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2016 Football Recruiting Thread - Notes from NSD Press Conference and Reception

Deac94

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**Charts are courtesy of RedSoxFaithful**

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Reminder: All info is pulled from the web, including social media. When preparing the Big Board, I filter the info to identify recruits that we appear to have a better chance with. My goal is to focus the discussion on more realistic targets. I make this assessment by reading interviews and looking at offer lists.

Deac94s Big Board – Defense

Defensive Tackles

Christian Colon (DT - 6’3 / 300) – Independence High School / Charlotte, NC
Rating: 3-star, #39 DT in the country, #25 player in North Carolina
Power 5 Offers: Wake, Notre Dame, UNC, NC State, South Carolina, Boston College, Virginia
Background: Several articles mention how relentless of a worker he is. Supposedly has a really great work ethic. One of my favorite notes is that during track practice he participates in speed drills with the track athletes even though he competes only in the shot put. Former HS teammate of Isaiah Robinson. One of only two juniors named to the postseason 1st team all-area defense by the Charlotte Observer. Has seen his stock rise after losing 25-30 pounds before his junior season and showing improved speed and explosiveness on film.
Visits: He participated in a number of camps in the summer including Ohio State, West Virginia, Clemson, UNC, NC State and South Carolina. He told an interviewer that Wake Forest, Ohio State and UNC were his favorite camps of the summer. Visited NC State on September 27th for FSU game and UNC October 4th for the Virginia Tech game. Was supposed to attend the Wake-Clemson game but was forced to cancel.
Recruitment: NC State got themselves off to an early lead by getting in the first offer that Colon received. NC State also has two of his former teammates on the roster. In May he was listing NC State as his leader with Kentucky (no offer) second, UNC third and Wake fourth. By June that had changed and NC State and Wake were tied for the lead with Kentucky running third. In early December, 247 said that the perception was that the UNC had taken the lead in his recruitment. Then Notre Dame shook up his recruitment in December when they offered despite not having had much contact with him. South Carolina followed with their offer shortly after Notre Dame.

Jake Saunders (Loveland HS / Loveland, OH) - writeup pending
Rashad Wheeler (Central Catholic HS / Pittsburgh, PA) - writeup pending
Sulaiman Kamara (Hermitage HS / Richmond, VA) - writeup pending

Defensive Ends / Outside Linebackers

Julian Okwara (OLB – 6’4 / 210) – Ardrey Kell HS / Charlotte, NC
Rating: 3-star, #23 OLB in the country, #15 player in North Carolina
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest, Boston College, Duke, UNC, NC State and Vanderbilt
Background: Classified as an OLB, but has the versatility to play DE as well. Possibly the biggest in-state riser after his junior season film was released. He went from being unranked in the Rivals state rankings to being the #15 player in the state. He also received a number of offers in a very short period of time. Younger brother of current Notre Dame DL Romeo Okwara. His family stresses academics and this will be a consideration in his recruitment. He says that his father is very high on the Duke program.
Visits: Has visited UNC on multiple occasions, including for the UNC-VT game. Visited N.C. State for the NCSU-Wake game. He plans to visit Wake Forest and Duke soon and would also like to go to Ohio State, Clemson and Tennessee.
Recruitment: Boston College was the first to offer. N.C. State was the second when they offered during his unofficial visit.

Quayshon Alexander (DePaul Catholic HS / Wayne, NJ) - writeup pending
Patrick Jones (Grassfield HS / Chesapeake, VA) – writeup pending


Linebackers

Elysee Mbem-Bosse (Cedar Grove HS / Ellenwood, GA) - writeup pending

Safeties

Keyvone Bruton (Strong Safety, 5’11/196) – Oscar Smith HS / Chesapeake, VA
Rating: 3-star, #27 overall player in Virginia
Power 5 Offers: Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and Duke
Background: His first few articles speculated that he might eventually end up at OLB (he weighed 192 lbs at a combine before his junior season). Also plays some TE on his HS team. Had 6 INTs, 5 sacks and 5 tackles for loss during his sophomore season, but had only 2 INT’s his junior year. His HS coach thinks he will be 215 lbs by the time he graduates. This, together with the fact that he is strong against the run, leads me to believe Wake Forest would be recruiting him for the Rover position. His coach made a point of noting his competitiveness and drive both during practice and in the weight room. Teammate of Virginia Tech commit Deshawn McClease. Wants to major in business.
Recruitment: Virginia Tech offered very early (spring 2014) and is considered the early favorite. By April 2014, Bruton had already visited Blacksburg twice. By December he was saying that Virginia Tech already “felt like home”. Already has three 247 Crystal Balls predicting Virginia Tech. Duke was the 2nd Power 5 offer in October 2014. Wake Forest offered in December 2014.

