The Blue Devils’ secondary has been an area of recent concern for many Duke fans, and the coaching staff has worked hard to upgrade the depth over the past two recruiting classes. In the class of 2012, Duke has extended a scholarship offer to a top athlete from the DC area. Albert Reid is a 5’10” 195 pound athlete at Friendship Collegiate Academy in Washington, DC. After playing running back and safety during his junior season, he has received offers from Duke and Stanford and is receiving interest from several other programs. Highlights from his junior year can be viewed here.
BDN: Can you start off by describing your strengths for fans who haven’t had a chance to see you play?
I play both sides of the ball. On defense I play free safety. I think of that as my second position because I prefer playing running back, but defense could also be as one of my positions as I transfer to college football. I lead blocks a lot. When I see a hole, I hit the hole. And I’ve got good vision.
BDN: What are some of the things you’re working on this offseason?
Just working on my strength and conditioning, just working together trying to build my team back up.
BDN: What are your goals for your senior season?
My goal for senior season is to basically just to have an undefeated record. That's what we was trying to do last year, but we didn't actually succeed at that. But next year, have an undefeated record to get our place in college.
BDN: As you approach your college decision, what are the most important things you are looking for in a school?
The most important thing is education. That comes before anything else. Basically just education is always going to come first, though. That's the first thing I'm going to look at when I go look at a college or something. Second thing is how are the coaches going to be at that college if I went there. Are they good people to be around, or what's the atmosphere of the college?
BDN: Is there a specific academic field you are interested in?
Yeah, mechanical engineering was going to be my first choice, but if that didn't work out, I was just going to be in something like sports medicine or some – like sports injuries, something like that.
BDN: Who are the schools you have heard from the most so far?
Well, right now, I have two verbal scholarship offers. One is from Duke and one is from Stanford. I have been in contact with Maryland. I talked to NC State. There's a couple other colleges.
BDN: Have you had a chance to visit any schools?
Yeah, I took an unofficial visit to Duke and Maryland.
BDN: How did your visits go?
They went good. When I went up to Duke, they showed me around the campus. I went to one of their practices, the day before their game.
BDN: Have any schools stood out to you at this point in the process?
No, I'm still open.
BDN: Have you given any thought to when you would like to make your decision or narrow things down?
No, I'm not sure when I'll make a decision. I would like to set out to go visit the colleges before I make a decision.
BDN: Is there anything else you think college football fans should know about you?
The main thing about me is just I have a good personality, a good person to be around, good leadership.
With Duke’s prolific passing offense, it’s no surprise that the Blue Devils have had success recruiting and developing talented wide receivers in Durham, most notably All-ACC performers Eron Riley, Donovan Varner, and Conner Vernon. The Blue Devils hope to continue that trend in the class of 2012, and have been scouting throughout the country in search of receiving talent, and found a great talent in the state of Colorado. Max McCaffrey is a 6’3” 190 pound receiver from Highlands Ranch, Colorado. As a receiver and defensive back, Max helped Valor Christian to the 4A State Championship and an 11-3 overall record in his junior season. The athletic junior, who also plays basketball and track, already has received scholarship offers from Duke and Wake Forest.
BDN: Can you start off by describing your strengths for fans who haven’t had a chance to see you play?
You'd probably be better off asking coaches what they believe to be my strengths. I've been told that I have a good combination of size, speed, and athletic ability for a WR or DB.
BDN: What are some of the things you’ve been working on this offseason?
I've been hitting the weight room and running track so that I show up to camp a little bigger and stronger than last year.
BDN: What are some of your goals for your senior year?
I'd like to gain speed, muscle, and polish my route running and coverages so that I can help our team win our third state championship.
BDN: What are the most important factors you’re looking for in a college?
A team of coaches and players with integrity that value both football and academics. Also, a great college atmosphere.
BDN: Who are the schools that you have heard the most from?
Several schools have contacted me and I have received a few scholarship offers but since this article is for ACC readers I'll just tell you that Duke and Wake Forest have made offers and are the two schools from the ACC that seem the most interested. So far I think both schools are excellent.
BDN: Which schools have you had a chance to visit so far?
