2015 FB Recruiting: Mr. South Carolina Matt Colburn signs with #theawakening!
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Ha! As George W Bush once said "fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again"
A quick TE update. This is mostly to add a new name to the Board following a decommitment.
Jake Bargas
3-star recruit from Boca Raton, FL. The first thing that stood out to me was the offer date reported on 247 (January 10th). If that date is accurate, he was likely one of the very first offers that Clawson made for 2015 recruits. BCS offers are Wake, Duke, Kentucky, and Boston College. Duke probably leads right now. Latest word was that Ohio State was stepping up their interest level. He said in a March interview that Wake’s staff was “all over (him)” in terms of the amount of attention. Interesting note: Bargas decommitted from Michigan where he was an early lacrosse commit. He has since confirmed that he is giving up on lacrosse to focus on football.
5/15 Update – He announced his final 3 schools as Wake Forest, Duke and Georgetown. He is obviously making academics a priority. He had been picking up offers at a pretty good rate since the last update (Louisville on April 23 and then Illinois just a few days ago). He plans to make a decision by the end of June and will make the trip to visit Wake Forest before then. I think that visit is significant because he has not been on campus yet. He was over-the-top enthusiastic about his previous visit to Duke (March 8 for Duke’s Junior Day which was conveniently held on the same weekend as the Duke-UNC game) and Duke has held a solid lead in his recruitment ever since.
5/25 Update: Added an offer from Minnesota. He is currently ranked as the #288 player in the country by Rank by Offers. Rivals moved him into their national TE rankings at #20. An interview with the Minnesota Scout writer included a statement that he has “no top list.” This somewhat contradicts the earlier Rivals article, as summarized in 5/15 update, that basically said he was down to Duke, Wake Forest and Georgetown. So there is some confusion, but given what I have read throughout his recruitment I think this remains a two horse race between Duke and Wake Forest, with Duke the heavy early favorite.
Chris Cunningham
Unranked recruit from Jacksonville, FL. Wake offered on February 22nd. Other BCS offers are Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Mississippi State, Purdue, Virginia Tech and Oregon State. In a March interview he said that Wake Forest was one of 3 schools “recruiting him the hardest” (Purdue and Louisville were the others).
5/15 Update – Cunningham made an unofficial visit to Wake Forest on April 18 and said that he loved it and wants to come back for another visit. He also said that he wants to watch the Deacs this season to see how successful the new staff’s offense will be against ACC-level competition. He took an unofficial visit to Virginia Tech the next day. He has since added offers from Virginia and Rutgers. A Maryland website ranks him #9 on their wish list of offensive players that haven’t committed yet. His best friend since childhood is a WR that has also been offered by Maryland, possibly in a move for a package deal. He was offered by UNC a while ago, but the offer hadn’t been listed on the recruiting sites until recently. He is planning unofficial visits to UNC, Louisville and Kentucky. The Maryland guys think this one will come down to the Terps and Hokies.
Cunningham is sort of a TE/WR hybrid type player that is capable of creating mismatches by stretching the field with speed. While not the typical height for a TE, he is supposed to be strong player and a capable blocker.
5/25 Update: Now a 3-star on Rivals. Ranked as the #451 player in the country by Rank by Offers. Added an offer from Illinois.
Addition to the Board
Caleb Reams (6’3 / 225) – Gurnee, IL
Rating: Unrated
BCS Offers: Wake Forest, Illinois and Syracuse
Background: Decommitted from Western Michigan after receiving some BCS-level interest. Syracuse is recruiting Reams as a DE. He plans to attend camp at Wake Forest this spring and will also visit Wisconsin and Illinois.
Jake Bargas
3-star recruit from Boca Raton, FL. The first thing that stood out to me was the offer date reported on 247 (January 10th). If that date is accurate, he was likely one of the very first offers that Clawson made for 2015 recruits. BCS offers are Wake, Duke, Kentucky, and Boston College. Duke probably leads right now. Latest word was that Ohio State was stepping up their interest level. He said in a March interview that Wake’s staff was “all over (him)” in terms of the amount of attention. Interesting note: Bargas decommitted from Michigan where he was an early lacrosse commit. He has since confirmed that he is giving up on lacrosse to focus on football.
