Duke football signs 15 prospects to 2018 recruiting class during early signing period

Duke signed 15 prospects to its 2018 recruiting class, the school announced on Wednesday, the first day of college football’s inaugural early signing period.

Of the 15 recruits, nine are on the offensive side of the ball, while six are defensive players.

With one four-star recruit and 14 three-star prospects, Duke has the 57th ranked recruiting class in country and 13th in the ACC, according to 247sports. Last year, its recruiting class ranked 47th.

Duke coach David Cutcliffe said he expects four of the players to matriculate in January.

Cutcliffe said that he is “very happy,” with the current class, but left the door open to possibly signing more at the regular signing period in February.

“We intended to leave ourselves a little room after this signing day because you felt so pushed,” he said. “And there were people that you weren’t sold on enough yet to offer a scholarship to that ended up signing somewhere else. But that is going to happen.”

He said offensive lineman and the secondary are the areas he will likely target before the traditional National Signing Day.

Duke lost one prospect, who was expected to make an impact in the secondary earlier this month.

Four-star cornerback Taiyon Palmer rescinded his commitment from Duke on Dec. 1, two weeks before the signing period. Palmer was the 20th ranked cornerback in the country. Prior to the loss of Palmer, Duke was ranked in the top 50.

Tahj Rice, a 6-2, 320-pound four-star defensive tackle, is the highest rated recruit to sign with Duke. Rice is ranked No. 313 overall, according to 247sports composite rankings. He was the 12th ranked strong-side defensive end.

Duke also signed six in-state players, including one from the Triangle in Gunnar Holmberg, a 6-3, 180-pound pro-style quarterback, who played for Heritage High School in Wake Forest.

In the spring, the NCAA implemented an early signing period for recruits to sign their National Letters of Intent. Previously, National Signing Day, on the first Wednesday in February, was the only day for recruits to sign scholarship agreements.

Some coaches have been in favor of adding an early signing period, similar to one in basketball, in hopes that in would reduce the number of prospects who change their minds at the last minute and curb schools taking in too many players.

The idea for an early signing period gained momentum in January when the American Football Coaches Association unanimously supported the proposal from the NCAA Division I Council. It was finally adopted in May.

For 2018, the traditional National Signing Day is on Feb. 7.

This story was originally published December 20, 2017 at 12:24 PM with the headline "Duke football signs 15 prospects to 2018 recruiting class during early signing period."