My family and I will schedule visits this spring. It's been tough finding time since basketball season overlaps track season.
BDN: Have any schools stood out to you at this point in the process?
Both Wake Forest and Duke from the ACC.
BDN: Is there anything else that you think is important for college football fans to know about you?
I'm a hard worker who puts the team first. Also, as a 16 year old, I think I'm still growing and will be able to put on another 10-15 lbs of good weight before next years graduation.
Top TE Justin Meredith said "Duke has probably done the best job recruiting me"
Tight end is a position that Coach Cutcliffe and Coach Middleton hope to develop into a consistent strength within the Duke offense. In the past few seasons, Duke has featured a dynamic group of tight ends, including Brett Huffman, Brandon King, and Cooper Helfet. The Blue Devils will add freshman David Reeves to the depth chart this fall, and are looking at several prospects in the class of 2012. Along with verbal commit Erich Schneider, Duke is evaluating a group of versatile tight end prospects such as Justin Meredith. Meredith is Kearns is a 6’5” 224 pound prospect from Anderson, South Carolina. The athletic junior has already received an offer from Duke, and holds offers from top programs including Auburn, LSU, and Notre Dame, though Clemson may be the school to beat. Highlights of Justin’s junior season can be viewed here.
BDN: Can you start off by describing your strengths for fans who haven’t had a chance to see you play?
I think the biggest thing that separates me from other people is that I’m able to do several things pretty well, not just one thing. I’m able to, in my high school, they split me out wide almost like a receiver. I’m able to do those things. They’re able to put me on the line and use my strength and my size and block the ends and the LBs and whatever it is. And at the same time, they also motion me in the back field and use me as a lead blocker, almost like a fullback type of thing. So there’s a lot of things I do pretty well, and it makes me diverse and useful in offenses.
BDN: What are some of the things you’ve been working on this offseason?
The main thing that I’m working on right now is my strength. I’ve always been a pretty strong guy, especially in my upper body, but I’m starting to realize that really upper body’s just for looks, and the main thing I’ve been working on this year is putting some size and some thickness and some strength in my legs. And I’ve been working out with our strength trainer four days a week before school about 6:00 and really just working on that.
BDN: What are some of your goals for your senior year?
For my team, well, to … we want to go undefeated in the regular season and then we want – I think we have the team to do that – and go win the State Championship and Region Championship. Personal goals: I really haven’t thought too much about it, but I’d like to be somewhere around 30 to 40 catches with … I’d like to try, my goal is to try to break 1,000 yards and have somewhere around 10 touchdowns.
BDN: What are the most important factors you’re looking for in a college?
The number 1 thing I’m looking for is a place where not only can I be a part of the football team but I can see myself being there for four to five and being a student and just a place that I can see myself living and being a part of the overall program, not just the football program. And the second biggest thing would probably be is a player-to-coach relationship. I’ve figured it out that once I go to college, I’m gonna be around my position coach and my offensive coordinator and my head coach, gonna be around them more than I’m around anybody else. So I’d like to have a good relationship with them and all of them to like me, and I want to like them.
BDN: You mentioned your versatility as one of your strengths, and different programs use the tight end position differently. Is there a specific offensive system that you think you are looking for or where you might fit in best?
Yeah, that’s one thing that I’ve noticed. There’s been a couple schools like LSU and some other ones that want me to kind of stay in that 220 to 230 range and be a big receiver pretty much. And then there’s some schools that I’ve talked to – I can’t really think – I guess one or two that I’ve talked to – I can’t really think of who they are exactly. But they want me to gain a bunch of weight and be in that 270 or 280 range and pretty much be a glorified tackle. And there’s a couple schools like Clemson, Notre Dame, Tennessee, some other ones like that that want me to be in that 250 range, 250 to 260, and be a prototypical complete tight end. And that’s really what I’m looking for because honestly that’s the players that – that’s the tight ends that get drafted, the tight ends that can be everything.
BDN: Who are the schools that you have heard the most from and which schools were the first to contact you?
Yeah, Clemson, I’ve been in contact with them a bunch so mainly because I live 15 minutes away from the campus. And North Carolina and Duke, Duke has recruited me very heavily and also North Carolina. And also Tennessee and LSU have and Auburn has started to here in about the last two weeks started recruiting, and I’ll actually be down there next weekend.
