Tag Archives: Football Recruiting News

Duke Football

Future of Duke Punting Looks Bright


To many scouts, Will Monday is the top punter in the class of 2011 in the country. That’s good news for Duke fans, as he’s a solid commitment to the Blue Devils and was recently in Durham for the Alabama game. BDN caught up with Will shortly after his visit.

“The visit was a lot of fun. It wasn’t really the game I was expecting, but it was a great atmosphere and it was great to catch up with the coaches, who I hadn’t seen in awhile,” Will said when describing his visit. “My parents came too and had a great time. We’re really excited to get up there next year.”

Over the summer, Will solidified his reputation as one of the best punters in the class, taking top honors out of 130 punters at the Kohl Punters’ Camp in Wisconsin in July for the second year in a row. He has also won accolades at the invitation-only “Top 12” Chris Sailer Camp the past 2 summers. Scouts have called him “the most college-ready punter in the 2011 class.” The Duke coaches expect Will to come in and compete with Alex King for the starting job right away next year.


As expected, Will’s senior year at Flowery Branch High School in Georgia is off to a perfect 4-0 start. “We have a strong defense and got a big win two weeks ago,” Will said about his team, “the offense is slowly coming along with a new quarterback and I think by the 7th or 8th game they will be hitting all cylinders and roll into the playoffs. Individually, I’ve had an excellent start for my senior year and I just want to keep it going and help the team out with good field position and getting back to a state championship.”

Will plans to take his official visit to Duke for the Boston College game in November, and has no other visits scheduled for the fall. Highlights of Will’s junior year can be viewed here.

Duke Football

Tennessee offensive lineman Cody Robinson set to announce decision

Cody Robinson is a 6’4” 305 pound offensive guard from McMinnville, Tennessee. He recently visited Durham to take in the Duke vs. Alabama game and BDN caught up with him to get his thoughts on his visit and his senior year.

“The visit went really good. I really enjoyed talking with all of the coaches and the players a lot,” he said. The visit to Durham capped off what has been a busy few months, and Cody will announce his college decision on Friday at noon at Warren County high school.

Warren County has started their season with a 2-3 record, getting a big win last week. “We definitely have some issues with being young and starting seven freshmen,” Cody said, “but we just got a big win.” As a senior team captain, he’s been piling up the tackles so far this year, and said that the offensive line has had a pretty good year so far.

Cody holds scholarship offers from nine schools, and has received interest from many more. Duke was the first to offer and has been recruiting Robinson the longest; Kentucky was his most recent offer, which came in June. Over the summer, Cody attended camps at Kentucky, Tennessee, Duke, Arkansas, Middle Tennessee, and Vanderbilt. He also fit in trips to Memphis and Syracuse.

Cody recapped his summer visits as follows:

Kentucky: “They offered me right after camp. It’s a good school and an up-and-coming program. Lexington is a really nice city.”

Tennessee: “I’ve always loved Tennessee. There’s lots of changes going on there with the program, with a new coaching staff.”

Duke: “They’re going to get really big, really fast. They have great coaches and some really good players. They’re fixin’ to take off.”

Arkansas: “They’ve got a nice thing going there and have really nice facilities.”

Middle Tennessee: “It’s really close to home – just 35 minutes from my house, and they’re just really good people there.”

Memphis: “That’s a good staff that’s done really well in their first year, it’s definitely another up-and-coming program.”

Syracuse: “When I visited in June, it was 25 degrees cooler there than in Tennessee. It was really nice and wasn’t what I was expecting at all. When you think New York, you always think the city, but Syracuse is really nice with mountains and it’s very laid back.”

Vanderbilt: “It’s about 90 minutes from my house. They’re going through a coaching change there.”

Cody also holds scholarship offers from Western Kentucky, Tulane, and Chattanooga.

Cody’s father, Ray Robinson, was an offensive lineman at Tennessee under Head Coach Johnny Majors and Offensive Line Coach Philip Fulmer in the mid-1980s. Cody has lived up to his father’s legacy, becoming one of the top offensive line prospects in the state of Tennessee. The program he chooses on Friday will be getting a good football player and a very good young man.

