Center Grove QB Tyler Cherry: From Duke to IU – A Closer Look at His Commitment

Indiana high school football: Get to know Center Grove QB Tyler Cherry

Preps insider Kyle Neddenriep has Q & A session with Center Grove quarterback Tyler Cherry, a Duke recruit.

Clare Grant, Indianapolis Star

Cherry set career passing records at Center Grove with 5,461 yards and 56 TDsThe former Duke commit led Center Grove to a Class 6A state title as a junior.Cherry won 2023 Mr. Football position award as the state’s top senior quarterback.

Indiana could not secure a commitment from Tyler Cherry the first time around, but the Center Grove senior quarterback is on board for the Hoosiers now.

Cherry, the Mr. Football position award winner at quarterback, announced his commitment to IU on Tuesday, following a Saturday visit to Bloomington to meet with new coach Curt Cignetti and his staff and attend the Hoosiers’ basketball game against Kansas.

What Cherry’s commitment means: ‘Keeping this guy home is a pretty big deal.’

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The 6-5, 215-pound Cherry, a two-year starter at Center Grove, committed to Duke in May and had been locked into the Blue Devils after taking an official visit in June. But when Duke coach Mike Elko was hired at Texas A&M three weeks ago, Cherry’s recruitment opened again. He officially decommitted from Duke on Friday, a week after the Blue Devils hired Penn State defensive coordinator Manny Diaz as its new coach.

“After careful consideration, and conversations with my family I’ve made the decision to decommit from Duke University,” he wrote. “I want to thank the Duke coaches and staff for all the time, effort and energy put into my recruitment. Thank you Duke!”

Meanwhile, Cherry was considering both Indiana and Michigan State. He visited IU on Dec. 8 and Michigan State the following day, meeting with new Spartans coach Jonathan Smith, who was hired from Oregon State. Michigan State had an in-home visit with Cherry on Wednesday and IU on Thursday.

“Tyler was really impressed with both programs,” his father, Josh Cherry said prior to Tyler’s commitment. “He really likes the people and coaches that are in place and believes they both have a great vision for success in the coming years.”

Cherry, who set career passing records at Center Grove with 5,461 yards and 56 touchdowns, helped the Trojans to a Class 6A state championship as a junior. As a senior, he completed 71.5% of his passes for 3,156 yards with 34 TDs and six interceptions. Cherry threw for 406 yards and three TDs in the semistate, but the Trojans lost 37-34 in overtime to Ben Davis. The Trojans were 23-4 in Cherry’s two seasons as a starter.

Indiana picked up a commitment last week from three-star quarterback prospect Alberto Mendoza of Miami, Fla., and also has Ohio transfer Kurtis Rourke on board.

Cherry was offered by former IU coach Tom Allen in January, but he picked Duke over IU and several other offers, including Boston College, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan State, Missouri, Penn State, Pitt and Vanderbilt. He was offered by Virginia after the Duke coaching change.

“Everything happens for a reason and Tyler being able to keep his options open has been a good thing for him to reevaluate what’s important to him and where he’d like to get an education and play football,” Josh Cherry said.

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

2023-12-19 23:02:12
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