Cutcliffe Nabs First Big-Name 2009 Recruits

After de-committing from Georgia Tech early last week, four-star defensive lineman John Drew opened up his college search again. But not for long.

In Durham three days later to attend a one-day football camp at Duke, he met with Duke head coach David Cutcliffe Friday night and told him he was committing to the Blue Devils.

"Duke was high on my list, and I knew I wanted to look into the school more, but I didn't know yet that I was going to choose them," he told Rivals.com Saturday. "But I knew Friday night prior to the camp today. I just decided to go ahead and commit when I met with Coach Cutcliffe. I just had a feeling when I got there that Duke was where I needed to be. I realized that last night."

In addition to his opinion of Duke's football program, Drew said the excellent academics and his brother's enrollment at N.C. Central next fall were the other big draws for him. The 6-foot-1, 303-pound Georgia native is ranked the No. 19 defensive lineman in the country and is also on Rivals.com list of the top 250 players in the nation. Drew is the first four-star recruit for Cutcliffe, and the first at Duke since fullback Brandon King in the class of 2006.

Drew also told Rivals.com that he would start doing a little recruiting himself now, starting with players he knows around his Georgia home such as LeRon Furr (three-star inside linebacker) and Kyle Griswold (running back).

"I really do think we can turn things around at Duke," he told Rivals.com. "All we need to do is get a couple more people and [Cutcliffe's] first full recruiting class can be a special group."

Drew makes Cutcliffe's fourth recruit for the class of 2009, alongside Ryan Hall (three-star tight end), Jack Farrell (tight end), and Corey Gattis—a dual-threat quarterback who also lined up at wide receiver during Duke's camp this week.

--by Matthew Iles