Duke Football

Vocal LB prospect Dillon Lucas talks of his recent visit to Duke

Duke hosted over 100 football prospects over the weekend, but only a small group of attendees currently hold Duke scholarship offers. Dillon Lucas, a 6’2” 212 pound linebacker from Medford, NJ, is one of the prospects with an offer and BDN caught up with Dillon after his visit on Saturday.

Dillon is currently evaluating several schools and is not forcing a decision in his recruitment. He said he wants to “talk to as many schools as possible, and make a decision at the end of the season, unless of course a school blows me away.” As for Duke, they are one of the top schools that have offered a scholarship so far, and he described his overall visit to Durham as “really nice.”

“I really liked talking with the coaches. There was a really good atmosphere for the game and I really liked touring around campus,” Dillon told BDN by phone Saturday evening. “As for the game, the outcome didn’t really reflect how Duke played. They competed and played really hard.”

Dillon has been in recent contact with West Virginia, Pittsburgh, Penn State, North Carolina State, Bucknell, Buffalo, Villanova, and Temple, along with a few other programs. One of the most important things to Dillon is finding out what they are looking for in a linebacker. “I know I am a certain type of player. I like to be vocal and really lead the defense, so I want to know if that’s what they like,” he explained. “I’m also looking at the opportunity for early playing time, who they have, who else they are recruiting, and what their plan is. The overall campus lifestyle is also something I’m looking at.”

On the field, Dillon is a vocal leader, and was elected captain of his team at Shawnee High School. Shawnee is currently 1-0, with their second game scheduled for Monday evening. Dillon describes himself as a hard-working playmaker on the defensive side of the ball. He’s working to improve his reaction time to become quicker to the ball, and is looking to be more physical. His goal is to become the best player and teammate he can; “I want to be someone my coaches and teammates can rely on to make a play when it’s 4th and 1. I like that pressure,” he said.

Dillon’s priorities are school, family, and football, and he hopes to find a school that will help him become the best player and person he can.

Duke Football

Cutcliffe and Duke Football entertain a bevy of recruits

Cutcliffe welcomes a bevy of prospects to Duke this weekend. Photo copyright BDN

DURHAM - Duke Football is hosting a bevy of prospects during this weekend's Duke-Alabama game.  Some of the visitors are already committed to the Blue Devils, while a good majority are from the junior class.  BDN will keep you abreast of football recruiting happenings in the coming week.  Until then, check out this list of prospects who will attend the game.

