Duke lands three-star out of Tennessee

Since his junior year, Nashville (Tenn.) Overton defensive end Dezmond Johnson has been being recruited by David Cutcliffe and his Duke staff. Johnson has maintained a strong interest in the ACC program and took an official visit in December to Durham. On Tuesday, Johnson hosted Coach Cutcliffe at his school and his home. With National Signing Day right around the corner, Johnson decided that he had heard enough and committed to the Blue Devils.

"I've committed to Duke," Johnson said on Tuesday evening. "I actually made the decision today at school. Coach Cutcliffe and Coach Marion Hobby came by the school and visited with me and they came by my house too to talk to my parents. I made the commitment there at school and I just told my parents about it when I got home and kind of reenacted it for them."

The decision was not an easy one for Johnson. He took official visits to Middle Tennessee and Purdue along with Duke and also was getting significant interest from Ole Miss. In the end, MTSU and Duke were the two schools that Johnson struggled to decide between.

"Just the fact that education-wise they're a good school," he said about Duke. "I had some hard choices because I went to MTSU last weekend to finish up my visits that I was going to take. That helped me out because I could compare the two. It was a hard decision.

"Based on football, it was about the same so when I took football away and what would benefit me in the long-run, I asked for input from my parents and my coaches and teachers and took what they were telling and I decided on Duke."

Johnson is a long athletic defensive end that led his Overton squad to an outstanding year and an 8-3 record. He finished the year with 71 tackles, 18 sacks, two fumble recoveries and one returned punt block for a touchdown. With his athleticism, Johnson was even able to double at tight end late in the year.

In Durham, Johnson will be lining up mainly at defensive end but his versatility will give the coaches some options.

"I think the way they run their defense it's kind of a mix (of 3-4 and 4-3) which is why they wanted me as a hybrid player," he said. "I can stand up and cover space and line down and play defensive end."

Before Johnson does get to Duke, he has a season to finish on the basketball court. Already his team is 16-2 and sitting atop the district standings.

Rivals.com rates Johnson as a three-star prospect.