5/15 Update – He announced his final 3 schools as Wake Forest, Duke and Georgetown. He is obviously making academics a priority. He had been picking up offers at a pretty good rate since the last update (Louisville on April 23 and then Illinois just a few days ago). He plans to make a decision by the end of June and will make the trip to visit Wake Forest before then. I think that visit is significant because he has not been on campus yet. He was over-the-top enthusiastic about his previous visit to Duke (March 8 for Duke’s Junior Day which was conveniently held on the same weekend as the Duke-UNC game) and Duke has held a solid lead in his recruitment ever since.
5/25 Update: Added an offer from Minnesota. He is currently ranked as the #288 player in the country by Rank by Offers. Rivals moved him into their national TE rankings at #20. An interview with the Minnesota Scout writer included a statement that he has “no top list.” This somewhat contradicts the earlier Rivals article, as summarized in 5/15 update, that basically said he was down to Duke, Wake Forest and Georgetown. So there is some confusion, but given what I have read throughout his recruitment I think this remains a two horse race between Duke and Wake Forest, with Duke the heavy early favorite.
Chris Cunningham
Unranked recruit from Jacksonville, FL. Wake offered on February 22nd. Other BCS offers are Kentucky, Louisville, Maryland, Mississippi State, Purdue, Virginia Tech and Oregon State. In a March interview he said that Wake Forest was one of 3 schools “recruiting him the hardest” (Purdue and Louisville were the others).
5/15 Update – Cunningham made an unofficial visit to Wake Forest on April 18 and said that he loved it and wants to come back for another visit. He also said that he wants to watch the Deacs this season to see how successful the new staff’s offense will be against ACC-level competition. He took an unofficial visit to Virginia Tech the next day. He has since added offers from Virginia and Rutgers. A Maryland website ranks him #9 on their wish list of offensive players that haven’t committed yet. His best friend since childhood is a WR that has also been offered by Maryland, possibly in a move for a package deal. He was offered by UNC a while ago, but the offer hadn’t been listed on the recruiting sites until recently. He is planning unofficial visits to UNC, Louisville and Kentucky. The Maryland guys think this one will come down to the Terps and Hokies.
Cunningham is sort of a TE/WR hybrid type player that is capable of creating mismatches by stretching the field with speed. While not the typical height for a TE, he is supposed to be strong player and a capable blocker.
5/25 Update: Now a 3-star on Rivals. Ranked as the #451 player in the country by Rank by Offers. Added an offer from Illinois.
Addition to the Board
Caleb Reams (6’3 / 225) – Gurnee, IL
Rating: Unrated
BCS Offers: Wake Forest, Illinois and Syracuse
Background: Decommitted from Western Michigan after receiving some BCS-level interest. Syracuse is recruiting Reams as a DE. He plans to attend camp at Wake Forest this spring and will also visit Wisconsin and Illinois.
Here is an update to the OL Board, including a minor update on everyone’s favorite 4-star recruit. There is also a new candidate for the most interesting recruitment on the Big Board. Plus, some recent interviews with a 3-star with multiple SEC offers has made me more optimistic about Wake’s chances.
Quarvez Boulware (6’2” / 280 OG) – Washington, DC
Ranking: 4-star. Ranked by Rivals as the #208 overall player on the Rivals 250.
BCS offers: Wake Forest, Auburn, Boston College, Clemson, Iowa, Florida State, Maryland, Miami, Mississippi St, UNC, NC State and Syracuse.
Background: Lived in Charlotte until he was 3. Still has a lot of extended family in the area. Played on both sides of the line last year. Auburn may be recruiting him as a Center. Was the #2 overall offensive performer at the DC-area Rivals Camp. Evaluators typically note that that he dominates one on one reps, is aggressive off the snap and uses his hands well. One evaluator said that with some technique refinements, he could be consistently dominant in pass protection. Ranked as the #4 OL at the DC-area Nike Camp. Wants to major in visual arts. Would like to play close enough that his parents can come to see him play.