BDN: Which schools have you had a chance to visit so far?
Junior Days that I’ve been on this spring, I’ve been to Tennessee, Clemson and Florida, and I’m gonna go down to Auburn next weekend. And during the actual season, I pretty much went everywhere within about a five-hour radius. I went to Clemson, South Carolina, Georgia, North Carolina, Duke, Tennessee, Alabama and those places.\
BDN: Have any schools stood out to you at this point in the process?
Yeah and there’s a couple schools that stand out. And it’s still early on in the process, so I might have some other schools that come through, but the ones that really stand out to me right now, they probably have to be, you know, Clemson’s done a very good job. Duke has probably done the best job. North Carolina, Tennessee has done a good job. I mean, some other schools like Auburn and LSU and schools like that, I really haven’t had the opportunity yet because I haven’t been to their schools, so I’m hoping that there’s … it’s still early on. And we have a little under a year until signing day, so I’m still hoping some of these relationships continue to build.
BDN: Do you have any plans for additional visits this spring or summer?
Yeah, this year I’m going down into the Carolinas for football camps this summer, I’m going to Eastern Carolina, NC State, North Carolina, Duke, and I think we’re going to Cincinnati too.
BDN: Is there anything else that you think is important for college football fans to know about you?
Just that football is one part of this process, and there’s other parts too also like academics and stuff, and I’m trying to be an overall good person, a good football player, a good person, a good kid in school and stuff like that. So that’s helped me out so far with some of these colleges, and that’s just one thing that I’d like people to know is that I’m trying to be good in all aspects of my life.
When Head Coach David Cutcliffe came to Durham, he vowed that he would transform the Blue Devils into a faster and more athletic team. In his first few recruiting classes, he has added several high-level athletes, including Isaac Blakeney in 2010 and Jamison Crowder in 2011. The coaching staff is looking to continue that trend in the class of 2012, and recently extended an offer to one of the top athletes in the country. Oshay Dunmore is an All-State quarterback from Newport, Oregon, who totaled over 3,200 yards and 33 touchdowns as a junior. In addition to his prowess on the gridiron, Dunmore stars in basketball and competes in the decathlon, where he ranks among the top in the country. Highlights from his standout junior year in football can be viewed here.
Note: Oshay Dunmore has since committed to Oregon.
BDN: Can you start off by describing your strengths for fans who haven’t had a chance to see you play?
Well, I play football, track, and basketball. In football, I was a spread offense quarterback, so I did a lot of read-option type plays and we ran a spread so I got to run a lot. My game’s still – a lot of coaches have kind of compared me to Cam Newton, maybe not exactly on that level, but that was my style. I have a lot more running, my passing game is a little bit of my weak side right now, so that’s coming along, I have a lot of camps coming up. I’m a pretty good runner, pretty agile, and I like the stiff arm, I’m about 6’2” 200 pounds so my height, length, and size gives me some advantages on the field. And for track I kind of do everything. I do decathlons and this weekend I had my first decathlon of the year and it placed me #1 in the country right now. I scored a 6290 and it was alright, it was pretty bad weather but it was a good mark to get out there for the beginning of the season.
BDN: What are some of the things you’ve been working on this offseason?
Just some of my foot quickness and just speed and acceleration, getting stronger every day, working hard in the weight room. I’m just doing whatever I can to sharpen my game on the whole. But passing is one of the big things, not necessarily like – I have pretty good confidence and everything, it’s just more of my consistency with my throwing. I was pretty inconsistent this year, but that’s something that we’ve got a lot of camps lined up for. Just foot speed, strength, and just getting better as a whole football player.
BDN: What are some of your goals for your senior year?
I want to try and go 30-30, 30 rushing TDs and 30 passing TDs. That’s a big goal. There’s a lot of goals I have set for track to get all my numbers up there, but for football I want to get 30 rushing touchdowns and 30 passing.
BDN: What are the most important factors you’re looking for in a college?
