What a Duzey … Athens senior to take multi talents to Iowa

LINING UP: Troy Athens senior Jake Duzey is a threat every time he steps onto the field, and the multi-sport athlete will continue to terrorize secondaries at the University of Iowa. Staff Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

TROY — When Jake Duzey was in middle school, his mom had this notion that he would someday be a great swimmer.

“Yeah, she did,” chuckled Duzey. “I swam for about two and half years. I wasn’t bad it, but I liked other sports better.”

Duzey has spent much of his athletics career days bouncing between football, basketball, baseball and even track and field for a short stint in middle school, to go along with youth swimming. But it’s football where is love affair lies.

“That is my favorite,” beamed Duzey, now a senior at Troy Athens High School.

That apparently rings true.

On Wednesday, Duzey and his parents faxed a letter-of-intent from their home to Iowa City to notify the University of Iowa that he is officially a member of the Hawkeyes football program. Duzey sealed the deal as part of the NCAA mid-winter signing period, which runs from Feb. 2-9.

Playing football at a Big Ten Conference institution helped Duzey reach his long term goal.

“It’s been a dream of mine for a long, long time,” he noted. “It came down to Oregon and Iowa. I knew that Iowa was the right place for me.”

Duzey, a 6-foot-4, 220-pound tight end, was offered by more than a dozen Division I schools in the past couple of years, and he chose Iowa last summer over Oregon. Some of the other schools he considered were Michigan State, Purdue and several Mid-American Conference schools, all which laid down offers.

MULTI-TALENTED: Troy Athens' Jake Duzey has suited up in five sports over the past 10 years and will depart Athens with seven varsity letters. He is also known to be one of the OAA's top post players in basketball along with being a Blue Chip football recruit. Staff Photo | Larry McKee, www.lmckeephotography.com

This past autumn on the grid-iron, Duzey earned All-State honors by the Associated Press, Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, and Rivals.com, to go along with All-Area First Team by www.northoaklandsports.com and the Oakland Press All-County Dream Team squad. He was also All-Metro North by the Detroit publications to go along with being named All-OAA Red Division for the second straight year.

Duzey played three years of varsity on the Red Hawks’ football team and is in his third season of varsity basketball, averaging a double-double with around 12 points and 10 rebounds a game to go along with around five blocks again. He also played varsity baseball as a sophomore, hitting 10 home runs, but decided to give up the sport.

Athens basketball coach Dave Scott said that it would be hard-pressed to find a better role model in the hallways.

“Jake, what a great athlete and a great kid,” he said. “He’s a very good football player and look what he’s done on the basketball court. I think he’s the best post player in our league. And he used to play baseball, too. I think that Jake is the type of kid that when he applies himself to a certain sport, he excels.”

Duzey also excels in the classroom, garnering over a 3.7 GPA in his high school career. He picked up a 4.0 last semester. He hopes to venture “somewhere in the medical field” at Iowa

Josh Heppner, Athens’ football head coach, feels that Iowa is getting a steal of an athlete.

“Jake is a special player. He draws a lot of attention on the field and he still makes great catches,” said Heppner. “The thing about Jake is that it’s all about the team, not about himself. He’s a team guy. He did whatever we asked of him to help the team.”

Duzey, who also played defensive end as a senior with the Red Hawks, is one of four tight ends being brought in for 2011 to play behind two seniors. Duzey does not know if he will gain any playing time as a freshman or take a redshirt.

On the football field, Duzey deploys his explosive 4.4 speed to get to the corners and empty spaces in a hurry. He finished with 38 receptions for 629 yards and four touchdowns for a team that finished 3-6. He also started at defensive end.

Duzey used to play AAU basketball, with stints with Running Rebels and Legion, and on as many as two summer baseball teams as well, including a few years with the Troy Cardinals.

“I like all of those sports, but I knew I couldn’t do it all for four years,” said Duzey, noting the time constraints of playing three high school and two club sports within the calendar year. “It got to be too much.”

As for swimming?

“I gave that up a long time ago,” said Duzey.

Iowa can rejoice in that decision.

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Tags: college siginings, Duzey, featured, pre boys basketball, prep football

Category: Campus Clips, Prep Wraps, Troy Athens