Center Grove’s Tyler Cherry passes the ball during the Class 6A state final against Fort Wayne Carroll in November. As a junior, Center Grove quarterback Tyler Cherry passed for 2,269 yards, 22 touchdowns and only five interceptions. Cherry has verbally committed to play footbal at Duke University in college.
DAILY JOURNAL FILE PHOTO
The number of college football coaches who punched driving directions to Center Grove High School into their phones during the offseason is unknown.
Tyler Cherry, more often than not the object of their conversational pursuits following the quarterback’s exceptional junior season, knows it was a lot.
Center Grove coach Eric Moore concurs, though, he, too, is unable to lasso an exact sum.
Whatever the case, the months separating Center Grove’s 2022 and 2023 seasons have been unforgettably active for the 6-foot-5, 205-pound Cherry, whose talent, work ethic, smarts and knows-no-strangers personality pushed him cleats-first onto the radar of numerous Division I programs.
He ended the suspense on May 20 by verbally committing to attend Duke University.
Cherry, who carries a 3.8 grade-point average, had seriously considered Indiana, Michigan State and Penn State from an offer list of 24 college football programs that included two more from the Big Ten Conference (Illinois, Maryland) and two from the Southeastern Conference (Missouri, Vanderbilt).
“School has always been important to me, but the relationship I had with the (Duke) coaches was the best,” said Cherry, who threw for 2,269 yards and 22 touchdowns to help the Trojans program notch its third consecutive Class 6A state championship.
“It really felt like a great place to go play football, but they also have great academics, too.”
Leading the pursuit of Cherry for the Blue Devils were second-year Blue Devils head coach Mike Elko and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Kevin Johns, the latter previously an IU assistant for six seasons (2011-16).
“Coach Johns has kids who are about the same age as me, and he treats his players with respect and understanding,” Cherry said. “He’s a great guy, and has a really good personality to go along with it.”
Perhaps lost in Cherry elevating to three-star status in terms of his recruitment is the fact he gained valuable varsity field time as a 10th-grader.
Cherry, who was slotted behind then-senior and now current Indiana quarterback Tayven Jackson on the CG depth chart, participated in five of the team’s 14 games. This helped set the table for his knowledge of the offense, poise in the pocket — and, yes, 61.5 completion percentage — in 2022.
Moreover, flourishing for a program responsible for five state titles and a pair of runner-up finishes in the last 15 years tends to draw notice.
Cherry took two unofficial visits prior to his junior school year, those being to Indiana and Purdue. This, basically, was the extent of his recruitment at that time.
“Tyler never really self-promoted himself at all,” said Moore, whose 25th Trojans squad opens its season on August 19 against reigning two-time Ohio Division I state champion St. Edward in a game to be played at Massillon (Ohio) High School. “When you play for a team that wins a third state championship in a row, and how many yards he threw for, it’s tremendously impressive.
“Then, when coaches start talking to Tyler, they’re all impressed. This kid is a great quarterback, he’s fun to talk to, and coaches appreciate that. Tyler has worked hard, he’s self-made, and he’s all about the team.”
Cherry plans to graduate high school in December in order to be at Duke following its Christmas break to work out and get an early jump on accumulating college credits.
Being in Durham, North Carolina, located some 600 miles from Cherry’s comfort zone, will no doubt be a change from what he’s accustomed. All the same, he’ll be ready when the time gets here.
“It’s definitely a beautiful place, and just has a really good fell to it,” Cherry said of the Duke campus. “I think the distance away was something we thought about, but it really felt like another family to me.”