Tyler Alberts - Forsyth Country Day NC
Tyler Alt  -Greensburg Central Catholic PA
Stephone Anthony  - Anson NC
Henry Barnes -  Hobbton HS NC
Raymond - Freedom HS NC
B.J. Beecher - Concord Senior HS NC
Daniel Book - Hickory Ridge HS NC
Jared Boyd - Stephenson HS GA
Tommy Branch - Wake Forest Rolesville HS NC
Matt Brantley - Parkwood HS NC
Jonathan Bridges - Victory Christian NC
Kyler Brown - Charlotte Christian HS NC
John Brown - Seventy-First Senior HS NC
Matthew Browning - Mallard Creek HS NC
James Brumbaugh - Francis Hugh Wardlaw Academy SC
Jeremy Buchanon - Anson NC
Omar Carr - Wallace Rose-Hill HS NC
Neil Chambers - Crest HS NC
Osborne Colin - Glenelg HS MD
Jamison Crowder - Monroe HS NC
Marcus Crowder - Eastern Alamance HS NC
Andre Davis - Bunn HS NC
Matthew DeGraffinreed - Millbrook HS NC
Christopher Dempsey - Southern Durham NC
Dylan Dopson - North Hagerstown HS MD
Preston Durham - Chapman HS SC
Brandon Ellerbe - Anson NC
Christopher Everette - E. Montgomery HS NC
Kyle Farlow - Randleman HS NC
Zack Ferguson - Butler HS NC
Lucas Fisher - Piedmont HS NC
Devin Flowers - Mallard HS NC
Jody Fuller - Valley HS NC
Barrett Gauger - Baylor School TN
Eddie Gordon - Boiling Springs HS SC
Bryton Griffin - Blue Ridge HS SC
Michael Hall - Nitro HS WV
Mark Harrell - Charlotte Catholic HS NC
David Helton - Baylor School TN
Sardius Henderson - Southern Vance HS NC
Josh Hess - Richlands HS VA
Nick Hill - Pearl-Cohn HS TN
Stewart Hinson - Piedmont HS NC
Jalen Holt - North Stanly HS NC
Johnathan Hough - Anson NC
Tyler Hunt - Eastern Guilford HS NC
Cory Hunter - Fuqua-Varina HS NC
Desmond Jackson - West Rowan HS NC
Mark Johnson - T. W. Andrews HS NC
Aaron Johnson - Central Cabarrus HS NC
Winfred Johnson - Patton HS NC
Hakim Jones - Southern Vance HS NC
Jarrell Jones-  Hillside HS NC
Raphael Kirby - Parkview HS GA
Myers Krah - Hillside HS NC
LeGrand Langford - Enloe HS NC
Garrett Leatham - Middle Creek HS NC
Bradley Lipscomb - Bartlett-Yancey HS NC
Jalen Littlejohn - Lincolnton HS NC
David Lowery - Leesville Road NC
Chaz Lowery - Ocean Lakes HS VA
Dillon Lucas - Shawnee High School NJ
Jamal Marcus - Hillside HS NC
David Marino - Sun Valley HS NC
Keith Marshall - Millbrook HS NC
Sam Marshall - Chancellor HS VA
Joe Massaquoi - T.C. Williams HS VA
Alex McAllister - R.J. Reynolds HS NC
Taylor McCurry - Enka HS NC
Chedin Meadowns - Buchtel HS Ohio
Connor Mewbourne - First Colonial HS VA
Greg Milhouse - Garner HS NC
Thomas Militello - Mary Institute Country Day School OH
Anderson Miller - First Colonial HS VA
Will Monday - Flowery Branch HS GA
Andre Montgomery - Goldsboro HS NC
Jonathan Moore - Middle Creek HS NC
Jonathan Moran - Loyola Blakefield HS MD
Austin Parker - N.Gwinnette HS GA
Reginald Parker - Roanoke HS NC
Kenny Patterson - Berry Academy NC
Bradley Pinion - Northwest Carbarrus HS NC
Drew Podrebarac - Weddington HS NC
Joseph Pope - Portsmouth Christian HS VA
Antoine Pozniak - Oak Ridge Military Academy NC
Eric Pressley - Blythewood HS SC
Tyshawn Richardson - Blue Ridge HS SC
Cody Robinson - Warren County HS TN
Drew Rogers - Page HS NC
Caleb Rowe - Blue Ridge HS SC
Mario Sanders - Greer Senior HS SC
Dalton Saunders - Summerville HS SC
Erich Schneider - Jacksonville Episcopal HS FL
John Scott - Knightdale HS NC
Jonathan Sherrill - Lincolnton HS NC
Jalen "Scoot" Simmons - West Charlotte HS NC
Mason Sledge - Monroe HS NC
Cody Smith - White Oak HS NC
Joel Suggs - Randleman HS NC
James Summers - Page HS NC
Chris Tavarez - Westlake HS GA
Daryl Taylor - South Central HS NC
Will Thomas - Topsail Sr. HS NC
Cole Truelove - Terry Sanford HS NC
Damien Washington - A.L. Brown HS NC
Kendall Whitehead - Millbrook HS NC
Phillip Williamson - Jordan HS NC
Darius Wilkins - Middle Creek HS NC
Monte Golden - Northside HS NC
Jordan Hill - Byrd HS NC
Tyler McAllister - Cummings HS NC
Casey Gladney - Columbia HS SC
Tanner Brookshire - Erwin HS NC
Lashuarn Monk - High Point Central HS NC
Matthew Gray - Woodbridge HS VA
Jamel Covington - Lovejoy HS GA
Dalton Dillon - Northwest Guilford HS NC
Matt Pawlowski - Northwest Guilford HS NC
Brandon Beasley - South Johnston HS NC
Tripp Hupman - Eastern Alamance HS NC
Joe Watson - Davie HS NC

**copyright BDN - This article cannot be reproduced in part or it's entirety without permission from Blue Devil Nation Administrators

Duke Football

Duke is courting TE Prospect Dillon van der Wal

With 22 verbal commitments in hand for the class of 2011, Coach David Cutcliffe and the Blue Devils’ staff are focusing their recruiting efforts on some of the top remaining uncommitted players across the country. Near the top of that list for Duke is Dillon van der Wal, a high-end prospect at both tight end and defensive end from Oaks Christian High School in Westlake Village, California.

