Duncan Holds Signing Ceremony for Three Athletes

Dylan Laurens, Dylan Dismuke and Dominique Petties officially signed their letters of intent Friday.

Thursday, July 28th 2011, 6:05 pm

By: News On 6

Duncan Holds Signing Ceremony for Three Athletes

Originally Published: Feb 4, 2011 5:20 PM CDT

Corey DeMoss
Oklahoma Sports Staff Writer

DUNCAN, Okla. – National Signing Day events across the state were impacted by poor weather conditions, but Duncan High School still held a signing ceremony Friday for Dominique Petties, Dylan Dismuke and Dylan Laurens.

All three players expressed happiness about the recruitment process coming to an end and excitement about moving on to the next chapter of their lives.

“It’s nice to get it over with,” Laurens said. “The recruiting process is nice, but there’s a point where you’re just ready to get it over with.”

Laurens signed a letter of intent to play at Southwestern Oklahoma State University and said coaches have given him an indication that he will have a chance to play as a freshman next season.

“They’re doing a lot of renovating,” Laurens said. “Everything is nice up there; they’re putting a new turf field. I like the coaches up there.”

Dismuke signed to play for Oklahoma and said when he visited Norman he stayed with former Mustang offensive lineman and current Sooner Bronson Irwin. The two attended OU’s football banquet and awards ceremony.

Unlike Irwin, Dismuke said he plans to redshirt his freshman year. He said he will spend that time getting himself acclimated to college and improving his overall game.

“I’ve been lifting weights heavily and you’ve got to step it up on conditioning to get in better shape, but pretty much just been lifting my butt off,” Dismuke said.

Petties’ situation is a bit more complicated. He had been heavily recruited before being ruled ineligible by the OSSAA halfway through the season. Head coach Jim Holloway said his recruitment picked back up in the last three weeks, and Petties ultimately signed with Arizona.

“Tulsa had gotten in on the recruitment, and Pittsburgh, which came by way of the Tulsa staff moving to Pittsburgh,” Holloway said. “He took visits to Arizona and Pittsburgh the last two recruiting weeks. He enjoyed both of them and had great trips, but he just finally thought Arizona was the place to be home.”

Petties said he chose Arizona because the Wildcats – led by former OU defensive coordinator Mike Stoops – have built a reputation for strong defensive play.

“Knowing the fact that he’s such a great defensive player and is just going to fit in and do a great job with all their schemes,” Holloway said.

Petties added that the Arizona coaches have said he will get the chance to play immediately, but that he will need to prove himself with hard work.

“I’m not going to redshirt,” Petties said. “I’m coming in to play, do some special teams, and if I get the defense down I’ll be out there on the field.”