Javon Jackson (Safety, 5’11/180) – Sandy Creek HS / Tyrone, GA
Rating: Unrated
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest, Kentucky and UNC
Background: Sees himself as more of a free safety. Some have speculated that he might end up at CB at the college level (247 actually lists him as a CB).
Visits: He has taken unofficial visits to Kentucky (November 12 for Georgia game), Tennessee and Ohio State
Recruitment: Kentucky was the first to offer (February 2014) and is considered to be the early favorite. He camped at Kentucky in June. UNC and Wake Forest both offered in December 2014.

Khalil Bryant (First Coast HS / Jacksonville, FL) - summary pending


Cornerbacks

Martin Mangram (CB 5’11 / 180) – Buford HS / Buford, GA
Rating: Unrated
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest
Background: 247 says he is 5’11, which would provide the height that the staff is looking for at corner. Also plays some RB on his HS team. From watching his highlights I buy that he is 180. He is not a skinny CB. In my opinion, he could be a physical player at the college level. That’s a great profile for a 4-2-5 CB. A newspaper article from last year reported that he had a 40 time of 4.36.
Recruitment: Wake Forest offered in October and was the first to offer. He gave a nice quote to Rivals saying that he thinks highly of Wake, especially for being the first school to offer him.

Phillip Patterson (6’1 / 175 CB/S/WR) – Bayside HS / Virginia Beach, VA
Rating: 3-star, #75 WR in the country, #15 overall player in Virginia
Offers: Wake Forest and Duke
Background: The recruiting websites list Patterson as a WR, but Duke offered him as a DB. The initial thinking is that he could be a tall, physical CB but if he fills out over the next 18 months they would take him as a safety. So I am going to assume that Wake is taking the same approach and will put him on the Big Board as a DB for now.
Recruitment: Duke was the first to offer (October 16th). Patterson has visited Duke multiple times, including an unofficial visit for the Duke-Virginia game an 10/18. Patterson was expected to visit Wake Forest for the Virginia Tech game and was offered by Wake a few days later.

Mark Gilbert (Cornerback, 6’2/170) – Terry Sanford HS / Fayetteville, NC
Rating: 3-star
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest, Boston College, Duke and N.C. State
Visits: Visited UNC in October for the UNC-Georgia Tech game. Also visited Pitt and Duke. Camped at N.C. State this past summer.
Background: Related to Darrelle Revis (cousin). Also cousins with highly-rated 2016 DE Zack Gilbert. Had only 3 INTs and one tackle for loss last season. Did tell Scout that no WR had more than 2 catches against him. He wants to go to law school after his playing career is over. Academics will be a factor in his recruitment.
Recruitment: In October he declined to name favorite, but did note that Duke and Boston College were standing out to him. They were his first Power 5 offers (Duke was the first to offer in October 2014). Doeren extended the NCSU offer personally.

Sir Patrick Scott (Cornerback, 6’1/170) – Riverdale Baptist HS / Upper Marlboro, MD
Rating: Unrated
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest, Boston College, Kentucky and Michigan State
 
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Deac94's Big Board

Quarterbacks


Jamie Newman (Dual Threat QB 6’4 / 215) – Graham HS / Graham, NC
Rating: 3-star (5.5)
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest, West Virginia, Boston College, Duke, N.C. State and Vanderbilt
247 Crystal Balls: N.C. State (1)
Hudl Highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1591167/highlights/180086383/v2
Summer 2014 Camps: Duke, UNC, Clemson, N.C. State and Wake Forest. Also went to one Elite 11 camp.
Stats: In his sophomore year he had 2,000 yards and 13 TDs passing and 750 yards and 12 TDs rushing.
Background: During his career there have been questions about his ability to play QB at the next level, but those questions appear to have been answered. He played some safety his sophomore year, and early on some writers were projecting him as a LB or S. As a QB, his elite athleticism and running ability has been his calling card. Also runs track at Graham (personal best in the 200m is 23.1) and plays basketball. Has a 3.8 GPA. Looking to major in kinesiology.
Recruitment: Earned scholarship offers from Duke and N.C. State after participating in their camps last June. In September he named those 2 schools as early leaders. He attended games this fall at Duke, UNC, Maryland, N.C. State and Wake Forest. In November he said that West Virginia was recruiting him the hardest. He told an interviewer that he had a strong performance at the Wake Forest camp and has a strong relationship with the Wake Forest coaching staff. His HS coach said in September that Wake Forest told him that an offer was coming. Wake ultimately did offer in January.


