Duke football signed 26 high-school players Wednesday.
That’s a pretty simple sentence but there’s a lot to untangle.
First, these are the same 26 players who committed to Duke before the season started. That’s right. More than two-dozen prep football players committed to Duke before Mike Elko had even coached a game at Duke and he and his staff held on to every single one.
“Twenty-six kids that will forever be very special to me,” Elko told the media on signing day. “This will forever be the class that first committed to me as a head football coach. So, for the rest of my career these guys will always be first. And all 26 of them committed prior to me ever coaching a football game as head coach. So, that’s huge. Certainly, staying true to the process throughout this whole thing is not lost on me. That’s a testament to these kids, to the character of these kids, to the culture in our locker room, that every time they came here, they kept feeling that this thing was heading in a different direction that they wanted to be part of.”
Second. 26 is a LOT of signees. And that doesn’t include the transfers Duke is bringing in.
Scholarship crunch? Yes.
Problem? Not really, according to Elko.
“It’s a numbers crunch. You’d rather it not be the other way. I’d rather not be sitting here missing 20 guys and trying to figure out how we’re going to field a team next year. I think you’ll see some guys enter the portal in January of their own accord. Things usually tend to just work themselves out with the numbers.”
NIL a thing?
Maybe. Maybe not.
“I think it obviously plays a role in everything that’s happening in college football now. You can’t go anywhere without hearing that word. But it’s not something we can utilize as a recruiting tool, it’s not something that plays a role in what we’re doing in terms of bringing kids in. But it’s something that you have to be aware of and educate people on so that when they get here these are some of the things that might be available to you.”
There were some other data points. Ten of the 26 signees will enroll next month, making them eligible for spring ball.
“It’s where it’s trending,” Elko said. “Anytime you’re talking about recruiting you want to make sure you are able meet the trends. More and more kids now are making decisions earlier, which means more and more kids are trying to get in earlier.”
Many of these recruits camped at Duke last summer, a trend Elko encourages.
“I think it’s critical on two levels,” Elko said. “One, obviously, to be able to put them through a workout on our campus and really test them and know what we’re getting. Nobody goes into the NFL without a workout. One of the things with high-school recruiting is you’re not comparing apples to apples. So, getting that evaluation is really important. The other thing you’re able to see is intangibles. Kids that really love football don’t ever have a problem playing and competing in football.”
Elko said his first recruiting cycle reinforced his idea that Duke is a national brand and can capitalize on that.
“I think the class represents the power of the Duke brand. We continue to talk about how Duke travels. If you look at it we’re represented by 11 different states.”
You can find a list of signees on goduke. com
This 2023 recruiting class is solid and the fact all 26 committed before the season commenced is important because the on field success achieved in 2022 will pay dividends starting with the 2024 recruiting class. I expect Coach Elko and staff to bring in increased talent level in 2024.