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The Story Of Keegan Duncan; Boise State Commit

Title: "Where OKG Comes From" or "Declo In A Flash"

From the MagicValley.com

And it was only four years ago that Duncan nearly abandoned football.

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In the last week of May 2015, Duncan paid a visit to his future head coach's home. Kidd’s heart was in his shoe, as he described it before Duncan could even complete his first sentence.

"I think I should let you know…" Duncan said to Kidd.

Kidd figured Duncan was there to say that he was planning to attend Minico High School — a bigger school, in nearby Rupert, that competes in Idaho's 4A division. In fact, Duncan had all but picked Minico over Declo shortly before his meeting with Kidd.

But he changed his mind, and he wanted to let Kidd know in person that he would go to Declo.

"I jumped up and gave him a big hug," Kidd said. "I said to him, ‘Good kids are good kids wherever they go to school. You don’t have to be at Minico to get a scholarship. If you’re good enough, they’ll find you.’"

Duncan’s decision was pivotal in more ways than one. He has led the Hornets to two straight 2A state title games, and the 2017 championship was Declo’s first since 2013. But Declo might have done just as much for Duncan.

Like his father, Jason, Duncan has played football, basketball, and track for most of his life. He has always succeeded in all three sports, but basketball was by far his favorite sport for most of his childhood.

"I didn’t even really like football," he said. "I honestly wasn’t a very physical person. I didn’t like the contact of it. It wasn’t bad, I didn’t mind it, but it wasn’t my favorite thing. I wanted to play college basketball."

In junior high, Duncan played on travel basketball teams, including an AAU team in Boise, with that college goal in mind. Attending Declo wouldn’t hamper his recruiting profile, but the size and success of Minico were attractive to him.

Duncan said his freshman year schedule at Minico was filled out by the spring of 2015. And he was planning to forego football to focus on playing basketball for the Spartans.

A handful of factors rerouted his path.

Two of his best friends, McKay Breshears and Tyson Matthews, also considered attending Minico, but they chose to stay in Declo around the same time Duncan was weighing his options. One day, Duncan recalled, he was hanging out with Breshears and Matthews as they were preparing to attend a Boise State football camp with their future Declo High teammates, and he took a look at their camp jerseys.

"That hit me a little bit. I prayed about it for a long time, and one day, it just didn’t feel good," Duncan said. "Some of the friends I had from Minico were starting to get in some trouble, and I didn’t want to be part of that."

So Duncan decided to stay in Declo. Shortly thereafter, he paid Kidd a visit, received his football gear and prepared for his freshman season.

Keegan Duncan

Junior Year

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