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6 hours ago
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When Maalik Murphy announced his decision to transfer from Duke to Oregon State following a record-setting 2024 season that concluded with nine wins and a Gator Bowl appearance, it left Blue Devils head coach Manny Diaz in a major predicament. Heading into his second season as Duke’s head coach, Diaz was suddenly in a position where it looked like he would be without a marquee quarterback.
But just two days after Murphy’s departure, the Blue Devils opened up their checkbook and paid big money for former Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah, who threw for 2,723 yards and 22 touchdowns during the 2024 season. The former Green Wave standout and top-rated transfer in the country recently explained that there were reasons beyond the money as to why he chose Duke.
“I was at Tulane for two years, super grateful for that place. It made me who I am today,” Mensah told Pete Nakos of On3 (h/t Maddy Hudak of Sports Illustrated). “Definitely not easy to leave all my teammates, those are my guys. But I wanted to play in a competitive conference like the ACC, in the Power Four. And I knew this move would set my family up for financial freedom.”
Mensah did acknowledge that the $4 million NIL played a role in his choice, saying “the NIL component was pretty important, but it wasn’t the primary focus.” Instead, Mensah was focused on making the decision that would best help him eventually take his game to the next level.
“The primary focus is to play in the NFL, so I feel like Duke is a place where I can achieve that. During the season, I just let my agent, Noah [Reisenfeld] and Adie [von Gontard], I feel like they did a phenomenal job keeping me focused on what I needed to do during the season. I’m at where I am now, so I’m grateful for them.”
Interestingly, Mensah has no choice but to return to Tulane for at least one weekend this season. The Blue Devils will face the Green Wave down in Louisiana on September 13th in their third non-conference game of the season before kicking off ACC play the next week at home against the NC State Wolfpack.
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