With the help of a private school scholarship, Duke is 'ready for the bigger world'

CLEARWATER – Gedontae “Duke” Rich never considered himself Ivy League material until, as a high school junior, he was approached by a football coach from Princeton University who offered a scholarship.

Not long after, he received a similar offer from a football coach at Cornell University.

“The college scholarship part, I could probably see myself doing that,” Duke said. “But an Ivy League school? That wasn't even a thought. I didn't know I was capable of that until I got the offers.”

What to do? Princeton or Cornell?

“I told him there was no wrong decision,” said Chris Harvey, the football coach at Clearwater Central Catholic High School (CCC).

Duke, a standout safety who played four years of varsity football at CCC, picked Cornell, an Ivy League school in Ithaca, New York.

“It’s a chill atmosphere,” he said. “It’s an Ivy League degree, but everyone is not there to be a rocket scientist.”

Duke graduated in May from CCC, having attended the college-preparatory high school with the help of a Family Empowerment Scholarship for Educational Options, managed by Step Up For Students.

“You don't really see too many young Black men from where I'm from and where we grew up that are able to keep focused, keep their grades up, and go to an Ivy League school,” said Duke’s father, Gedontae Rich. “That speaks volumes.”

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Duke grew up in St. Petersburg, about 30 minutes south of CCC. He’s been called Duke his whole life – “I was always calling him ‘Duke’ since he was little, crawling around, and it just stuck,” Gedontae said – and he attended CCC for what seems like that long.

Duke and his cousin, Jershaun Newton, became fixtures at CCC football practices and games since they were eight. That’s when the first two of the five Newton brothers, who played football at CCC, began attending the school. Duke and Jershaun were everywhere, acting as ballboys and waterboys. As they grew older, they found their way into the weight room and the practice field.

So, there was never a question in Duke’s mind about where he would attend high school. He was going to CCC to play football and earn a college football scholarship just like his cousins. Jershaun, who also graduated this spring, will continue his career at the University of Illinois.

The education choice scholarship made that possible.

“The scholarship was a great help to us. It helped us out tremendously,” Gedontae said. “I believe if you apply yourself, CCC, it can definitely get you somewhere where you want to be. If you're a hard worker and want to do something in life, CCC will definitely help you get there.”

Coach Harvey has a saying: Four will get you 40, meaning four years of hard work and good grades in high school will lead to a college education that will lead to a successful life.

Duke’s hard work on the field helped him become a mainstay on a team that reached the state championship game during each of his last three seasons.

An honors student through elementary and middle school, Duke put forth the same effort in the classroom.

“I worked super hard, I was super strict my freshman year, and I started with a 4.3 GPA,” he said. “I already set a precedent and a standard, so why not keep going?”

Dr. Roshni Verghese teaches English at CCC and had Duke in her class during three of his four years.

“He was the first one to finish class work. If I assigned homework, he did it to the best of his ability, he didn’t just phone it in,” she said. “He truly enjoys having goals and fulfilling them. He doesn't like doing things halfheartedly. So, all these qualities, the fact that he is hard working, the fact that he knows he can challenge himself, and he enjoys the thrill of seeing that to the end, I think all those things make him a great student.”

It takes all of those qualities to reach an Ivy League school. And it takes great support from home.

“We pushed hard every day. I pushed him. My mom pushed him,” said Gedontae, who supervises asphalt and concrete crews for the City of St. Petersburg. “From day one, when he was little, we always said, ‘You've got to work hard.’ He sees me get up and go to work every day, working hard. I let him know every time, life ain't easy. There won’t be any handouts. So, you've got to get up and work for whatever you want.”

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Dr. Verghese said Duke moved easily between his two worlds – athletics and academics.

“Being in this position of someone who is both great on the field and in class, he ended up being a role model for a lot of his classmates who may not have been able to balance both the same way, and they do look up to him,” she said. “They do respect him.

“I don't think there's a single student at our school who doesn't know who Duke Rich is. He’s done it all, the trifecta. He's popular, he's great at sports, great at academics.”

“Duke's a chameleon. He can fit in in a bunch of different places,” Coach Harvey said. “He's a great football player. He plays the game the way it was intended to be played, very physical and fast, and at the same time, he has the ability to flip that switch and go into a classroom and be as successful as he's been.”

Duke said CCC’s culture played a role in that. No matter where he roamed – the football field, the classroom – he was surrounded by hardworking, motivated classmates.

“Nothing is given. It's all deserved,” he said. “Like everybody here has something they deserve because they put in the work. That’s the CCC community. We’re hard workers.”

Duke chose Cornell because he found the culture there similar to CCC’s. He connected quickly with the coaching staff. He found the students he met on his recruiting trip to be encouraging, not intimidating. Ithaca is a small town that offers very little in terms of distractions.

“I chose that school because I can stay focused,” he said. “It’s an old town. Everyone is calm.”

Duke plans to study environmental sustainability science so he can pursue a career that involves climate and climate change.

“I’m always interested in the health of the world,” he said. “During freshman year, I realized climate change is the main reason why everything is happening, and then when I decided to major in environmental sustainability science, I knew I’d have the route to fix that type of thing.”

A scholarship, an Ivy League degree, and a desire to save the world. That’s Duke’s four for 40.

“I knew that he had what it took, and it’s nice to see him step into the bigger world,” Dr. Verghese said. “He’s ready for the bigger world. As a teacher, it’s exciting to see how his potential will grow.”

Roger Mooney, manager, communications, can be reached at [email protected].