At 6’7” and 238 pounds, Dillon is an impressive athlete, who has starred on both sides of the ball for Coach Bill Redell and the Oaks Christian Lions. As a junior in 2009, Dillon hauled in 12 catches for 3 touchdowns while also totaling 70 tackles and 15 sacks on a team that entered the year ranked #1 in the state of California and fell one game short of a championship. Highlights from Dillon’s junior year can be viewed on YouTube.

In 2009, Dillon was coached on offense by Casey Clausen, the former Tennessee quarterback, and Joe Montana, whose son, Nick, played quarterback for the Lions and is now a freshman at Washington. The Oaks Christian defense is led by Clay Matthews, Jr., a 19 year NFL veteran with the Cleveland Browns and Atlanta Falcons. With a coaching staff with those credentials, Dillon said it’s easy to “just watch and listen. I’ve caught myself in awe on the field sometimes. There’s nothing you can do but just learn and listen from them. This year, we’re adding Mike Sherrard as a coach on offense, and he’s an 11 year NFL veteran.” Dillon also added that while he’s had a lot of fun with his coaches, they also can be tough, and he has a pretty good idea of what to expect out of his college coaches. Other notable players from Oaks Christian include QB Trevor Gretzky (son of Wayne Gretzky), WR Trey Smith (son of Will Smith), and WR Blair Holliday (a recent Duke commit); recent alumni from the program include Nick Montana, Jimmy Clausen, and Marc Tyler.

Dillon has had a busy spring and summer, attending four camps in California and earning high accolades from both coaches and scouts. His first camp was the Nike USC camp, where he was able to play with many of his friends from the Southern California area and earned the All-Camp Tight End Award. His next stop was up to Palo Alto, where he attended the Nike Stanford camp, impressing both at defensive end and tight end, which ultimately earned him the All-Camp Athlete Award. He finished up his camp schedule at California and UCLA, where he impressed the tight end coaches, though he did admit to tiring at the end of the UCLA camp as a result of his busy schedule. Overall, “I thought I played well and learned a lot,” Dillon said of his camp visits.

On offense, Dillon’s strengths are his hands and his ability to run good routes, finding space to get open. On defense, Dillon has a quick first step and a great nose for the ball. He admits the glory may come from playing tight end and scoring touchdowns, but he loves making plays on defense and getting after the quarterback. Over the summer, Dillon has worked hard at his conditioning, because he wants “to go deep into the 4th quarter of games this year. Last year, we had a weaker schedule and I sat out most of the second half a lot. This year, we’re moving into a tougher league and I want to stay on the field.” He also mentioned that at 6’7”, he is always working to improve his flexibility, since he often has to get low to make plays, especially on defense. Coaches and scouts have praised Dillon’s hands and route running, and they expect him to be a very tough cover at the college level.

When asked about his college decision, Dillon said, “I want to go somewhere that you’re around success. Education is big too, because not everyone is going to play in the league, so you have to have a good education to fall back on. I want a program with tradition and somewhere that I can succeed and do something big.” Dillon admits that sports have always been his passion, and he’s talked to his parents about looking for academic programs that might prepare him for the business side of sports, and perhaps a career as a sports agent.

Dillon is looking to cut his list down to a top 5 or 6 schools, and will take official visits this fall. Regarding the timing for his decision, Dillon said, “I want to decide as soon as I can, but I don’t want to rush. I want to make sure it feels right. I want to see who will be around me and what the playing time might be. I don’t want to drag it out, though, so that I can focus on my senior year.” His top 5 or 6 isn’t official or public at this point, but several schools have stood out for various reasons. “Duke is definitely high up there - you can’t beat a Duke education,” he explained. Dillon has visited Arizona State for their junior day, and also plans to take an official visit to Minnesota. He continued to break down his list, “Cal is really high; you get the best of both with the education and football there. Nebraska is a football program with a lot of tradition, and USC and UCLA are right at home.”

Though Dillon hasn’t been able to visit Duke yet, he’s heard a lot of good things from teammate Blair Holliday, who recently committed to the Blue Devils after a visit to Durham and “he loved everything about it,” Dillon said, “I’ve known him since we were like 6 years old. We played tee ball together and traveled the nation playing basketball. Now we ended up at the same high school. He’s really pushing me to go to Duke, but I haven’t even seen it yet.”

