Duke is often thought of as the villain—particularly when it comes to basketball, with hated Blue Devil figures such as Christian Laettner, J.J. Redick and, most recently, Grayson Allen.
But for the second time in less than five months, Duke picked up another one of the "good guys."
After 2017 five-star basketball recruit Wendell Carter posted a James Bond-themed video to announce his commitment to the Blue Devils in November, Duke football recruit Tahj Rice announced that he would be joining head coach David Cutcliffe's program with his unique superhero-themed video announcement Tuesday.
The four-star defensive tackle, according to Scout.com, is currently a junior at Waggener Traditional High School in Louisville, Ky., and will join the Blue Devils for the 2018 season. Rice, at 6-foot-3 and 302 pounds, will be a welcome presence after Duke dismissed sophomore defensive linemen Marquies Price and Brandon Boyce last month.
The Blue Devils enter the 2017 season with just three players on the defensive line who registered double-digit tackles last season, but will add incoming freshman Drew Jordan—their top recruit in the Class of 2017—this season.
Rice now joins four other early commits for Duke's 2018 recruiting class and will immediately jump to the top of the group. He is listed as the 176th-best player among all 2018 recruits and is 15th at his position.
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Twitter: @mpgladstone13
A junior from just outside Philadelphia, Mitchell is probably reminding you how the Eagles won the Super Bowl this year and that the Phillies are definitely on the rebound. Outside of The Chronicle, he majors in Economics, minors in Statistics and is working toward the PJMS certificate, in addition to playing trombone in the Duke University Marching Band. And if you're getting him a sandwich with beef and cheese outside the state of Pennsylvania, you best not call it a "Philly cheesesteak."