Members of David Cutcliffe's most talented recruiting class at Duke inked their commitment to play in Durham this morning, leaving everyone itching to see them on the gridiron later this year.
Seventeen prospects signed National Letters of Intent Wednesday morning to take their talents to Durham and play for what has been one of the nation's winningest programs during the past three years. The 2015 class is headlined by a pair of consensus four-star recruits in wide receiver Keyston Fuller and linebacker Ben Humphreys.
"We graduate great leaders and people, one of the strengths of our program is who we are, not just the measurables," Cutcliffe said at a press conference Wednesday. "I like the measurables, but I like this class way beyond that. I think we have future captains and future leaders."
A full description of the recruiting class is shown below courtesy of 247Sports.com:
" data-camayak-embed-width="600" class="oembed" contenteditable="false"><iframe class="twofourseven-embed" style="max-width: 100%" frameborder="0" width="600px" height="200px" src="http://duke.247sports.com/Season/2015-Football/Commits/Embed"></iframe><script async src="http://media.247sports.com/scripts/shared/embed.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Fuller, a Griffin, Ga., native is just the second ESPN 300 prospect to ever sign with the Blue Devils since the rankings system was introduced in 2006. He chose Duke over offers from Auburn, Clemson, South Carolina, Texas A&M and Nebraska. Trevon Lee, who redshirted this past season, became the first ESPN 300 prospect to commit to Duke last February.
Humphreys, who hails from Newport Beach, Calif. is one of two commits who played in January's U.S. Army All-America game and is another highly-ranked recruit in the class. He had a 21-yard interception return for a touchdown, a tackle for loss, a sack and a forced fumble for the victorious West squad. T.J. Rahming, who has drawn comparisons to record-breaking NFL-bound wide receiver Jamison Crowder, also added a pair of touchdowns, one on the ground and another through the air.
Rahming will join wide receivers Fuller and Aaron Young who will team up with quarterback commitment Quentin Harris to build an offense that promises to be talented and explosive – exactly what the up and coming Duke program needs to remain competitive in the ACC.
"We have some guys who can catch the ball and do something with it afterwards, we have the return element," Cutcliffe said. "On offense we have a quarterback [Harris] who had a great career and is a great leader. The versatility of the skill guys is pretty incredible."
When all was said and done, Cutcliffe's class checked in at No. 45 on the ESPN class rankings on signing day, which is up from last year's ranking at No. 51 and is considered the program's highest class ranking in the 21st century. According to recruiting site 247Sports.com, this is the first time Cutcliffe has recruited a top 50 class during his time in Durham.
This was not to say that the 2015 recruiting process came without drama. The class was ranked as high as 24th in the ESPN recruiting rankings back in August but began a downward spiral during the last few months. In December, Tyler Petite, a four-star prospect ranked 85th in the ESPN 300, flipped his verbal commitment to USC. To add insult to injury, three-star athlete Depriest Turner took an official visit to California while he was still verbally committed to Duke, which caused the Alabama native and the Blue Devil coaching staff to part ways.
Then came the biggest shocker of all when wide receiver Flynn Nagel, who had committed to Duke last June, announced that he would be playing for his hometown Northwestern Wildcats next Fall with signing day just 24 hours away.
Still, there was no drama on Wednesday as all 15 previously verbally-committed prospects signed letters of intent and will suit up for Fall camp in August. The other two prospects, defensive end Marquies Price and offensive lineman Reno Rosene signed financial aid agreements back in August and are enrolled for the Spring semester.
"No drama today, which is great," Cutcliffe said. "Everybody called and got in touch with us and sent their stuff in exactly when they said they were going to. We didn’t have to wait and see anything on TV. I think it’s a great tribute to who they are."
The 2015 class is talented, but Cutcliffe and his staff are already hard at work building the 2016 class, which 247Sports.com ranks as 14th nationally and fourth in the ACC. The class includes four-star prospects Scott Bracey, Mark Birmingham and Elijah Deveaux.
The Blue Devils open Spring practice tomorrow and will be joined by the 15 prospects over the summer prior to the start of Fall camp. Duke opens the season Thursday September 3, 2015 on the road in a non-conference contest against Tulane.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.