Recruitment: He named Wake Forest as the early leader. He consistently mentions Wake Forest prominently in interviews. Says he got a “home feeling” at Wake when he visited in April. Coach Scheier is recruiting him for Wake. Top 4 of Wake Forest, Maryland, Florida St and Auburn would be joined by Penn St if they offer. UNC can’t be far behind the Top 4 either. Has taken multiple unofficial visits to Maryland and UNC. Visited Penn State unofficially (no offer) as well as NC State. He plans to visit Florida, Florida St, Auburn and Alabama in June.
5/26 Update: Moved up in the Rivals 250 from #208 to #174. The Terps 24/7 writer makes pretty strong statements dismissing Wake Forest and claiming that he expects Maryland to ultimately land Boulware. I think that the critical month in his recruitment will be June when he visits Florida (no offer yet), Florida State (offer), Alabama (no offer yet) and Auburn (offer). He said in his last interview that he doesn’t have a top 5 list and he is “in and out with schools.” I am not reading anything into that last statement regarding any change in Wake’s chances.
Sam Awolope (6’6” / 250 OT) – Houston, TX
Ranking: Unrated
BCS offers: Wake Forest and Nebraska at a minimum. 247 says Mizzou and Illinois as well.
Background: Academics will be a key factor in his recruitment. He wants to major in either agriculture or petroleum engineering. Mizzou is recruiting as a DT.
Recruitment: An interesting recruitment thus far. He flew under the radar for some period of time (he still does not have a Rivals profile) until Wake Forest offered. Then Nebraska came out of the blue and offered two days later.
5/26 Update: Now rated a two-star by Rivals. However his offer list has really exploded. Since Wake Forest and Nebraska offered on April 29 he has added Big 5 conference offers from Arizona St, BYU, Illinois, Iowa State, Louisville, Mizzou, Oklahoma St, Oregon State and TCU. That is good for #249 overall in the country by Rank by Offers. In one recent interview he said that Rice, Wake Forest and Oklahoma State were his early top 3. In another interview he said that his top 4 were Rice, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Missouri. However even in that interview he stresses how much he want to travel east to see Wake Forest.
Another item that makes this recruitment really interesting: he was only a backup on his high school team last year. The information that is available on Awolope focuses on his size, frame and athleticism. It must be a pretty rare combination to have convinced so many major programs to offer a player that must be very raw.
My Take: This recruitment is definitely one to watch as Awolope wants the most quality education he can get. I think that Wake Forest will be significant player in his recruitment. His focus on the quality of the education appears to be as high as anyone on the Big Board other than maybe TE Jake Bargas. He is so focused on his education that I wonder if his recent offer from Yale might even be a consideration. He has also said that location is not going to be a factor.
Ryan Gibson (6’4” / 275 OT) – Bay Saint Louis, MS
Ranking: 3-star. Rivals #14 overall recruit in Mississippi.
BCS Offers: Wake Forest, Boston College, Cal, Syracuse, and Virginia
Background: Isn’t looking to stay close to home. Born in San Diego and has lived in VA and FL before moving to MS. Has a 3.71 GPA. Says he wants to get the best degree that he possibly can. Versatile player may project as interior lineman at college level. Might play Center in his senior HS season. Described as having solid technique and excelling in both run blocking and pass protection.
Recruitment: Visited Wake Forest in March. Described Wake Forest as “awesome”, campus as “nice” and the coaching staff as “pretty cool”. He made very positive comments about Boston College, Cal and Virginia after his unofficial visits there. He also visited Stanford but they have yet to offer. Cal was his first BCS-level offer back in February.
5/26 Update: Ranked #321 in the country by Rank by Offers. I think that Cal is the favorite for Gibson. I think that I am probably being aggressive by continuing to keep him on the list.
Nathan Gilliam (6’5” / 280 OT) – Knoxville, TN
Ranking: Unrated
BCS offers: Wake Forest, Kentucky, Mississippi State and South Carolina
Background: Athletic OT. His HS team is basically run-only so it is difficult for teams to get a read on his pass pro from looking at film. Brother is a walk-on at Tennessee. He ranks his priorities as playing time #1 and academics a close #2.
