California quarterback Luca Diamont highlights Duke’s small class
Duke’s scholarship distribution dictated a small class by football recruiting standards this year.
Initially expecting to only sign a dozen players, coach David Cutcliffe landed four additional recruits to make a 16-man class he insists will make his team better in 2020.
“We got better this morning,” Cutcliffe said of the class he admits is “not enormously large in number.”
Coming of a 5-7 season that left Duke out of a bowl game for just the second time in the last eight seasons, Cutcliffe and his staff saw more redshirt juniors choose to end their Duke careers, with many entering the transfer portal as graduate transfers, than anticipated.
That opened a few extra scholarships that the staff used to gain December commitments from defensive backs Da’Quan Johnson and Jaylen Stinson and wide receiver Jontavis Robertson.
Duke’s class is comprised entirely of three-star players and is ranked No. 56 nationally, and No. 11 in the ACC, by 247sports.com. That’s a tick down from last season’s No. 49 class. Prior to this season, Duke had signed classes ranked among the nation’s top 50 in three of the previous four seasons.
Here’s a look at the players Duke signed for its 2020 class:
Top prize
Jontavis Robertson announced his decision on Wednesday and signed with the Blue Devils, turning down offers from Georgia and Indiana. He visited all three of his final schools this month. A wide receiver from Jones County (Ga.) High School, Robertson held offers from Baylor, Tennessee and Kentucky as well. He provided Duke’s class with a late boost of much-needed athleticism and continued the program’s strong history of plucking talented players from Georgia.
Need
Duke will have a new starting quarterback next season and, in a rarity during the Cutcliffe regime, that player will have little game experience. Unlike this season when senior Quentin Harris took over after Daniel Jones went to the NFL, there is no experienced backup ready to become the new starter. Luca Diamont signed Wednesday and will enroll at Duke in January, allowing him to take part in spring practice. In past year’s his presence in spring would be a bonus. This season, it’s a must as he’ll be among those players vying to be a starter next fall.
Building the fence
Duke only signed two players from North Carolina, finding more luck in bordering states. The Blue Devils added four players from Tennessee and three from Georgia. Duke’s in-state additions are both on the defensive side in defensive tackle Aeneas Peebles from Knightdale High School and Greensboro safety Isaiah Fisher-Smith, who played at Page High School.
One that got away
Ethan Wright, a three-star athlete from Akron, Ohio, committed to Duke last June. A standout at safety and running back, he appeared to give Duke a future playmaker on either side of the ball -- or perhaps even both. But the 6-1, 195-pound Wright rescinded his commitment on Nov. 14 and committed to Cincinnati on Dec. 5. Had he remained in Duke’s class, he would have rated among the top five players among the Blue Devils’ new freshmen.
Graham Barton, OL (6-5, 300, Brentwood, Tenn.)
Malik Bowen, WR (6-3, 195, Mount Juliet, Tenn.)
Nicky Dalmolin, TE (6-4, 215, Cumming, Ga.)
Luca Diamont, QB (6-3, 185, Santa Monica, Calif.)
Cole Finney, TE (6-6, 240, Hingham, Mass.)
Isaiah Fisher-Smith, DB (6-0, 200, Greensboro)
Christian Hood, LB (6-0, 210, Missouri City, Texas)
Da’Quan Johnson, DB (6-0, 190, Flomaton, Ala.)
Dorian Mausi, LB (6-2, 215, Detroit, Mich.)
Aeneas Peebles, DL (6-2, 265, Raleigh)
Calib Perez, OL (6-5, 295, Pearland, Texas)
Michael Reese, DL (6-4, 250, Nashville, Tenn.)
Jontavis Robertson, WR (5-11, 190, Gray, Ga.)
Gary Smith III, DL (6-2, 310, Shelbyville, Tenn.)
Ryan Smith, LB (6-2, 210, Acworth, Ga.)
Jaylen Stinson, DB (5-8, 170, Opelika, Ala.)
This story was originally published December 18, 2019 at 1:18 PM with the headline "California quarterback Luca Diamont highlights Duke’s small class."