Anthony Brown (Dual Threat QB 6’2 / 185) – St. John Vianney HS / Holmdel, NJ
Rating: 3-star (5.5). Rivals #30 overall player in New Jersey
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest, Northwestern and Syracuse
Hudl highlights: http://www.hudl.com/athlete/3018934/highlights/172359378/v2
Stats: In his junior year he had 2,100 yards passing and 27 TDs passing and 811 yards and 8 TDs rushing. Had only 4 INTs last year.
Background: Burst onto the recruiting scene this past year after switching to QB from free safety.
Recruitment: He said in December that Boston College and Duke were recruiting him the hardest, and that Boston College was his early leader. A month later he said that Northwestern was recruiting him the hardest. He has visited Boston College, Maryland and Duke so far. Plans to visit Wake Forest, Penn State and Syracuse in February.



Running Backs

Tre Harbison (RB 5’11/210) – Crest HS / Shelby, NC
Rating: 3-star / #19 RB in the country / #12 player in North Carolina
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest, North Carolina, N.C. State and Virginia
Background: With a mix of size and speed, Harbison has been working to develop into a balanced, versatile RB. Could be a physical back with some burst at the college level. As a sophomore, he had 1,554 yards and 22 rushing touchdowns on 202 carries (7.7 per average) despite splitting time in the backfield with another D-1 recruit (App State commit). First hit the recruiting radar in 2013 when he was one of four 2016 prospects to participate in the big “Fedora Freak Show” that summer at Chapel Hill. Rivals reported that he ran 40 times of 4.59 and 4.69 (as a rising sophomore) at that event. Reportedly turned in a 4.49 at the NC State camp the following summer. His uncle was actually the DB coach at Clemson for a while and is now the co-defensive coordinator at Auburn. Runs track for Crest, competing in both the 100m and 200m. His HS lost in the state championship game to Kendall Hinton’s Southern Durham team.
Visits: Camped at both UNC and Tennessee (no offer) in the summer of 2013. Attended games at Clemson (no offer) and Virginia Tech (no offer) in 2013. He says that he has been to Clemson “a lot”, both as a recruit (including their junior day in March) and not as a recruit. Also took unofficial visits to N.C. State (junior day) and North Carolina early in 2014. Camped at N.C. State and Tennessee last summer. Visited Wake during the summer, and then again for the Gardner-Webb game. Called the latter visit a “great experience” and said the coaches showed him “lots of love.” Visited N.C. State for the NCSU-FSU game.
Recruitment: North Carolina was the first to offer (September 2013). N.C. State offered in June 2014 after he attended their camp. Wake Forest offered in October. For a while he was naming North Carolina, N.C. State, Tennessee (no offer) and Clemson (no offer) as his favorites. Sometimes he left N.C. State off that list. He said in May that Tennessee was showing him the most interest. By October 2014 he said that he was talking to coaches from Virginia and N.C. State a lot more than coaches from North Carolina. He caught my attention with some very enthusiastic tweets about Wake before attending Wake’s home opener.


Jordon Brown (RB 5’10 / 180) – Southern Durham HS / Durham, NC
Rating: 3-star, #32 ATH in the country, #13 player in North Carolina
Offers: Wake Forest, Boston College, North Carolina, NC State and West Virginia
Background: High school teammate of Kendall Hinton. Had an 80-yard catch and run TD that ended up being the game winning score in last year’s state championship game. Had 750 yards and 13 TDs rushing last year and another 400 yards and 3 TDs receiving. Also a teammates last season that is a freshmen at NC State and another that is a 2015 commit to West Virginia. Says that he doesn’t want to choose a school based on where his teammates are going. Classified as an ATH by Rivals, most (if not all) schools are recruiting him as a RB. Looking for a place where he can play early that has great academics. Scout claims that he ran 4.48 and 4.50 on a slow track at UNC’s camp. He grew up a UNC fan as a kid.
Visits: Has visited NC State a few times. He visited Wake at least once this summer. Attended camp at UNC (his only camp this summer). He visited N.C. State for the NCSU-FSU game and will be at UNC on October 15th. He plans to set up visits to Wake Forest and Virginia Tech (no offer) soon.
Recruitment: NC State was the first Power 5 school to enter the mix when they offered Brown in March. He told Scout that Wake, UNC and N.C. State are recruiting him the hardest and are standing out to him the most. He maintains that he is wide open and will not name a favorite this early. I would be very surprised if he ultimately chooses an out-of-state school.


