Huskies land first recruits for 2020

UConn has the first two members of its 2020 football recruiting class: Marques Alexander of St. Petersburg, Fla., and Alfred Chea of Jacksonville, Fla.

Alexander, who played defensive end and tight end at Lakewood High School, tweeted about his commitment Monday afternoon, tagging several UConn coaches. Chea, a defensive back from First Coast High, tweeted his commitment hours later.

Alexander and Chea both received offers from UConn in May, then visited Storrs this past weekend, when the Huskies held camps for high school players. Alexander also had offers from Georgia Tech and Southern Mississippi, while Chea had offers from South Florida, Florida International, Florida Atlantic, Southern Mississippi and others, according to the players’ Twitter accounts.

UConn coach Randy Edsall has tweeted a block-C bat signal graphic three times since Saturday, suggesting the Huskies have added three 2020 players. Alexander and Chea are the only prospects to have announced their commitments publicly.

UConn will face Duke in a home-and-home football series in 2023 and 2024, the university announced.

The first game will be played Sept. 2, 2023, at Rentschler Field. The second will take place Sept. 14, 2024, at Duke’s Wallace Wade Stadium.

The Huskies have faced the Blue Devils twice: UConn won at Rentschler Field 22-20 in 2004 and prevailed again at Duke in 2007, 45-15.

UConn now has three ACC teams on its nonconference schedule in 2023, with matchups already scheduled against Boston College and North Carolina State. Duke is UConn’s first announced 2024 opponent.

Alex Putterman can be reached at aputterman@ courant.com.