Charlotte Christian linebacker Kelby Brown has committed to Duke, choosing the Blue Devils over UCLA.
"It was a tough decision for him," Charlotte Christian coach
Jason Estep said a few minutes ago. "He spent three days out at UCLA last week. But it finally came down to the fact that he was really comfortable at Duke, and with the direction of the program and the coaching staff."
Brown is a member of possibly the most talented linebacking trio in the Carolinas. Fellow starters David Durham (Ohio State) and Ty Linton (North Carolina) have already made their commitments.
Estep said Duke's high academic profile was also important to Brown and his family.
"He wants to be an orthopedic surgeon, and he has a 5.2 grade-point average in all advanced-placement classes," Estep said. "While football was probably most important in the decision, academics weighed heavily as well."
Among other schools that offered Brown, who is 6-foot-2 and 200 pounds, were Arkansas, Indiana, Northwestern, Syracuse, Vanderbilt and Wisconsin.
Estep said Brown's father and younger brother are both 6-5, so he could grow a bit taller. He's already particularly strong, bench-pressing close to 400 pounds.
"I would expect Duke to start him out at outside linebacker and
move him inside as he grows," Estep said.
DEACONS BEAT MIAMI FOR FLORIDA LB: Wake Forest has won the battle for one of the state of Florida's better linebackers, receiving the commitment of Zachary Allen of Pahokee High.
Allen, who is 6-foot-2 and 190 pounds, picked the Deacons over Florida State, Georgia, Miami, Michigan, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and West Virginia, all of whom had offered scholarships. Allen had about 20 offers in all.
His finalists were the Deacons and the Hurricanes.
Allen, who is being recruited by most programs as an outside
linebacker, played both LB and tight end as a junior.
Defensively, he was in on 50 tackles, including 10 sacks and 25 for losses. In an offense that used the TE primarily as a blocker, he caught five passes, with two of those going for touchdowns.
He has 4.67-second speed in the 40-yard dash.
— Stan Olson