Recruitment: Early top 5 of South Carolina, Duke (no offer), Tennessee (no offer), Kentucky and Wake Forest. Kentucky is in a solid position. UK was the first to offer (back in December), he camped there last summer and attended their Junior Day. He picked up his South Carolina offer at their Junior Day. He thinks that Tennessee will offer eventually. Attended a spring practice at Wake Forest. He said that he really liked Wake’s academics and Coach Clawson. Wake was 2nd BCS school to offer. He has also visited Mississippi State this spring.
5/26 Update – Now a 3-star on Rivals. Added an offer from Louisville. Gilliam was quoted as saying that he thinks that the Vols are getting closer to giving him his dream offer. He also said that Kentucky and Wake Forest are recruiting him the hardest. He plans to visit to Wake Forest this summer for what I think might be his third visit.
My Take: Out of the schools that have offered, I suspect that Kentucky is the favorite and Wake Forest is probably a close second. After reading his interviews from the past few weeks I think Wake Forest has a really solid chance. However, Wake’s chances would be significantly impacted if he were to receive offers from Tennessee (obviously), Duke or Vanderbilt. I don’t think that he will wait around forever to get additional offers. Look for him to commit to a school this summer.
Jared Thomas (6’2” / 255 OG) – Indianapolis, IN
Ranking: 3-star. Rivals #23 OG in the country.
BCS offers: Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Indiana, Syracuse, Purdue and Illinois.
Background: Athletic player will need to bulk up to play OL at the college level. Is a C/PF on his HS basketball team. His relationship with Nick Tabacca goes back to summer camp at Michigan where Tabacca was an instructor. He cites academics as the most important factor in his recruitment. He wants to major in Broadcasting and Journalism.
Recruitment: Boston College, Northwestern, Wake Forest, Indiana and Syracuse are his early Top 5. Purdue was the first to offer, but he credits Boston College as recruiting him first. A Northwestern website called him a “favorite to land at Northwestern” and one of Northwestern’s “favorite prospects”. Attended Indiana’s Junior Day. Visited Boston College. He is also planning unofficial visits to Illinois, Purdue and Wake Forest.
5/26 Update – Added an offer from Duke. I think this recruitment is trending towards Northwestern.
Kameron Eloph (6’3” / 275 OG) – Bossier City, LA
Rating: 3-star. Rivals #32 player in Louisiana.
BCS offers: Wake Forest (offered 5/6), Georgia Tech (offered 3/12) and Louisville (offered 3/8)
Background: An athletic OL known for his agility and footwork. Some schools are recruiting him at Center. Was ranked as the #5 overall offensive player at the Rivals Camp in New Orleans where he was very successful in the one-on-one drills. He says that the quality of the education that he will receive will be a big factor in his recruitment. He plans to be an early enrollee in January 2015. Has a 3.2 GPA and has been in contact with Princeton and Yale.
Recruitment: Georgia Tech got a head start by offering in March, but they aren’t planning on taking many OL in this class so the offer may not be on the table for long. Eloph is looking to make a decision earlier than most (June/July timeframe). He is good friends with a Mississippi State commit and the Bulldogs would likely be the favorite if they offer. He has visited Baylor, TCU, Texas A&M and Mississippi State this spring but has yet to receive offers from those schools.
5/26 Update: No update.
Removed from the Board
Brian Chaffin (6’1” / 285 OC) – Charlotte, NC
Ranking: 3-star
BCS offers: Wake Forest, Boston College, Cal, Duke, Louisville, Mississippi St, UNC, NC State, Northwestern, Stanford and Virginia Tech
Background: Has a 4.4 GPA. Similar to Jared Thomas, he knew Nick Tabacca from a Michigan camp he attended the previous summer.
Recruitment: There might not be anyone that has been as active in taking unofficial visits. Chaffin has visited almost all of the schools that have offered, including multiple visits to many (including Wake, I believe). He had appeared to be progressing towards a decision, but that has been placed on hold until he can visit Stanford.
5/25 Update: Named his final four schools and Wake did not make the cut.
Quarvez Boulware (6’2” / 280 OG) – Washington, DC
Ranking: 4-star. Ranked by Rivals as the #208 overall player on the Rivals 250.
BCS offers: Wake Forest, Auburn, Boston College, Clemson, Iowa, Florida State, Maryland, Miami, Mississippi St, UNC, NC State and Syracuse.
