Pine-Richland’s Jeremiah Hasley Earns First Power Five Offer From Duke

For the second time in the last two weeks, a WPIAL player in the Class of 2022 has received his first Power 5 scholarship offer.

First, Penn-Trafford athlete Cade Yacamelli earned an offer following a workout for Paul Chryst and Wisconsin and he eventually committed to the Badgers this week. Today, Pine-Richland linebacker Jeremiah Hasley had a similar scenario play out.

Hasley traveled to Durham, North Carolina on Thursday for a private workout with the Duke coaching staff and then received a phone call today from head coach David Cutcliffe, who informed him that Duke was offering him a scholarship.

“Earlier this week, I got a call from Coach McGrath, Dukes linebackers coach. He told me that the dead period was approaching and they wanted me to come down there for an unofficial visit and a private workout,” said Hasley. “Duke was looking for add depth to their linebackers position and I knew that I had a good chance to earn an offer and play for the program if I performed well.

Courtesy Jeremiah Hasley

“For the workout, it was the linebackers coach, Coach Cut, the defensive coordinator and two other coaches watching. They wanted to get my true height and weight, all my measurables, wanted to see me run, do agility drills and eventually some linebacker drills. I think I performed pretty well and Coach Cut was next to my mom the whole time and he was telling her how well I did.”

Courtesy Jeremiah Hasley

Hasley is used to performing under pressure but admits this was nerve wracking knowing that all eyes were on him and he was auditioning for a Power Five college scholarship.

“It was basically a job interview,” said Hasley. “I was performing for a scholarship because their were other kids that also had the opportunity that I had but I had to outperform them and show that I could be the guy they’re looking for. It was nerve racking but what helped me was Coach Cut coming up right before and said ‘we’re not here to make you nervous. This is supposed to be a fun experience for you and we’re glad that you came.”

Hasley had to wait a couple of days but eventually got the call that he was waiting for Saturday afternoon on the car ride back home.

“The emotions were very high and I was trying to jump for joy but I couldn’t because I was in the car. My mother was with me and she heard the whole thing and was emotional. I then called my father and he was obviously very happy as we all were.

”I actually thought about committing right on the spot but I was just in the car with my mother,” said Hasley. “I want to get home, talk about things with my family and go over the pros and cons to make sure this is the right decision for me. It’s a great school, both academically and athletically it’s one of the best. It’s one of the top five schools academically and they compete for bowl games every year. It’s going to be tough to pass up so a decision will be coming up real soon.”