Cade Carney (RB/S 5’11/200) – Davie HS / Mocksville, NC
Rating: 3-star, #23 player in North Carolina
Power 5 Offers: Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, UNC and NC State
Background: First noted in recruiting articles after he rushed for 1,900 yards and 17 TDs as a freshman. Production dropped to 1,200 yards and 15 TDs his sophomore year as he battled an ankle injury. Plays in a spread offense in high school. Lined up some at slot WR in prior years even though he is 200 lbs. He is also playing defense this year (Rover). UNC and NCSU are recruiting him as an ATH. Wake Forest is recruiting him for RB. Georgia Tech is recruiting him for the B-back role in their offense. Some schools think he projects better as a safety and he may draw more safety offers than running back offers going forward. His preference is to play RB. ECU has offered him as a safety. His father played DL at ECU, and Cade claims that he grew up as an ECU fan. His older sister is currently a freshman at ECU. He has said that the key factors in his recruitment will be what position he will play and the quality of the schools academics. Also would like to play in a “football town.”
Visits: Attended games at Wake, UNC and NC State during the 2013 season. Camped at UNC, Duke (no offer) and Clemson (no offer) this past summer. Visited Georgia Tech in May. Visited ECU in September for the ECU-UNC game. Visited NCSU in September for the NCSU-FSU game. He visited Georgia Tech on October 8th for the GT-Duke game. Has indicated he will visit Virginia Tech soon.
Recruitment: Carney told Scout that Wake Forest and Georgia Tech are the “top two schools recruiting me”. I think that in this case he meant they are recruiting him the hardest, but either way it shows that we are heavily involved with the Mocksville RB. Wake Forest, UNC and NC State all offered after his freshman year. Even though the Grobe staff made the original offer, you can tell from his Twitter that the Clawson staff is recruiting him hard. He is not shy about his interest in Clemson even though they have not yet offered. I expect that Clemson would be very tough to beat if they offer. ECU will be a darkhorse throughout the process given his connections to the school. Said that UNC was his favorite camp this summer.


Reggie Floyd (RB/S 6’0/196) – Stonewall Jackson HS / Manassas, VA
Rating: 3-star, #26 RB in the country, #13 overall player in Virginia
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, UNC and West Virginia
Background: Most schools are offering as a RB, however Virginia Tech offered him as a safety. Sister is Wake Forest basketball player Nicole Floyd. Former HS teammates with VT-commit Tim Settle and current VT freshman Greg Stroman. Looking for a school with a strong business program. Says that he parents are planning to move to North Carolina after he graduates from high school.
Visits: Camped at Wake Forest, UNC, Clemson and Virginia Tech. Attended games this fall at Wake Forest (Wake-BC game), Virginia Tech and UNC (UNC-VT game).
Recruitment: Virginia Tech is unquestionably the leader right now. Floyd said in October that VT was standing out the most to him, praising their academics and specifically their business program. 247 added a Crystal Ball for VT on November 24.


Rico Dowdle (RB 5’11/185) – A.C. Reynolds HS / Asheville, NC
Rating: Unrated
Power 5 Offers: Wake Forest
Background: Played RB sparingly as a sophomore, rushing for just under 400 yards and 4 TDs. Highly athletic, Dowdle is the leading scorer on Reynolds basketball team. He was suspended for the first 4 games of his high school season for disciplinary reasons.
Visits: Camped at Wake Forest this summer and received an offer shortly after. Also visited Wake unofficially later in the summer.
Recruitment: This one is tough to read without knowing how serious the issues were behind the 4-game suspension that Reynolds gave him. I have no idea if that would have impacted the staff’s interest level or not. The Wake staff generally seems very conservative about making offers early in the process, but Dowdle is another example of the staff showing a willingness to be really aggressive about offering certain recruits that they have seen perform in one of their camps. The early offer has very likely put Wake in a solid position. He has used a picture of himself in a Wake jersey in front of BB&T field as his avi on Twitter since the summer.

