Four-star quarterback Nico Pierre committed to Duke at an on-campus visit Wednesday, per a report from 247sports.com. The Miami native ranks No. 256 in the ESPN 300 for the Class of 2014, and seventh among dual threat quarterbacks. The Coral Reef High School signal caller also held scholarship offers from Clemson, Kansas State, Louisville, Nebraska, Wake Forest and Wisconsin. The 6-foot-2, 203-pound quarterback was clocked in at 4.82 seconds in the 40-yard dash last spring at the Miami Nike SPARQ Combine.
Pierre is the highest-rated prospect that has committed to Duke during the six years head coach David Cutcliffe has been at the helm. He is the first Blue Devil commit during that span to have been ranked in the ESPN 300. Cutcliffe, who is best known for mentoring a host of NFL quarterbacks, including Peyton and Eli Manning, had yet to land a big-time quarterback prospect at Duke during his tenure before Pierre's commitment.
Here is a blurb from Pierre's scouting report on ESPN Recruiting Nation:
"Pierre reminds us of Louisville's Teddy Bridgewater, only he is far more sudden and explosive as an overall athlete. This is an athletic QB who is definitely more of a passer than a runner. Will make plays with his feet, and while not necessarily as the designated runner, he is more than capable. An exciting combination of height, movement skills and ability to make plays at all levels with his arm and also be a threat to make plays with his feet."
Pierre is Duke's 12th commitment for the Class of 2014. The Blue Devils will likely not have more than 15 scholarship players in that class due to small graduating classes both last season and this season. Pierre is the second quarterback to commit to Duke for next year's class. The other is Johnathan Lloyd, a Graham, N.C. native who passed up scholarship offers from Notre Dame, Ohio State, South Carolina and Clemson to play both football and baseball for the Blue Devils.
After announcing his commitment via his Twitter account, Pierre posted this Instagram picture of him wearing a Duke jersey at the team's facility.
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