Background: Lived in Charlotte until he was 3. Still has a lot of extended family in the area. Played on both sides of the line last year. Auburn may be recruiting him as a Center. Was the #2 overall offensive performer at the DC-area Rivals Camp. Evaluators typically note that that he dominates one on one reps, is aggressive off the snap and uses his hands well. One evaluator said that with some technique refinements, he could be consistently dominant in pass protection. Ranked as the #4 OL at the DC-area Nike Camp. Wants to major in visual arts. Would like to play close enough that his parents can come to see him play.
Recruitment: He named Wake Forest as the early leader. He consistently mentions Wake Forest prominently in interviews. Says he got a “home feeling” at Wake when he visited in April. Coach Scheier is recruiting him for Wake. Top 4 of Wake Forest, Maryland, Florida St and Auburn would be joined by Penn St if they offer. UNC can’t be far behind the Top 4 either. Has taken multiple unofficial visits to Maryland and UNC. Visited Penn State unofficially (no offer) as well as NC State. He plans to visit Florida, Florida St, Auburn and Alabama in June.
5/26 Update: Moved up in the Rivals 250 from #208 to #174. The Terps 24/7 writer makes pretty strong statements dismissing Wake Forest and claiming that he expects Maryland to ultimately land Boulware. I think that the critical month in his recruitment will be June when he visits Florida (no offer yet), Florida State (offer), Alabama (no offer yet) and Auburn (offer). He said in his last interview that he doesn’t have a top 5 list and he is “in and out with schools.” I am not reading anything into that last statement regarding any change in Wake’s chances.
Sam Awolope (6’6” / 250 OT) – Houston, TX
Ranking: Unrated
BCS offers: Wake Forest and Nebraska at a minimum. 247 says Mizzou and Illinois as well.
Background: Academics will be a key factor in his recruitment. He wants to major in either agriculture or petroleum engineering. Mizzou is recruiting as a DT.
Recruitment: An interesting recruitment thus far. He flew under the radar for some period of time (he still does not have a Rivals profile) until Wake Forest offered. Then Nebraska came out of the blue and offered two days later.
5/26 Update: Now rated a two-star by Rivals. However his offer list has really exploded. Since Wake Forest and Nebraska offered on April 29 he has added Big 5 conference offers from Arizona St, BYU, Illinois, Iowa State, Louisville, Mizzou, Oklahoma St, Oregon State and TCU. That is good for #249 overall in the country by Rank by Offers. In one recent interview he said that Rice, Wake Forest and Oklahoma State were his early top 3. In another interview he said that his top 4 were Rice, Oklahoma State, Nebraska and Missouri. However even in that interview he stresses how much he want to travel east to see Wake Forest.
Another item that makes this recruitment really interesting: he was only a backup on his high school team last year. The information that is available on Awolope focuses on his size, frame and athleticism. It must be a pretty rare combination to have convinced so many major programs to offer a player that must be very raw.
My Take: This recruitment is definitely one to watch as Awolope wants the most quality education he can get. I think that Wake Forest will be significant player in his recruitment. His focus on the quality of the education appears to be as high as anyone on the Big Board other than maybe TE Jake Bargas. He is so focused on his education that I wonder if his recent offer from Yale might even be a consideration. He has also said that location is not going to be a factor.
Ryan Gibson (6’4” / 275 OT) – Bay Saint Louis, MS
Ranking: 3-star. Rivals #14 overall recruit in Mississippi.
BCS Offers: Wake Forest, Boston College, Cal, Syracuse, and Virginia
Background: Isn’t looking to stay close to home. Born in San Diego and has lived in VA and FL before moving to MS. Has a 3.71 GPA. Says he wants to get the best degree that he possibly can. Versatile player may project as interior lineman at college level. Might play Center in his senior HS season. Described as having solid technique and excelling in both run blocking and pass protection.
Recruitment: Visited Wake Forest in March. Described Wake Forest as “awesome”, campus as “nice” and the coaching staff as “pretty cool”. He made very positive comments about Boston College, Cal and Virginia after his unofficial visits there. He also visited Stanford but they have yet to offer. Cal was his first BCS-level offer back in February.
