You had everybody on pins and needles out here yesterday waiting to see when your Letter of Intent was going to be faxed in. Take me to Wednesday morning when you were signing your LOI.
I didn’t wait to send my LOI in until late on purpose. I wasn’t trying to upstage anybody, I just don’t have a fax machine at my house. I had to go to school and get my coach to do it but he was in a meeting when I got to school (at 8 AM). My teammate (Ronnie Stanley – going to Notre Dame) and I were waiting for like 20 minutes until we finally had to go to the Athletic Director and get him to do it. It wasn’t on purpose that it came in later.
I played a joke on my mom while I was waiting and told her that I wasn’t going to sign my papers until later and that I was having second thoughts about committing to Duke. She got so mad and kept calling me over and over but I didn’t answer (laughing). She actually was so upset that I think she called one of the Duke coaches or they called her and she told them what I said to her because Coach Cut had me get in touch with him. He was all worried and I had to tell him that I was just playing a joke on my mom. (He eventually signed at 8:30 AM).
Did your mom play a big part in you picking Duke?
My mom has always let it be my decision but I always wanted her to feel confident in where I was going to school, feel confident in the coaching staff, and the program.
You tweeted that you had reservations about Duke going after Jela Duncan the night before signing day. What are your thoughts on that now that he signed to be your teammate?
I don’t really care about that either way. I don’t know much about him, never seen him play, but from what it sounds like we could be a great duo. Whatever helps us win games, I’m down with.
Did you celebrate all day today? What was your family’s reaction?
I actually never told my mom that I had signed. I guess the coaches told her that I sent the paper work in. The whole day I was just ignoring her calls (laughing) so she had some words to say to me at my signing day ceremony. It was a pretty hectic day. Lots of support from my school – they showed a lot of love.
You have been honored as a Parade All-American, the ESPNHS.com Nevada Player of the Year, and got picked to be on the The News Tribune’s Western 100. You’ve got all the hardware. Talk about what it took to get there.
It’s all hard work. All throughout my career I’ve been a very underrated player. People have always pointed out things that I could improve on. A lot of those things I didn’t see as a problem, but I took it in and worked on them a lot. Senior year I could tell that all the weights, running and extra conditioning really propelled me into my senior year. Then, they said I was too slow. Then, it was my line was so good that I didn’t have to do anything. All those awards, I could care less about them. It’s more telling everyone that was doubting me that I can do this. You don’t have to doubt me anymore. People told me I was too skinny my sophomore and junior years.
Do you take that motivation with you on the field? Watching your videos, you can see that you run with a little bit of a mean streak.
Yeah, I do. There will always be haters, there will always be doubters. The one thing you have to do is prove them wrong.
You played on both sides of the ball some in high school. Obviously, the scouts like you as a running back. Where do you have more fun?
I started playing corner my sophomore year. I got a couple offers for DB going into my senior year but I feel more natural at the running back position. Stanford even wanted me to play corner but I told them I wanted to play on offense. Duke told me that they strictly wanted me for running back. I wasn’t considering schools that told me they wanted me to play DB.
Talk about how the coaching staff recruited you. What were their main selling points?
It was a big family atmosphere there. Since I’m not going to college in Vegas, I need a family atmosphere to be around. Coach Cut and the rest of the players really believe that they can get this program on the rise. Make history and go to some bowl games. Possibly win the ACC. I believe in that stuff because when I went to Gorman we were ranked 1200th in the nation and we just finished Top Five this year. I know that if you get people to believe and work hard, that anything is possible.
Tell me about your visit
I came down there on December 9th and Juwan Thompson was my host. He was real chill and was very honest to me about the program and the city. He wasn’t trying to sell me on anything, he was just being honest and I liked that.
What was Coach Cutcliffe’s reaction like when you told him you were coming to Duke?
It was the last day and everybody on the visit had committed but me. I was contemplating the night before about whether I liked it enough to commit. In the morning when we were getting ready to leave, Coach Cut called my mom and I into his meeting room. All the coaches were lined up outside the door waiting for my response when I came out of the room. Coach Cut told me that he thought I was a hell of a player and he wanted to know when I was thinking about committing. I told him I think I’ll just commit now. I’m not one to show a lot of emotion so when I told him I think he was really surprised! After the excitement wore off, he pulled out his list of numbers and asked me what number I wanted to wear. I’m 3 in high school, but it was taken (Jamison Crowder wears it now) so I picked 28 (the number I wore growing up.
When we walked out the door, all the coaches were still there lined up waiting for us to come out and Coach Cut told them “We got another one!” and they all started cheering.
When do you get to Durham?
My school doesn’t let me graduate early so I won’t be able to get down there until June 10th.
What are your expectations for Duke as far as education and on the field go?
I think I’ll get a fair chance on the field just like everybody. If I can beat some of the starters and get on the field then that’s good but if I can’t then that means I’ll just have to work harder. All I ask is that the players and coaches push me to be the best and help me get through my first year and off the field I want to do great in school. I’m coming to Duke as a biology major so I know it’s going to be hard but I eventually want to be a pre-med student. I know I’ll have to hit the books hard, but I’m ready to work at it.
Do you expect to play your freshman year? Is that something you’ve talked with the coaches about?
Preferably, I would like to redshirt. Coach Cut and the coaching staff want me to come in and play right away and make an immediate impact. I don’t have a problem with it – just means I have to work harder in the offseason and hit the playbook a little more. Their idea for me is to come in and play.
