Three-Star Deandre Duffus Talks West Virginia, Faith and Med School

West Virginia recently offered 2023 three-star offensive lineman Deandre Duffus (6-foot-4, 330-pounds) from Chaminade-Madonna Prep in Hollywood, Florida. Duffus took the time to speak with WV Sports Now regarding his current recruitment, his faith and his potential career in the medical industry post college graduation.

“I haven’t had a chance to see West Virginia yet, but I love the coaching staff,” said Duffus. “They’ve been talking to me for awhile now. Up to around four months, or five months.”

Duffus compares himself to the Indianapolis Colts’ Quenton Nelson, a four-time Pro Bowler who is considered one of the top offensive lineman currently in the sport. The size of Nelson (6-foot-5, 331-pounds) is similar to Duffus’s current build, but it’s the skill set that Duffus says the two lineman share.

“Quenton Nelson,” said Duffus when asked who he compares himself to. “Because of his measurements and swiftness that he pulls with. He’s very sound with his technique, especially when he comes off the ball. Especially with pulling, I’m very big on pulling. I feel like I’m one of the best at pulling in the nation, without a doubt. Quenton Nelson is the perfect comparison for me.”

Off-the-field Duffus loves to read Christian books. He’s a Christian and he considers his faith to be important to him. He likes to credit God for the opportunities that he has, and tries to “give everything to God.”

Those opportunities include the 24 offers, but also a biology major and potential doctoral career to come from it. If the NFL doesn’t work out for Duffus, he’ll gladly go down the road of Dr. Deandre Duffus. He’s already planning to go down that route, but obviously the lure of fame and money from the NFL would be difficult to resist if he sees it as a strong possibility.

“I love science,” said Duffus. “It is my favorite subject in high school. I plan on majoring in biology and I want to go to med school. Don’t get me wrong, if somebody tells me that I can go play football for millions of dollars, that’d be the plan. But if football doesn’t work out, I definitely want to go to med school and major biology.”

Duffus has received 24 total offers thus far from Alabama A&M, Coastal Carolina, Colorado, Florida, Florida A&M, Florida Atlantic, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Louisville, Maryland, Miami, Michigan State, NC State, Ole Miss, Oregon, Penn State, Pittsburgh, Syracuse, Temple, Tennessee, Texas A&M, West Virginia, UCF and USF. 247Sports though is projecting Indiana with Syracuse and UCF also being listed as “warm” on the website.

“It’s amazing,” said Duffus on the interest expressed to him by so many schools. “I try not to let it go to my head. I try to keep grinding. But I feel great about being recognized. I still feel like I’m more of a under-the-radar player. I just thank God for the opportunity to pick what school I go to.”

Duffus has not yet committed, or even released a final list of contenders, but the reasoning for Indiana isn’t without merit as two of his current high school teammates have committed to the school. As for Syracuse, he says that they’re talking to him almost everyday and will be taking an official visit to the school. As for UCF, again it goes to back to his teammates having a connection with the school.