5/26 Update: Ranked #321 in the country by Rank by Offers. I think that Cal is the favorite for Gibson. I think that I am probably being aggressive by continuing to keep him on the list.
Nathan Gilliam (6’5” / 280 OT) – Knoxville, TN
Ranking: Unrated
BCS offers: Wake Forest, Kentucky, Mississippi State and South Carolina
Background: Athletic OT. His HS team is basically run-only so it is difficult for teams to get a read on his pass pro from looking at film. Brother is a walk-on at Tennessee. He ranks his priorities as playing time #1 and academics a close #2.
Recruitment: Early top 5 of South Carolina, Duke (no offer), Tennessee (no offer), Kentucky and Wake Forest. Kentucky is in a solid position. UK was the first to offer (back in December), he camped there last summer and attended their Junior Day. He picked up his South Carolina offer at their Junior Day. He thinks that Tennessee will offer eventually. Attended a spring practice at Wake Forest. He said that he really liked Wake’s academics and Coach Clawson. Wake was 2nd BCS school to offer. He has also visited Mississippi State this spring.
5/26 Update – Now a 3-star on Rivals. Added an offer from Louisville. Gilliam was quoted as saying that he thinks that the Vols are getting closer to giving him his dream offer. He also said that Kentucky and Wake Forest are recruiting him the hardest. He plans to visit to Wake Forest this summer for what I think might be his third visit.
My Take: Out of the schools that have offered, I suspect that Kentucky is the favorite and Wake Forest is probably a close second. After reading his interviews from the past few weeks I think Wake Forest has a really solid chance. However, Wake’s chances would be significantly impacted if he were to receive offers from Tennessee (obviously), Duke or Vanderbilt. I don’t think that he will wait around forever to get additional offers. Look for him to commit to a school this summer.
Jared Thomas (6’2” / 255 OG) – Indianapolis, IN
Ranking: 3-star. Rivals #23 OG in the country.
BCS offers: Wake Forest, Boston College, Northwestern, Indiana, Syracuse, Purdue and Illinois.
Background: Athletic player will need to bulk up to play OL at the college level. Is a C/PF on his HS basketball team. His relationship with Nick Tabacca goes back to summer camp at Michigan where Tabacca was an instructor. He cites academics as the most important factor in his recruitment. He wants to major in Broadcasting and Journalism.
Recruitment: Boston College, Northwestern, Wake Forest, Indiana and Syracuse are his early Top 5. Purdue was the first to offer, but he credits Boston College as recruiting him first. A Northwestern website called him a “favorite to land at Northwestern” and one of Northwestern’s “favorite prospects”. Attended Indiana’s Junior Day. Visited Boston College. He is also planning unofficial visits to Illinois, Purdue and Wake Forest.
5/26 Update – Added an offer from Duke. I think this recruitment is trending towards Northwestern.
Kameron Eloph (6’3” / 275 OG) – Bossier City, LA
Rating: 3-star. Rivals #32 player in Louisiana.
BCS offers: Wake Forest (offered 5/6), Georgia Tech (offered 3/12) and Louisville (offered 3/8)
Background: An athletic OL known for his agility and footwork. Some schools are recruiting him at Center. Was ranked as the #5 overall offensive player at the Rivals Camp in New Orleans where he was very successful in the one-on-one drills. He says that the quality of the education that he will receive will be a big factor in his recruitment. He plans to be an early enrollee in January 2015. Has a 3.2 GPA and has been in contact with Princeton and Yale.
Recruitment: Georgia Tech got a head start by offering in March, but they aren’t planning on taking many OL in this class so the offer may not be on the table for long. Eloph is looking to make a decision earlier than most (June/July timeframe). He is good friends with a Mississippi State commit and the Bulldogs would likely be the favorite if they offer. He has visited Baylor, TCU, Texas A&M and Mississippi State this spring but has yet to receive offers from those schools.
5/26 Update: No update.
Removed from the Board
Brian Chaffin (6’1” / 285 OC) – Charlotte, NC
Ranking: 3-star
BCS offers: Wake Forest, Boston College, Cal, Duke, Louisville, Mississippi St, UNC, NC State, Northwestern, Stanford and Virginia Tech
Background: Has a 4.4 GPA. Similar to Jared Thomas, he knew Nick Tabacca from a Michigan camp he attended the previous summer.
