Blue Devils add football recruits: Duke has four members in its 2011 class

By: By Bill Cole | JOURNAL REPORTER
Published: March 16, 2010

Duke has added three players to its football recruiting class for 2011 -- two running backs from North Carolina and a tight end from Tennessee.

The latest to commit are: Jalen Simmons (5-7, 194) from West Charlotte High, Kaylen Pearson (5-11, 180) from Lenoir Hibriten High, and Brendan Downs (6-6, 224) from Tennessee High in Bristol, Tenn. All three are juniors.

Coach Greg Stubbs of Tennessee High said that several factors influenced Downs' decision to accept Duke's scholarship offer and turn down offers from Memphis and Baylor.

"I think the location of Duke to this area had something to do with it," Stubbs said. "I know when Brendan went down there the last time, he met with Coach (David) Cutcliffe personally. I'd say that Coach Cutcliffe knowing this area helped. Duke recruited him hard."

Duke now has four known commitments. Players can sign the binding national letter of intent in February 2011.

Simmons rushed for 1,100 yards and scored 10 touchdowns last season and has 4.5-second speed over 40 yards.

Pearson, who has 4.4-second speed, rushed for more than 900 yards last season. Several ACC schools were interested in recruiting him, but Duke was the first to offer a scholarship. He is the younger brother of Damian Thornton, who was a junior linebacker at Duke last season.

Downs played football for the first time last season after playing only basketball. He decided on his own to try football, became a starter and helped Tennessee High to a 10-0 record and the second round of the 5-A playoffs. Duke recruited him as a tight end.

"His stats were not really great as far as catching the ball," Stubbs said. "It was about the middle of the season that we started throwing him the ball a little bit and getting him the ball. He made some plays for us down the stretch of our season."

bcole@wsjournal.com