Dillon is looking forward to a busy fall of football and official visits, but has several great opportunities available to him. With the guidance he’s received from his parents and coaches, he will be making a big impact both on and off the field, wherever he goes to school.

Duke Basketball, Duke Football

Monday Musings – Pro Am, Football Practice and more

Kyrie Irving, pixbyrick.com/BDN

There is always a lot going on if you cover Duke Athletics and as a busy summer around here gives way to September, Duke Football hits the field.  In fact, they hold their first practice this evening where Coach David Cutcliffe will continue to work on getting the Blue Devils to a bowl game.

Duke is picked fifth by the ACC media in their division which features in my opinion, the four best teams.  In fact all of the teams ahead of Duke are ranked in the season's first Top 25 poll.  Before Duke worries about Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech, North Carolina and Miami, they will focus on the business at hand which is the opener against Elon.

They will then turn their attention to an early season ACC battle on the road at Wake Forest before coming home to face the nation's number one team in Alabama who returns a ton of talent including last years Heisman Tropy winner Mark Ingram.

BDN will attend practices to bring you our usual coverage, so if you are a football fan be sure to bookmark the Blue Devil Nation.

John Wall and company fall to  Wheel Chair All Stars

Where else can one find the NBA's number one draft pick, John Wall playing hoops in a wheel chair?  The answer is at the N.C. Pro Am, an event that wrapped up another strong season this past Sunday

Wall was unable to participate in a real game due to contractual obligations with the Washington Wizards but he told BDN that he wanted to see what it was like to play without the use of his legs to give him a better understanding of the plight some must go through.

Area participants filled the wheel chair game earlier and Wall joined C.J. Leslie and others to take on the all stars from the first contest.  Several crowd pleasing moments ensued, bringing some light moments.  In the end, Wall and company shot all clankers and were handed a 15-0 loss.

Also there promoting his foundation, Rodney Rodgers, the former Wake Forest star and Durham native spoke to the crowd about his hope to walk again against all odds.  Rodgers was also able to shed light on his foundation which can be found on line by a simple google search for those interested in supporting his cause.

Blue Devils solid at the Pro Am

We'll touch on the N.C. Pro Am's final day a bit here, but an article will follow.  In short, all of the Blue Devils had their moments in the event and we will break down our thoughts on each player in the coming week and talk of off season improvements.  BDN has covered this event since it's inception and will continue to for we feel it is a very positive and good experience for Triangle area fans.

Recruiting

We will focus on Duke Football recruiting more and more now that the dust has cleared on a few things we have been working on behind the scenes.  Cutcliffe and company have the bulk of their allotment filled but there are some key recruits we'll keep an eye on down the stretch.

Basketball is on somewhat of a hold with Coach Krzyzewski and Chris Collins doing duty for Team USA.  Of course, Duke's Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith are with them for now in New York but they will return in a week or so, yet the coaches will be gone another month or so.

As for the Austin Rivers watch, I can tell you that he will not do a thing before the Duke coaches return, so the daily watch to see what he eats for breakfast to provide a sign is fruitless.  We will have an interview up shortly with Amile Jefferson to update his recruitment and will have more on other targets as well.

Vincent Rey makes his mark with the Bengals

Duke will sorely miss linebacker Vincent "Vinnie" Rey this coming season but the Devils loss could be the Bengals gain.  Rey had five tackles in Cincinnati's 16-7 loss to the Cowboys in the NFL's pre season opener.  BDN will keep an eye on his play as the pres season progresses.

Video coming to BDN

We wanted to refine things a bit before we moved into video and in the coming months you will get a taste of vids BDN style.  We are in negotiations with three different service and will inform you when the dust clears.

In closing ...

I admittedly am not a big fan of sites like Bleacher Report where anybody off the streets can pen something good or bad on their team.  Most of the time little research is done on these sites and opinion is often stated as fact, but I think Justin McTeer is the exception and he has a nice piece up on Seth Curry so check it out here.

We'd also like to encourage Duke fans to visit Duke Update and Duke Report, two solid link sites for all things Duke.  Duke Update is one of the original Duke Sites on the net where Jason D'Amico works it as a labor of love not taking one dime from advertising.  Duke Report is the new kid on the block, but they do a great job as well and BDN enjoys working with these two sites.