missouri who was offered by Stanford. With all due respect, Duke's recruiting has been disappointing, certainly everyone can acknowlege at times, at certain postions. In the 2010 class we added to little recruited, no BCS offers, defensive lineman, and two walk-ons who may be just as good. The walk-ons were impressive, two very well qualified players, one a National Merit scholar, and the other a Benjamin Duke scholar, and this tells us something.

lets compare the Duke and Stanford 2011 classes so far

http://duke.scout.com/a.z?s=167&p=9&c=8&toinid=734&yr=2011

Stanford has 5 four stars and the rest (all 9) are three stars.

http://duke.scout.com/a.z?s=167&p=9&c=8&toinid=652&sspid=-1&yr=2011

Duke has 0 four stars, 4 three stars, 4 two stars, and 1 NR.

I am encouraged that Duke is listed among more of the top players nationally. But, so far, what can we say about the recruiting? Does it take more winning? Sure this will help. The indoor facility? Probably helps a little. This is North Carolina. I suppose we need the air conditioning more than we need protection from rain, but what does that mean about playing games in the heat and or rain? OK, that helps. The Bostock stadium upgrades help more, imo. But, imo, the most important thing will be to get away from the North Carolina fixation and recruit nationally. As Stanford shows, our best shots with the top recruits likely will be the top students among those prospects. At the road shows Cutcliffe has said that "there are 25 players a year in North Carolina good enough for us on the field and that we can get into Duke, and our goal is to land 7 of them." I respectively submit that this is entirely the wrong approach. Recruiting players who are good enough whom we can get in. But, will these types of players (in a state with strong state school rooting interests and also in SEC recruiting country) really want to come to Duke where they can (maybe just) get in? Stanford, Harbaugh go about a national approach for the very top prospects who by virtue of being very good students may be interested in attending a top 5 academic institution. This is the better sort of approach for Duke, imo, without a doubt. How we landed Dave Brown at QB. How we should be able to land a tall, elite QB, another Renfree.

jimsumner
05-31-2010, 12:04 PM
Lots and lots of elite college quarterbacks are not tall. And I'm pretty darn sure David Cutcliffe knows more than you or I how to find them. If they're 6-5 great. But sometimes you have a Thad Lewis and a Zack Asack and all that size doesn't really mean a lot.

formerdukeathlete
05-31-2010, 12:53 PM
Lots and lots of elite college quarterbacks are not tall. And I'm pretty darn sure David Cutcliffe knows more than you or I how to find them. If they're 6-5 great. But sometimes you have a Thad Lewis and a Zack Asack and all that size doesn't really mean a lot.

QB recruiting is just illustrative of where Duke may / should be able to recruit A top 10 position player right now. It might take the son of a surgeon (renfree) or someone interested in medicine (duke has the. Top ranked med school in BCS) but it will most likely be a superior student among the top 10. And one can extrapolate from there with respect to other, all other positions.