Hussein Howe (University Christian HS / Jacksonville, FL) - writeup pending
Kennedy McKoy (North Davidson HS / Lexington, NC) - writeup pending
Jeremy Larkin (LaSalle HS / Cincinnati, OH) - writeup pending

Slot Receivers

Moe Neal (5’10/165) – Forestview HS / Gastonia, NC
Rating: 3-star / #21 player in North Carolina / #7 all-purpose back in the country
Power 5 Offers: Wake Forest, Duke, NC State, Boston College, Syracuse, Mississippi State, Georgia Tech
Background: First noted in recruiting circles as a freshman in HS when he recorded 800 all-purpose yards. Increased that number to 2,000 yards his sophomore season. Also scored 27 TDs last season. Then another 2,500 all-purpose yards and 38 TDs as a junior. Averaged 30.8 yards on 13 kickoff returns. Told an interviewer he ran 4.5 this year at an Under Armor combine. He envisions himself used in a Percy Harvin type role. He knows that he has to get bigger and stronger to play at the college level. Moves around between RB, slot and WR in Forestview’s spread offense, but lines up at RB the most. UNC is evaluating him as a receiver. Georgia Tech is recruiting him for the A-back role. Told an interviewer in October that his role in the Wake Forest offense would be RB/Slot/KR/PR (“anything to get me the ball in space”). He has said that he is looking for a school that provides him with the right combination of academics and football. He wants to play as a true freshman.
Visits: Attended camps this summer at Duke, NC State, South Carolina, Tennessee and North Carolina. Also visited Wake Forest and Georgia Tech in July. Visited Syracuse in October for the Syracuse-FSU game. Ohio State in November for the Ohio State-Michigan game.
Recruitment: Mississippi State offered him after his freshman year. Visited Boston College in January. NC State and Duke offered immediately after he attended their summer camps. Told multiple interviewers this summer that Wake Forest was recruiting him the hardest, specifically telling Scout (about the attention he was receiving from Wake) “It means a lot. They’ve been showing a lot of love to me and my family.” In October he said “the odds are very high for me to go to Wake Forest right now”. Syracuse and N.C. State appear to be the main competition right now. I think he will likely make a decision in the late spring or very early summer


Darion Slade (Slot Receiver 5’11 / 178) - West Forsyth HS / Clemmons, NC
Ranking: 3-star, #33 player in North Carolina
Offers: Wake Forest, Duke and West Virginia
Background: Athlete played all over the field for West Forsyth as a sophomore. Started the season at slot WR before moving to QB. Some recruiting websites list him as a dual-threat QB, but for now colleges are recruiting him as either a WR or DB. He told 247 in November that he would likely play slot receiver at the college level. Plans to major in sports medicine. High-level basketball player is a guard on the Team Felton AAU team, and will likely draw lower-level college scholarships offers to play on the hardwood.
Visits: Wake Forest for Gardner-Webb game (which was a terrible game to attend from a crowd/weather perspective). Visited Duke 3 times already, including a game in September. Virginia Tech (no offer) on September 20. N.C. State on October 11.
Recruitment: West Virginia (specifically Lonnie Galloway) got the advantage of being his first offer and they will be a factor throughout his recruitment. In November a Rivals writer tweeted that Wake and West Virginia were his top 2. A 247 article reported the same top two. He told 247 that he talks to Coach Clawson “a lot”. Of the schools that have not offered, it seems like he has the most contact with Virginia Tech.


Wide Receivers

Jalen Elliott (6’1 / 175 ATH) L.C. Bird HS / Chesterfield, VA
Rating: 3-star, #22 overall player in Virginia
Power 5 Offers: Wake Forest and Virginia Tech
Visits: Wake Forest on October 18 for Syracuse game (Wake offered him that day). Virginia Tech is August for the VT-William and Mary game. Tennessee (no offer) on October 25. UNC (no offer) on October 4th for the UNC-Virginia Tech game. Camped this summer at Virginia Tech, Virginia, Duke, UNC and Tennessee. He plans to head back to Virginia Tech for the VT-UVA game.
Background: Transferred to L.C. Bird last spring and switched to QB after playing WR as a sophomore. Led his team to a state championship in his first year at QB. Classified as an ATH, Elliott will likely play either WR or DB at the next level. Wake Forest offered him as a WR. Virginia Tech offered him as a DB. UNC is considering offering him as either a WR or an ATH. Both parents are Virginia Tech graduates, and he has already had extensive exposure to Virginia Tech.
Outlook: Virginia Tech is going to be tough to beat for Elliott.


