College Football Recruiting: Duke Blue Devils Beat USC for California Prospect Tyler Petite

The Duke Blue Devils scored one of the major recruiting coups of the year so far, landing a commitment from four-star tight end Tyler Petite. Now, Duke securing a commitment from a four-star prospect is noteworthy in itself, but what is really impressive about this commitment is that David Cutcliffe and his staff went head-to-head with the USC Trojans, on their turf, to land the Moraga, Ca. prospect.

Petite’s commitment bumped Duke’s recruiting class up to No. 21 in the nation, in 247 Sports’ composite rankings. He is currently the only four-star prospect to commit to the Blue Devils and the 16th commitment in the class.

This is the kind of recruiting win that could really help Duke going forward. They are successfully parlaying their on-the-field success from last season into recruiting success, and Petite’s commitment could make Duke look like a viable option for other elite recruits. Duke will also be among the favorites to win the ACC Coastal Division once again this season, which will give them the opportunity to build on their momentum even more. After all, in college football, winning begets winning.

In addition to beating USC for Petite’s services, the Blue Devils also managed to hold off a long list of schools that included the Auburn Tigers, the Miami Hurricanes, the Stanford Cardinal and a number of other Pac-12 schools. Duke beating out all of those schools for a recruit would have been nearly unimaginable only a few years ago. Now it is just further evidence that the Blue Devils are for real.

Dan Kelley covers ACC football for www.RantSports.com. You can follow him on Twitter @DKelley_ACC or “Like” him on Facebook.