Duke honed in on the players it wanted early in the 2017 recruiting cycle and, for the most part, landed them.
Blue Devil coach David Cutcliffe brought 24 players to campus for official visits; 22 of them signed with the program.
A pair of 4-star players — quarterback Jack Sears of San Clemente, Calif., and linebacker Ellis Brooks of Richmond, Va. — committed to Duke last summer before reneging. Sears landed at Southern Cal, while Brooks is with Penn State.
But their departures didn’t squash Cutcliffe’s enthusiasm about Duke’s 2017 class, which landed in the top 50 to give Duke two consecutive classes ranked that highly.
“Part of that is the coaches we have doing a great job with selection and building the right group of people,” Cutcliffe said. “Part of that is a credit to the integrity and the character of these young men. They knew who they were and where they wanted to be and stayed committed not only to Duke football but to each other.”
Duke’s 22 signees were committed for an average of 221 days. Which players could see the field soon? Become a premium member of ACCSports.com to see the rest of the article! Get access to the rest of this article and unlimited access to the rest of ACCSports.com when you upgrade to Premium Access! Click on the button below to view all the benefits of becoming a Premium Access member.Get the rest of the story right now with Premium Access!
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