I want to do track and football at the collegiate level, so anywhere that I’m able to do that is a big thing for me. I kind of like the big school atmosphere because I spent a lot of my life in the city, I grew up in Seattle for most of my life and then we spent 3 years over in Chicago, so I kind of like the big city, big environment with lots of diversity. I like kind of warm climate, a little bit of rain is alright, but yeah the major thing is letting me do track and football at a college.
BDN: Who are the schools that you have heard the most from?
Oregon was the first one to contact me with an offer and then the next day Oregon State offered me. Then later on during the week the University of Washington contacted me. Then at the beginning of the next week Duke offered me. Those are the schools that we’ve been in contact with a lot. We’ve talked to UCLA a little bit, Cal, and Princeton. Those are the big schools that have been in contact with me. I’ve sent some film to Texas, Alabama, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Florida. Alabama gave us a little bit of feedback, but I don’t think the staff has really gotten a chance to watch it, but they let me know they got it, I’m just waiting on feedback from them now.
BDN: Which schools have you had a chance to visit so far?
I’ve been able to go down to the University of Oregon and Oregon State, just because they’re here in my home state and so they’re not very far away, an hour, hour and a half max drive to go down there. I’ve been to a few games and talked to the coaching staff quite a bit for both schools, so those are the only ones I’ve been to.
BDN: Do you have any plans for additional visits or camps this spring and summer?
No, there’s not a lot. Just some passing league camps and a Nike combine I’m going to do. I think I’m going to go down to the Oregon camp they have there this summer, and then the majority of my summer will be taken up by track.
BDN: You mentioned interest in Duke as well as some other ACC and East Coast schools. Do you have any plans to visit any East Coast schools or are you mainly focusing on West Coast programs?
Yeah, I’d love to go over to the East Coast, but financially I don’t think I’ll be able to just fly myself out there, so if any schools were interested enough, I would like to take my official visits out there. I’m definitely interested in going out there, I just won’t be able to do it by myself.
BDN: You’ve obviously been busy with basketball and track, but do you have an idea for when you would like to make your final decision or how you would like to narrow things down?
I definitely want to take some visits, just to see some different environments, see what I like and make sure I’m making the right choice, it’s going to be the next 4-5 years that I’m going to be at this college. I want to take a few visits just to get some different looks at different places and see what I like best, where I’ll fit in the best, how I like the coaches and who’s going to be there to really support me in the long run. I think after I take a few visits I’ll make my decision, probably in the middle of my season next year for football.
BDN: Is there anything else that you think is important for college football fans to know about you?
I’m a hard worker and I’ll fit in where they need me to fit in.
BDN: Thanks a lot, Oshay, and best of luck to you.
Woodward Academy's Jordan Watkins is a highly coveted DE prospect
While Duke is working hard to improve their defense on the field this spring, the coaching staff is also working hard to upgrade the defense with a talented group of prospects in the class of 2012. Several defensive line prospects have received verbal scholarship offers from the Blue Devils, including one of the top prospects in the state of Georgia. Jordan Watkins is a 6’6” 265 pound defensive line prospect from College Park, Georgia. As a junior at Woodward Academy, Jordan helped to lead the War Eagles to the state playoffs, finishing with a 10-2 overall record. The impressive defensive end has already received dozens of scholarship offers from national powers, including Alabama, Auburn, Notre Dame, Ohio State, and dozens of other schools. Highlights of his junior season can be viewed here.
BDN: Can you start off by describing your strengths for fans who haven’t had a chance to see you play?
Well, I think the biggest strengths for me, and my coaches have always stressed, is that God has blessed me with my size. I’m 6’6”, 265 plus pounds, and also with that, that also means long arms as well. So with long arms, I can keep blocks off of me, and get good extension on the offensive linemen. And also as well, I’ve been blessed with good feet as well, and so the quick feet and good hands, I think they’re the 2 biggest things for me that I do well.
BDN: What are some of the things you have been working on this offseason?
The biggest thing is my strength. I think that if I – to develop my strength a whole lot more then I can become a more complete player just from the fact that I’m playing both defensive end and defensive tackle, you know defensive end, you’re playing there, you can just kind of run, run the outside on people. When you’re playing tackle, sometimes you have to beat the double teams and blocks like that, so I need to work on my strength.