Recruitment: There might not be anyone that has been as active in taking unofficial visits. Chaffin has visited almost all of the schools that have offered, including multiple visits to many (including Wake, I believe). He had appeared to be progressing towards a decision, but that has been placed on hold until he can visit Stanford.
5/25 Update: Named his final four schools and Wake did not make the cut.
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No Bare Feet
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Caleb is right down the road from me. I'll keep an eye on this guy
gillswonderer
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What is this? Code Name Kids Next Door?
I know that a number of you are interested in Wake’s RB recruiting. Below is a summary of what info I have at this point. For some of the reasons stated below, this is a pretty difficult situation to get a good handle on (without #sources). There is one addition and one removal from the list, plus two players to keep an eye on. I also rewrote the Bonner and McCrimmon summaries.
Nasir Bonner (5’9 / 175 All-Purpose Back) – Philadelphia, PA
Rating: 3-star / Rivals #12 All-Purpose Back / Rivals #11 player in PA
BCS Offers: Wake Forest, Purdue, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Arizona State, Indiana and West Virginia
Profile: He has adequate size, but still may not be an every down back. Bonner is more known for his quickness, decision-making and elusiveness. Bonner doesn’t have track star speed, but has shown big play ability. It also appears that he would excel catching passes out of the backfield as a number of his junior year highlights were receptions made after lining up as a receiver in passing downs. His junior season highlights are here:
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1513663/highlights/87633387
Background: Originally thought to be a Wisconsin-lean the Badgers were pulling back in their recruitment to pursue some other priorities at the position. He visited Wake Forest unofficially on April 18.
Recruitment: This recruitment has taken a path that makes it difficult to get a handle on. Specifically, there were a number of offers early in 2013 (for example, the West Virginia, Wisconsin and Indiana offers were made before Bonner’s junior season), but since then it has been pretty quiet. As a result, it is hard to tell which schools are still involved with Bonner. His Wake Forest offer might be the only new offer received in 2014. To make things more difficult to assess, there hasn’t been an article written about Bonner since February 26.
Nevone McCrimmon (5’11 / 210 RB) – Baltimore, MD
Rating: 3-star / Rivals #28 player in MD
BCS Offers: Wake Forest and Boston College
Recruitment: The previous staff offered McCrimmon in 2013. That was his first offer. Since then he has added only a BC offer. There is some question about whether BC has room left in their class for another RB. At least one article indicated that they are done recruiting at that position. In an April article he said that his initial plan for summer visits included Nebraska, Pitt, NC State and Wake Forest.
His junior season highlights are here:
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1702722/highlights/63663375
Additions to the Big Board
Taylor Boose (5’11 / 200 RB) – Clifton, VA
Rating: 3-star / Rivals #42 player in VA
BCS Offers: Wake Forest (offered 5/22)
Background: Was the “thunder” portion of a “thunder and lightning” RB combination on his high school team. The other side of the RB-combo was A.J. Turner (3-star RB with offers from schools like Ohio State, Michigan State, Clemson and Wisconsin). Cincinnati had been the favorite for Boose before he received any BCS-level offers. He could fit on some teams as a fullback. A Northern Virginia website said the Wake offer came after Boose ran back-to-back 4.53 40’s at a combine in Centreville, VA. If correct, that was a significant improvement over the 4.69 that he ran at the Nike Camp earlier this year.
His junior year highlights are here:
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1719947/highlights/60197375
Removed from the Board
Devine Ozigbo (5’11 / 230 RB) – Sachse, TX
I suspect that Ozigbo may be a primary target for the Wake staff, but the problem is that he is also a primary target for a large number of other schools. His offer list exploded after he excelled at a combine at a bulked-up 230 pounds. He apparently ran a 4.73 40 at that event. Now the proud holder of TWELVE Big 5 conference offers (plus five Mountain West Conference offers for good measure). He has begun to mention Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Boise State very specifically and I think that it is fair to say that those schools may have begun to separate themselves. He has said that academics will play a factor so there may be time left for Wake to get up to the front in this recruitment, but I have read enough to take him off my list for now.
Other Notes (and Some Questions!)
