The last few seasons, Duke football's most consistent woe has undoubtedly been its kicking game. And when Austin Parker was dismissed from the program in early December, things for the Blue Devils only went from bad to worse.
But Wednesday morning, Duke announced in a press release that Parker, a redshirt junior from Mount Pleasant, N.C., will return to the Blue Devils for the 2018-19 season and beyond after being reinstated to the program. The 6-foot-1 specialist will give a major lift to Duke's kicking game, which was left searching for answers as the Blue Devils tested multiple contenders for their starting kicker and punter positions during spring practice.
“During this process, Parker has displayed humility and wisdom while, through his actions, regaining our trust,” Duke head coach David Cutcliffe said in the release. “This certainly hasn’t been easy, but that’s the way life lessons can be taught.
"He went through the procedure for re-application to the school and, most importantly, continues his education here at Duke immediately with the first summer school session.”
Parker spent all of last season in both those roles, missing just four of his 21 field-goal attempts and hitting on 33-of-35 extra points in addition to a punting average of 42.1 yards per attempt. Those marks were good enough to rank third in the ACC and 26th nationally in made field goals per game with 1.4.
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