BDN: As you look at your college decision, what are the most important factors you are looking for in a school?
First for me would be from an academic standpoint, is, well I want my major to be either broadcast journalism or communications, so I’m looking for a school that has the best options for me in those fields, and then after that I look at the football standpoint, how good the team is and the prowess of the school, and also the support for the school. Those are the 2 big things that I’m looking at.
BDN: Which schools have you been in contact with the longest, or have been hearing the most from?
The most, I think that’d be Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Alabama, those are the 3 main ones. And then I think Auburn recently too.
BDN: Have you had a chance to visit any schools so far?
I went to Alabama Senior Day Saturday, and I visited [Georgia] Tech today, actually.
BDN: How have those visits gone for you so far?
They’ve gone great. With Alabama, I actually picked up an offer from Alabama, so, you know, that was a great feeling for me. And Georgia Tech, I live so close to there, I’ve been there before, so today was more to try and gain some – I’m pretty sure academically everyone knows that Georgia Tech is an engineering school, things like that, so I was trying to see if there is anything they can offer me when it comes to broadcast journalism and communications, and what a lot of people don’t really know what Georgia Tech does have something to offer in that field, so it was a really good visit today.
BDN: Do you have any other visits planned for this spring or summer?
I have nothing set in stone yet, but I want to try to get some more school visits done.
BDN: Do you have an idea for when you would like to narrow things down or when you plan to make your college decision?
I’m trying to narrow it down, my coaches and my family, my parents down to about maybe 20, and then maybe by the fall or so trying to get it even lower down, maybe, like 15, 10, something like that. And then just keep going down from there, then when I feel comfortable where I want to go, then I’ll make my final decision.
BDN: Thanks a lot, Jordan, and best of luck to you.
Allen Jackson gave a verbal commitment to Duke on Saturday
On a chilly and damp Saturday, the Blue Devils received their second verbal commitment of the class of 2012, as defensive end Allen Jackson gave his pledge to Head Coach David Cutcliffe and Duke. Jackson was among a large group of prospects and their families who were in Durham for the annual spring game.
Jackson is a 6’5” 225 pound defensive end prospect from Owings Mills, Maryland. Playing defensive end and tight end for McDonogh High School, Allen earned All-Conference honors as a junior, and had already received offers from Duke, Maryland, Rutgers, Vanderbilt, and West Virginia. Partnering with fellow defensive end Roman Braglio, Jackson forms one of the top pass-rushing duos in the mid-Atlantic region. In his junior season, Allen totaled 83 tackles and 9 sacks, numbers he'll look to top in his senior year as he hopes to lead McDonogh to a state championship. Highlights from Allen’s junior year can be viewed here.
BDN: Can you talk about your visit this weekend and your decision to commit to Duke?
This weekend was great. Everything that we talked about, everything that was mentioned, contributed to my decision. Coming down, I didn't know that I was going to commit. I knew that I liked Duke a lot, but I also liked Rutgers a lot. But it was just the Duke education and the things that they have there, I think that nobody in the country can provide me as far as the academics and the people that they have there. I didn't think anyone else could amount to that, so that really played into my decision of picking Duke. And also, Coach Petri, his expertise on defensive linemen and approach to the game really intrigued me. That brought me closer to choosing Duke, and the Duke name was a big factor as well.
BDN: What were some of the things you talked about with Coach Petri as far as your role at Duke and things to work on this year?
They definitely see me as a defensive end and they like my athleticism, but definitely hope for me to keep continuing to lift as I am now and hopefully pick up some more pounds. But if not, when I arrive there in the summer, I definitely will continue to work out and pick up weight. He didn't really see weight as being a big issue right now.
BDN: What are your plans for future visits either this spring or summer?
DE Allen Jackson had 83 tackles and 9 sacks for McDonogh as a junior
Well, I think I'm definitely going to go down and visit, probably take in some practices and maybe go on an official visit this summer. Other than that, I'm not quite sure at the moment, but I'm definitely going to go down some more, I'm just not sure the dates and times yet.
BDN: Thanks a lot, Allen and congratulations on your commitment.
You must be logged in to post a comment.