Samuel Denmark (6’0 / 177 WR) Hanahan HS / Hanahan, SC
Rating: 3-star, #15 overall player in South Carolina
Power 5 Offers: Wake Forest and Virginia Tech
Visits: Clemson in September for the Clemson-UNC game. Also camped at Clemson this summer along with camps at South Carolina and NC State. Visited Notre Dame in September for a game. Visited Virginia Tech on November 1st. Visited Wake in October (he received his offer during the visit). Was planning visits to Purdue on November 8th, Duke on November 15th and East Carolina on November 22nd.
Background: Had 900 yards and 10 touchdowns as a sophomore. Track star. Finished 2nd in the state at the 3A level in the 100m and 3rd in the 200m. He claims that is 40-time is 4.44. Was a South Carolina fan growing up.
Recruitment: Based on quotes that I read from November, it looks like both Clemson (no offer) and Virginia Tech are leading Wake Forest right now. Alabama and Clemson visited him at his high school in November.


Kiel Pollard (6’1 / 215) – Colquitt County HS / Moultrie, GA
Ranking: 3-star
Power 5 Offers: Wake Forest, Boston College, Georgia Tech, and Purdue
Background: An athletic receiver that is 215 lbs as a HS junior. Had only 800 yards and 7 TDs as a sophomore, but a plays for one of the top HS teams in the country. Rivals did an in-person evaluation in August giving Pollard a very high grade and praising his ball skills and ability to break tackles after the catch. Plays for powerhouse team that won the Georgia 6A state championship. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution named him as the runner-up MVP at the first day of practice for Georgia’s Elite Junior Classic in December.
Visits: Most of his visits have been to very high-end programs. He camped at Auburn last summer and then attended a game in the fall. He has been a regular at Florida State games.
Recruitment: Wake Forest offered on December 2. Which direction his recruitment takes probably depends in large part on how much interest he ends up getting from Auburn and FSU. He also recently started talking to Alabama. He says that Purdue is recruiting him very hard.


Chavis Dawkins (6’2 / 195) - Byrnes HS / Duncan, SC
Rating: Unrated
Power 5 Offers: Wake Forest and N.C. State
Background: Dawkins plays for a powerhouse program in SC. Right now receptions are shared with a top 20 2015 TE and a 2015 WR with D-1 offers. He says that his best 40 times are in the 4.5 range. He is looking for a school that provides the right combination of education, style of play and game day atmosphere.
Recruitment: N.C. State was the first to offer when they offered Dawkins in June. He told Scout that he has been in regular contact with the NCSU staff since their offer. He also told Scout that the Wake Forest offer was somewhat of a surprise because the staff had not had much contact with him before the offer. Dawkins said that he plans to visit Wake Forest at some point to learn more about the program. In September he said that he was planning visits to North Carolina (no offer) and Auburn (no offer). Out of the schools that haven’t offered, those 2 were recruiting him the hardest. He has said on multiple occasions that he would like to get more recruiting interest from Clemson and South Carolina.


Jeremiah Brown (6’2 / 170) – Southwest Guilford HS / High Point, NC
Rating: Unrated
Power 5 Offers: Wake Forest
Visits: Camped at UNC, NC State, Duke, Wake Forest and Clemson this past summer. Visited Wake Forest for the Wake Forest-Army game. Has been a multiple time visitor to UNC, including a junior day last spring and the UNC-SDSU game in September. Visited Duke for Duke-Wake game.
Recruitment: He said in late September that UNC (no offer) was his favorite school, saying that UNC felt “like..where I’m supposed to be” and that UNC’s coach Brewer was his favorite coach out of those recruiting him. In November, one 247 writer submitted a Crystal Ball for Brown to UNC.

Kevin Stepherson (First Coast HS / Jacksonville, FL) - writeup pending
Phil Benker (Sandalwood HS / Jacksonville, FL) - writeup pending
Donald Stewart (Paramus Catholic HS / Paramus, NJ) - writeup pending
Eric Kumah (Forest Park HS / Woodbridge, VA) - writeup pending
Tino Ellis (DeMatha HS / Hyattsville, MD) – writeup pending
Steve Dolphus (Westside HS / Macon, GA) – writeup pending
Jacob Robertson (Woodward Academy / College Park, GA) – writeup pending


Tight Ends

Scooter Harrington (Greenwich HS / Greenwich, CT) - writeup pending


Offensive Line

Pete Leota (6’5/295 OG) – Asheville HS / Asheville, NC
Rating: 2-star
Offers: Wake Forest and Boston College
Background: Relocated with his family from Samoa when he was nine. Projects as a right guard at the college level. He has been described as having good feet, a big wingspan and being a tough kid. Run blocking is his specialty right now. His favorite team growing up was Georgia.
Visits: Leota chose to attend summer camps at Georgia Tech, Clemson, NC State, Duke and Tennessee (notably not Wake Forest’s camp). Visited Boston College on September 27th. Visited Clemson for two games this fall in addition to their spring game. Virginia Tech has stepped up their efforts with Leota and are trying to get him to travel to Blacksburg for a game.
Recruitment: Wake was not the first school to offer, but appears to have been the first school to actively recruit Leota (dating back to the Grobe staff). Leota visited Wake Forest for the homecoming game against Army. That was when he received his scholarship offer. He recently told Scout that he had a very good time at the Wake-Army game and that he really liked Wake’s coaching staff. However, I think that Clemson would become the favorite if they offer.

