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Earned three letters . . . was a two-year letterwinner at Bolivar High School, and lettered his sophomore season at Muskogee (Okla.) High School . . . started all three years as a defensive back, and the last two years at receiver as well . . . helped lead his team to 11-2 records and the state playoffs as a junior and senior . . . totaled 75 tackles and nine interceptions on defense, and caught 43 passes for 890 yards and eight touchdowns on offense his senior season . . . 13th-ranked Missouri prospect by Rivals.com . . . received a Rivals.com three-star rating . . . earned first-team Class 4A all-state, all-district, all-conference and all-Southwest Missouri honors on defense as a senior . . . also earned all-district, all-conference and all-Southwest Missouri merits on offense his senior season . . . was named the Conference Defensive Player of the Year his senior campaign . . . compiled 34 tackles and seven interceptions his junior season . . . had career stats of 132 tackles, 18 interceptions for 301 return yards and three blocked field goals on defense . . . also had 23 career punt returns for 605 yards and seven TDs, and 18 kickoff returns for 589 yards and four touchdowns . . . on offense, caught 67 passes for 1,280 yards and 12 TDs in his career, while rushing for 245 yards and three touchdowns . . . totaled 23 tackles and two interceptions as a sophomore at Muskogee (Okla.) High School . . . his father played at the University of Oklahoma and had an eight year NFL career . . . high school coach was Lance Roweton . . . born August 22, 1994 in Muskogee, Oklahoma . . . chose Tulsa over Colorado and Purdue.
Blankenship Player Comments
"Darnell is really a true shut-down corner. He has tremendous skills. Certainly got a lot of benefit from being coached by his dad who was an NFL player. He has incredible feet and coverage ability. The other thing I'm really excited about is he is just an incredible punt returner/kick returner. He had a bunch of touchdowns at Bolivar either returning punts, kickoffs or interceptions. While he has the skill to be a shut-down corner, he also has the ability to do something with the ball when it's in his hands."
In seven years as a member of Conference USA, Tulsa athletic teams have won a league-best 42 conference championships.
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Since the opening of the Donald W. Reynolds Center in 1998, Tulsa’s athletic facilities have undergone a major facelift. New facilities include the Michael D. Case Tennis Center, the Collins Family Softball Complex, the Hurricane Soccer and Track Stadium, the J. Bird Sr. Shell Nest, the Jack Zink Indoor Rowing Center, the Case Athletic Complex and major renovation to H.A. Chapman Stadium.
TU is 75th among national doctoral universities in U. S. News & World Report's 2012 edition of America's Best Colleges. TU's 2011 freshman class had a mean cumulative grade point average of 3.8, and 74 percent graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school classes. Their average ACT was 28.
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