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Gerritt Kemp wr tweets out commitment
really nice get
offers from duke, georgia, georgia tech, indiana, kentuky, lsu. mich st, nc st, northwestern, ole miss, tenn, uva and wake.
hugely underrated here as a 5.5 grade. i expect that to get bumped
rated as an 88 on both on3 and 247 so upper 3 star elsewhere
 
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So here begins our annual "can Duke keep them when the Big10 and SEC come knocking" watch.

I am hopeful that since these guys already turned down Big10 and SEC schools, it's not like they are going to be blown away by a big time offer.
 
Just a comment on our recruiting
It seems to me that our bottom end is just much better than it was a decade ago. When our lowest rated recruits have 7 power 5 offers that is nice. I remember a time when that was our top end. We still need to get to 3-5 four star kids a year for our top end to fully compete but I think the raising of the low bar first by Cut and then Elmo is why we can compete so much better these days. Just happy to see it.
 
Good point Surf. I do agree that the schools we are competing with tell us a lot. I am also happy that so far, Manny seems to be raising the bar as opposed to going back a step. I'm sure he developed some great contacts with high school coaches in Pa and North which can be a treasure trove of talent.
 
nice pick up. will need to bulk up when he gets to campus but he has the frame for it. i know i am dating myself but this was the kind of kid that george welch used to recruit at virginia. he loved tall but light kids because when they came to campus he could bulk them up. you cant teach height
Surf, good observation about Welsh. Thought he was a real jerk,but he knew his football and was a helluva coach. Remember him quite well. We ripped him a new one I think 51-17 in WW if memory serves in 82. Spurrier was OC under Red Wilson,and poured it on. Welsh never forgot,and ran off a streak against us of huge wins.

Spurrier and Welsh despised one another. Steve really got under his skin in 89. We got blown out early in the year in Charlottesville,but tied UVA for the league championship. Welsh claimed the title(head to head win over Devils). Spurrier ever the competitor, countered. After all Spurrier said: Duke beat highly ranked Clemson,Virginia did not. Ooooooh,burned ol George a new one!!!
 
nice pick up. will need to bulk up when he gets to campus but he has the frame for it. i know i am dating myself but this was the kind of kid that George Welch used to recruit at virginia. he loved tall but light kids because when they came to campus he could bulk them up. you cant teach height

I had a lineman in my freshman dorm named Brad Oates. His brother Bart played center in the pros for a long time and Brad transferred to BYU and did well himself. He was a tall guy, about 6'6" I think, and downright thin. But he filled out and ended up a really good offensive lineman at BYU. So it can happen.
 
offensive line oh snap GIF by REDBLACKS
 
I love the O-line class Manny has assembled. You can have a great QB, terrific receivers and phenomenal RB’s, but it counts for bumpkus if the O-line sucks.

Is it too early to have a feel how many of our current commits may be January enrollees?
 
I love the O-line class Manny has assembled. You can have a great QB, terrific receivers and phenomenal RB’s, but it counts for bumpkus if the O-line sucks.

Is it too early to have a feel how many of our current commits may be January enrollees?
That's gotten more difficult to have a handle on because of how much freedom to move around that transfers have.

Teams have typically been able to bring in more January enrollees than, say, 5 years ago ... so I'd just ballpark it around 50% of the class arriving early until we have more of a sense of how many spots they'll have open.
 
Duke has officially announced 13 transfers to join the program this summer (doesn't include the 5 who joined in January). They are:

Michael Barr (OL | Havertown, Pa. | Lafayette University)
Tre'Shon Devones (CB | Duncanville, Texas | Rice University)
Diassa Diakite (CB | Northampton, Pa. | Robert Morris University)
Bruno Fina (OL | Tucson, Ariz. | UCLA)
Zachary Franks (OL | Baltimore, Md. | Northwestern University)
Alex Howard (LB | Cincinnati, Ohio | Youngstown State University)
Caleb Krings (OL | Fayetteville, N.C. | Elon University)
Ozzie Nicholas (LB | Encinitas, Calif. | Princeton University)
James Pogorelc (OL | Centreville, Va. | Stanford University)
Micah Sahakian (OL | Mount Prospect, Ill. | Cornell University)
Eric Schon (OL | Barrie, Ontaria, Canada | College of the Holy Cross)
Star Thomas (RB | Homer, La. | New Mexico State University)
Al Wooten II (RB | Memphis, Tenn. | Mercer University)

Also got a commit today from a Class of 2025 recruit:

 
so a small breakdown of our OL now that the transfers have been announced
RETURNERS
justin pickett starter at OG
brian parker i think a starter at OT
matt maycraft played some last year. is he ready to step up?
reagan mccranie will be an IOL player at some point. last year he seemed to rework his body.
caleb dorris has he put on enough weight? 270 as a true frosh last year. will eventually be an OT
tony boggs switched over from DL in spring to help. does he stay or go back to DL?
TRUE INCOMING FROSH
bradley smith is he ready to help on IOL? probably redshirt and strengthen his body
gemeyl allen most ready to get some IOL run
jack smart will probably spend year learning and building his body for OT
TRANSFERS THAT WERE STARTERS ON FORMER TEAM
bruno fina think this was a huge get for us. expect him to start at OT
mike barr another big get. expect him to start at C
eric schon can play anywhere on the inside. think he and maycraft battle for starter at OG
caleb krings i had no idea he was coming aboard. was a shrine bowl player in high school. can play either guard spot
PART TIME STARTERS ON FORMER TEAMS
james pogoreic good back up/occasional starter piece at OT
zachary franks same as pogoreic
WALK-ON TRANSFER
jack purcell when a second team all ivy OT is a non scholly kid that is a sign you are deep
MEDICAL REDSHIRT TRANSFER
micah sahakian along with fina our best OL transfer. shame he cant play till next year
 
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In the last week or so, Duke has announced the locker room upgrades, the hiring of Rachel DeMita as in-venue videoboard and social media gameday host, and now the "Devils Deck."

Here's the story from Duke on the Devils Deck.

Looks like an interesting place to watch the game from. Might inconvenience some of those who prefer to sit in that area. And I think it's notable that it takes the capacity of Wallace Wade from 40,004 to about 35,018.
 
In the last week or so, Duke has announced the locker room upgrades, the hiring of Rachel DeMita as in-venue videoboard and social media gameday host, and now the "Devils Deck."

Here's the story from Duke on the Devils Deck.

Looks like an interesting place to watch the game from. Might inconvenience some of those who prefer to sit in that area. And I think it's notable that it takes the capacity of Wallace Wade from 40,004 to about 35,018.
The Devils Deck looks interesting, but I’m concerned that it may be an obstacle down the road when the next (and possibly final) conference realignment occurs. Facility size can be relevant. Of course, nothing would prevent them from restoring the individual seating arrangements if that became necessary
 
The Devils Deck looks interesting, but I’m concerned that it may be an obstacle down the road when the next (and possibly final) conference realignment occurs. Facility size can be relevant. Of course, nothing would prevent them from restoring the individual seating arrangements if that became necessary
Good reminder ... if the Devils Deck is finished in time for the Elon game, it'll be a minor miracle. Not sure what I was expecting going to practice yesterday but I wasn't expecting to look into the stadium and see no sort of structure or anything where this thing is supposedly going to be.

I think it'll be a temporary structure this year and could be quick to put together.
 
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