Former Center Grove quarterback Tyler Cherry signed Wednesday to play at Indiana University.
Tyler Cherry will be staying home for the holidays — and beyond.
The former Center Grove quarterback signed his national letter of intent to play at Indiana University on Wednesday morning, providing the Hoosiers’ program one of the state’s most sought-after talents.
The 6-foot-5, 210-pound Cherry, a two-year starter for the Trojans, had previously verbally committed to play football at Duke University.
However, once Blue Devils’ head coach Mike Elko took the Texas A&M job earlier this month, the coaching dominos began to fall. One was Kevin Johns, who served as Duke’s offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, but was not retained by Elko’s successor, Manny Diaz.
“I (verbally) committed (to IU) on Tuesday,” said Cherry, who led Center Grove to a Class 6A state championship as a junior and the semistate round this past season. “Once Duke’s head coach left to go to Texas A&M, the new coach let go of (Johns).
“I had gotten really close to coach Johns, so that was my last tie to the Duke coaching staff.”
Cherry exited the Trojans’ program holding many single-season and career passing records. This past season alone, he completed 218 of 305 pass attempts (.682) for 3,156 yards, 31 touchdowns and only six interceptions.
His career numbers were equally as impressive (5,461 yards, 56 TDs, 11 picks).
Cherry adds to new Indiana coach Curt Cignetti’s quarterback room in Bloomington, which already includes former Center Grove signal-caller Tayven Jackson and recent Ohio University transfer Kurtis Rourke.
Cherry is already impressed with Cignetti, who was hired on Nov. 30.
“I heard from coach Cignetti two days after he got the job,” said Cherry, who also considered Michigan State and Virginia. “His vision, and his confidence … he’s turned around programs like this before. They have a great track record of developing quarterbacks, and being close to home is definitely something that excites me and my family.
“It just came down to the best fit, and the vision to win at Indiana is very impressive.”
