High-ranked QB Delle Donne commits to Duke

Ted Roof has scored his biggest recruiting coup as the Blue Devils' head coach.

Star quarterback Gene Delle Donne committed to Duke this weekend after an unofficial visit to the campus.

"[The visit] went well," Delle Donne told The Chronicle Saturday afternoon. "The coaches were just fantastic; it was nothing I could've imagined... the facilities were unbelievable, and me and my parents both felt it was the place."

Boston College, Notre Dame and Georgia have also been vying for the Wilmington, Del. product's services. However, according to Delle Donne, no school has shown more interest than Duke.

"They definitely recruited me so much harder than any other school," said Delle Donne. "The level of interest is definitely higher than from any other school I'm hearing from."

Standing 6-foot-5 and tipping the scales at 225 pounds, Delle Donne threw for 1,759 yards and 19 touchdowns last season for Salesianum High School. An accurate passer, Delle Donne completed an impressive 66 percent of his passes and threw just four interceptions. Additionally, Delle Donne, who is a Hodge Top 150 recruit, is a mobile signal caller, amassing 220 yards and five scores on the ground.

Delle Donne is the second quarterback in as many days to commit to the Blue Devils. The Winston-Salem Journal reported Friday that Charlotte prep star Joe Cox also gave a verbal commitment to Roof.

Cox, whose father Charles played safety for the Blue Devils in the 1970s, will be reunited with current Duke quarterbacks coach Tom Knotts, who coached Cox's Independence High School team last year. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound quarterback put up staggering numbers for Independence last year, completing 237 of 373 pass attempts for 3,983 yards. An able replacement for current Florida star Chris Leak, Cox threw for 43 touchdown passes and 11 interceptions in extending Independence's winning streak to 62 games.