Liam Smith (OT 6’5 / 255) – Red Bank Catholic HS / Red Bank, NJ
Ranking: 3-star, #23 overall player in NJ for 2016
Power 5 Offers: Wake Forest, Duke, Miami, Rutgers, Syracuse and Virginia
Background: Scout did an in-person evaluation in September saying that Smith had tremendous feet and was tenacious and physical in the run game. They think he will end up with a lot of offers before it is all said and done. He wants to attend a high-academic school where he can get a valuable degree. Plans to major in business. In fact, he has said that his priorities are #1: good school and #2: good football program. He is teammates and close friends with a 2015 Miami-commit. Drew some major offers based on his summer camp performances despite being a backup last year on his HS team behind two college-bound tackles (one is now a freshman at Notre Dame). His HS team is almost entirely run-based, so his opportunities to work on pass protection are very limited.
Visits: Camped at Miami, Boston College (no offer), Maryland (no offer) and Rutgers this summer. Visited Syracuse this fall shortly after they offered.
Recruitment: While he hasn’t named any favorites, he has spoken very highly of Duke and Miami. He has also said that he is very interested in Northwestern (no offer). We will have to see where Wake fits in now that they have offered.

Robert Kraeling (OT 6’8 / 250) - Prince Avenue Christian HS / Bogart, GA
Ranking: 3-star
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest, N.C. State and Boston College
Background: Played defensive end as a sophomore, so he has only one year of experience on the offensive line. A reasonably high-end basketball player as well, I am not sure if he is looking for opportunities to play both sports. Wants to major in computer science.
Visits: N.C. State for NCSU-Wake Forest game. He was very heavy in his praise of the N.C. State following the visit. Visited Clemson for a game after he reached out to their staff. Also attended games at Auburn, Georgia Tech and Duke.
Recruitment: He is high on N.C. State and Clemson (no offer). Not much doubt about that.

Jaylen Miller (OT 6’4/280) – Providence School / Jacksonville, FL
Rating: Unrated
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest, Duke, Mississippi State, Mizzou and South Carolina
Recognitions: 2nd team all-state in Florida at the 3A level (as a junior)
Junior Days: South Carolina (January 31)
Recruitment: In December he acknowledged that Duke was standing out to him the most. At the time he had Power 5 offers from Duke and Mizzou. He said that Duke’s academic prestige was a big factor for him. He said he was in contact with Duke approximately twice a week.

Alex Gellerstedt (OT 6’7/255) – Coffman HS / Dublin, OH
Rating: Unrated
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest, Kentucky, Illinois and Pitt
Recruitment: Kentucky was the first to offer on January 29th. Wake Forest was his second power 5 offer just days later (February 3). Those were followed immediately by Illinois (February 3) and Pitt (February 5).

Thomas Jarrett Hopple (OT 6’6/270) – Nansemond River HS / Suffolk, VA
Rating: Unrated
Power 5 offers: Wake Forest, Pitt, Virginia, Virginia Tech and West Virginia
Junior Days: Virginia Tech (February 6). Plans to visit Wake Forest and Virginia, presumably for Junior Day events.
Background: What will make this recruitment challenging for Wake Forest is that Hopple seems to be very serious about studying industrial engineering in college. He has been wanting to go to Clemson since he started playing football. A self-proclaimed “country boy”.
Recruitment: He told an interviewer recently that Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and Virginia were the 3 schools recruiting him the hardest. Virginia was his first Power 5 offer and he visited there this fall.
 
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Really appreciate the hard work you put into these posts. I always enjoy reading all the new info you have found. Thanks!
 
94, do you see any gray shirts in the '15 class?
 
We need some speed on the offensive side of the ball, and you don't need 4 star kids for that. I was shocked at how slow we looked against Army with our skill players. This is a bad football team, and even if they play together for 3-4 years, their ceiling will be very limited if they have no speed.
 
We need some speed on the offensive side of the ball, and you don't need 4 star kids for that. I was shocked at how slow we looked against Army with our skill players. This is a bad football team, and even if they play together for 3-4 years, their ceiling will be very limited if they have no speed.

