“I am very happy to be signing with Tuskegee,” Duncan said. ”It has been a dream of mine to sign with them since I was 11 years old. My brother went up there and he told me how fun it was up there and how the great the sports are down there. I am very happy to sign with Tuskegee.”
Duncan said the Golden Tigers’ late push and the money they were offering is what helped him make his decision.
“It was a pretty good amount of colleges offering me scholarships, but Tuskegee came on late and they offered me the most money, so I chose Tuskegee,” Duncan said.
The Tuskegee signee didn’t receive much playing time when he first arrived at Howell’s Cove, but the hard work and time he put in made this opportunity possible.
“My time at TC was great,” Duncan said. “It started out rocky. I wasn’t plying that much in my ninth and 10th grade years, but I kept working with the older guys and staying late after practice. It paid off.”
Duncan, who grew up around TC Central athletics, said that he is going to miss it when he leaves for Tuskegee.
“I love TC,” Duncan said. “I wish I had another 10 years here. I am going to miss all these days. I am going to have to come watch them play if I don’t have a game or practice on those days, to come back and support. I am going to be the loudest one in the stands.”
Last season as a junior Duncan played a huge role in leading the Fighting Tigers to the third round of the Class 1A Alabama High School Athletic Association playoffs. Duncan will also reunite with his cousin Dion Duncan who plays baseball for Tuskegee.
TC Central baseball coach Robert Duncan thinks the Golden Tigers are not only getting a great player, but they are getting a great person.
“I think it is a wonderful thing for a wonderful kid,” Duncan said. “Tuskegee is getting a treat; they are getting a good athlete and a good kid, compiled with being a good student. I think it will be good for them and it is good for him.
“He has been a blessing to our athletic program, not just baseball, but our athletic program here at Talladega County Central. It is a joy to coach a kid like that. You’re happy to see him move ahead and at the same time you are kind of sad that you lose a kid like that. I am elated for him. I think that he will do well both academically and athletically.”
Duncan said Tuskegee is getting a player that is willing to do anything to help his team win.
“He has just been a joy to work with,” Duncan said. ”I have had the pleasure of working with him since he was six or seven years old. I have had the chance to see him develop, mature both physically and mentally. It has just been a joy. I am grateful that not only he is not just a great individual player, but he also has a team first attitude and that is going go a long way.
“He doesn’t mind sacrificing for his team. If it takes him bunting a player over to win a ball game, he will bunt the guy over. He will try to hit a homerun or do whatever it takes for his team to get better. He is willing to take that sacrifice. I think he will do well at Tuskegee.”
