Duke Transfer Defensive Lineman Gary Smith III Earns Offer From UCLA Football
Another Blue Devil has a chance to become a Bruin.
UCLA football sent an offer to Gary Smith III, a defensive lineman from Duke who entered the transfer portal on Dec. 2. The Bruins earned a commitment from Smith's Blue Devil teammate, receiver Jake Bobo, on Dec. 14.
Smith also has offers from Liberty, East Carolina, Tulane, Memphis, Minnesota, Western Kentucky, Marshall, Alcorn State, TCU and Virginia Tech.
Smith has three years of eligibility remaining, having played the past two years in Durham, North Carolina. After playing in 10 games as a true freshman in 2020, Smith returned in 2021 to rack up 24 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss, 1.0 sack and one pass deflection as a sophomore.
The 6-foot-2, 320-pound defensive tackle is from Shelbyville, Tennessee, and was a consensus top-100 interior lineman coming out of high school. The 247Sports Composite, ESPN and Rivals all had Smith as a three-star recruit.
Austin Peay, Chattanooga, Florida State, Georgia State, Kent State, Kentucky, Middle Tennessee State, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Troy, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and Western Kentucky were the schools pursuing Smith at the time, and Tennessee kicked the tires of bringing him in too.
Smith committed to Duke and signed in 2019, but less than two years later, David Cutliffe was booted from the program. After he was fired for going 5-18 across his 13th and 14th seasons leading the Blue Devils, several player immediately hopped into the transfer portal, including Bobo and Smith.
By the time Duke hired Texas A&M defensive coordinator Mike Elko to be the next head coach, Smith had already been in the portal for a week and reeled in FBS eight offers. The Power Five interest for Smith really took a tick up over the past week, with TCU, Virginia Tech and UCLA being the latest schools to offer him a scholarship.
Smith wouldn't be the first Blue Devil to trade blue and white for blue and gold – with Bobo making his decision just before the early signing period opened – and he wouldn't be the second either. Running back Brittain Brown may not have overlapped with Smith in Durham, but he also came from Duke before giving UCLA 1,159 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns on 184 carries as the second-string guy the past two seasons.
UCLA has already earned transfer commitments not only from Bobo, but also from former UCF starting quarterback Dillon Gabriel, who made his pledge on Dec. 16.
The Bruins' top three commits in 2021 were all defensive linemen, so between Jay Toia, Tiaoalii Savea and Quintin Somerville, the group has a healthy amount of young talent already. Even with Otito Ogbonnia leaving for the NFL Draft, the team still has Datona Jackson, Tyler Manoa, Martin Andrus and Odua Isibor expected to return as redshirt and super seniors in 2022 as well.
None of the 2022 recruits who signed with the program during the early signing period were defensive linemen, however, and coach Chip Kelly has yet to pick a replacement for defensive line coach Johnny Nansen, who left to become Arizona's next defensive coordinator.
Catch up on all the transfer market news related to UCLA at All Bruins' transfer portal tracker.
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