I agree with this, we do look slow on the offensive side. Of course, is our fastest player, even playing? I've yet to notice Johnny Armstrong on the field, has he even been playing special teams? Tyree Harris is another guy with some speed, but he's on track to redshirt this season. I was really hoping Orville would get into the open on the long run he had Saturday so we could finally see his speed, but he wasn't quite able to get completely free.
 
We need some speed on the offensive side of the ball, and you don't need 4 star kids for that. I was shocked at how slow we looked against Army with our skill players. This is a bad football team, and even if they play together for 3-4 years, their ceiling will be very limited if they have no speed.

Yes, but 4 star recruits with speed are better.
 
Yes, but 4 star recruits with speed are better.

4 star recruits are also a pipe dream at Wake Forest in football. I can't believe how gullible some of you people to think that Dave Clawson is all of sudden change the course of decades of history and start bringing in 4 star recruits in football. If Dave Clawson has half the record Jim Grobe had here it will be a miracle, but you dim wits keep dreaming, but don't act surprised whe reality finally bites you in the ass.
 
4 star recruits are also a pipe dream at Wake Forest in football. I can't believe how gullible some of you people to think that Dave Clawson is all of sudden change the course of decades of history and start bringing in 4 star recruits in football. If Dave Clawson has half the record Jim Grobe had here it will be a miracle, but you dim wits keep dreaming, but don't act surprised whe reality finally bites you in the ass.

bob or boob?
 
Added some writeups for 2016 OL recruits in one of the first 3 posts at the top of the thread. The staff has been a little bit more aggressive in offering candidates with shorter offer lists, and that led me to put 2 names on my initial Big Board for the position. Two others would likely have qualified for the Board if Duke had not established itself as a strong early frontrunner for those recruits.
 
Added some writeups for 2016 OL recruits in one of the first 3 posts at the top of the thread. The staff has been a little bit more aggressive in offering candidates with shorter offer lists, and that led me to put 2 names on my initial Big Board for the position. Two others would likely have qualified for the Board if Duke had not established itself as a strong early frontrunner for those recruits.

These highly ranked guys from NC who have stronger relationships with other schools, when did that start? Is this just a function of the staff being new and behind other staffs or something else? Seems like those are exactly the kinds of kids we need to be getting for the OL. Especially the kid from Pinecrest who would likely fit in really well at Wake.
 
These highly ranked guys from NC who have stronger relationships with other schools, when did that start? Is this just a function of the staff being new and behind other staffs or something else? Seems like those are exactly the kinds of kids we need to be getting for the OL. Especially the kid from Pinecrest who would likely fit in really well at Wake.

I can't really answer some of this without speculating, but my general understanding is that earlier on in the process it is the recruit that really decides who to initiate contact with. They decide where to visit and where to camp which are two big opportunities to develop relationships. Before September 1 they initiate all other types of contact as well, especially phone calls. Coaches can't use social media etc until then. So recruits build relationships with schools they are most attracted to out of the gate.

Having said that, I have been a little surprised that I haven't seen Wake on more lists of "who's been recruiting me the hardest since September 1". Wake was consistently mentioned on those types of lists in the 2015 class. Maybe its because 2016 will be a small class and so the staff isn't dedicating as much time. Maybe I haven't been focusing on the right guys yet. And it has only been a month since contact was allowed.
 
Note that recruits on this thread that Rivals lists as "unrated" at this point in the process will likely end up as low 3-stars (in other words 5.5 on the Rivals scale) once they get through their process. Don't think 2-star when you see "unrated". We are not going to be talking about many two stars this early.
 
I can't really answer some of this without speculating, but my general understanding is that earlier on in the process it is the recruit that really decides who to initiate contact with. They decide where to visit and where to camp which are two big opportunities to develop relationships. Before September 1 they initiate all other types of contact as well, especially phone calls. Coaches can't use social media etc until then. So recruits build relationships with schools they are most attracted to out of the gate.

Having said that, I have been a little surprised that I haven't seen Wake on more lists of "who's been recruiting me the hardest since September 1". Wake was consistently mentioned on those types of lists in the 2015 class. Maybe its because 2016 will be a small class and so the staff isn't dedicating as much time. Maybe I haven't been focusing on the right guys yet. And it has only been a month since contact was allowed.

With that in mind, I imagine this is where relationships with HS coaches are exceedingly important in lieu of on field success and reputation. HS coaches are likely steering these kids a little early on.
 
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