Four-star Mississippi QB Deuce Knight has been enjoying every part of the off-season.
Knight, the No. 3-ranked QB in the Rivals250 out of Lucedale (Miss.) George County High, is the top-ranked player from the Sip in the 2025 cycle. He’s been committed to Notre Dame since the start of his junior campaign and is gearing up for his 11th trip up to South Bend this weekend for an official visit (June 14-16).
Knight was on campus just a week ago in the meeting rooms with first-year OC Mike Denbrock and PG coordinator Gino Guidugli prepping for Elite 11.
“I’ve had a great relationship with Coach Denbrock before he came to Notre Dame, so it’s like family up there every time I go up there,” Knight told Rivals.
“They show crazy love to me and my family, and on the phone with them, you can tell they they care about me and my family. I’m very comfortable with them,” he added. “Going up there and going over film and sitting in on meetings, it’s great.”
Two programs resolute on changing Knight’s mind include in-state Ole Miss and Colorado.
Knight has not shut down his recruitment and has maintained communication with both schools, though no visits are set to either school.
“Ole Miss and Colorado are still on me, and it’s been cool,” he said. “Those two staffs … I feel really comfortable with both of them and mostly, they’re all great people.”
Knight’s off-season has included strong performances at the OT7 Finals and an upcoming appearance at the Elite 11 Finals in Los Angeles. It also included time spent around former NFL great and future Hall of Famer Philip Rivers, now a coach in the state of Alabama, who worked out and spent time inside the film room with Knight and current Irish QB Riley Leonard this summer.
Rivers imparted plenty of wisdom on both the current and future Notre Dame quarterbacks.
“It was great to get to work with Coach Philip. He’s gonna be a Hall of Famer and to be coached up by him is a blessing, and it’s something I can take home,” Knight detailed.
“He told me to stay the course. At this age, there are a lot of distractions and outside things, but I have all the talent in the world and if I stay focused and take coaching, then I’ll go far. Getting out there on the field with him and being in the film room, hearing the tricks that he used on how to watch film, how to pick apart defenses in the league was mind-blowing. It’s crazy … it’s the NFL, it’s the best of the best, but he told me not to overcomplicate it.”