Joshua Allen (3-star / Charlotte, NC) has attended some of the spring recruiting events at Wake Forest but does not yet have an offer. He said very recently that Wake Forest is very interested but needs to decide how many RB’s they are taking in this year’s class before they will offer. In the meantime, he has continued to add to an offer list that now includes App State, Ball State, Marshall and Miami(OH) among others.
It looks like the staff is very interested in 5’8 KirVonte Benson (Unrated / Marietta, GA). However, that is about all that I can tell. I can’t find any mention of an offer.
If anyone has some actual #sources, I would really like some help with the following questions:
Does McCrimmon have an offer from the current staff?
Was the Taylor Boose offer as a RB or a fullback?
Does KirVonte Benson have an offer at this point?
Nasir Bonner (5’9 / 175 All-Purpose Back) – Philadelphia, PA
Rating: 3-star / Rivals #12 All-Purpose Back / Rivals #11 player in PA
BCS Offers: Wake Forest, Purdue, Wisconsin, Rutgers, Arizona State, Indiana and West Virginia
Profile: He has adequate size, but still may not be an every down back. Bonner is more known for his quickness, decision-making and elusiveness. Bonner doesn’t have track star speed, but has shown big play ability. It also appears that he would excel catching passes out of the backfield as a number of his junior year highlights were receptions made after lining up as a receiver in passing downs. His junior season highlights are here:
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1513663/highlights/87633387
Background: Originally thought to be a Wisconsin-lean the Badgers were pulling back in their recruitment to pursue some other priorities at the position. He visited Wake Forest unofficially on April 18.
Recruitment: This recruitment has taken a path that makes it difficult to get a handle on. Specifically, there were a number of offers early in 2013 (for example, the West Virginia, Wisconsin and Indiana offers were made before Bonner’s junior season), but since then it has been pretty quiet. As a result, it is hard to tell which schools are still involved with Bonner. His Wake Forest offer might be the only new offer received in 2014. To make things more difficult to assess, there hasn’t been an article written about Bonner since February 26.
Nevone McCrimmon (5’11 / 210 RB) – Baltimore, MD
Rating: 3-star / Rivals #28 player in MD
BCS Offers: Wake Forest and Boston College
Recruitment: The previous staff offered McCrimmon in 2013. That was his first offer. Since then he has added only a BC offer. There is some question about whether BC has room left in their class for another RB. At least one article indicated that they are done recruiting at that position. In an April article he said that his initial plan for summer visits included Nebraska, Pitt, NC State and Wake Forest.
His junior season highlights are here:
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1702722/highlights/63663375
Additions to the Big Board
Taylor Boose (5’11 / 200 RB) – Clifton, VA
Rating: 3-star / Rivals #42 player in VA
BCS Offers: Wake Forest (offered 5/22)
Background: Was the “thunder” portion of a “thunder and lightning” RB combination on his high school team. The other side of the RB-combo was A.J. Turner (3-star RB with offers from schools like Ohio State, Michigan State, Clemson and Wisconsin). Cincinnati had been the favorite for Boose before he received any BCS-level offers. He could fit on some teams as a fullback. A Northern Virginia website said the Wake offer came after Boose ran back-to-back 4.53 40’s at a combine in Centreville, VA. If correct, that was a significant improvement over the 4.69 that he ran at the Nike Camp earlier this year.
His junior year highlights are here:
http://www.hudl.com/athlete/1719947/highlights/60197375
Removed from the Board
Devine Ozigbo (5’11 / 230 RB) – Sachse, TX
I suspect that Ozigbo may be a primary target for the Wake staff, but the problem is that he is also a primary target for a large number of other schools. His offer list exploded after he excelled at a combine at a bulked-up 230 pounds. He apparently ran a 4.73 40 at that event. Now the proud holder of TWELVE Big 5 conference offers (plus five Mountain West Conference offers for good measure). He has begun to mention Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin and Boise State very specifically and I think that it is fair to say that those schools may have begun to separate themselves. He has said that academics will play a factor so there may be time left for Wake to get up to the front in this recruitment, but I have read enough to take him off my list for now.
Other Notes (and Some Questions!)
Joshua Allen (3-star / Charlotte, NC) has attended some of the spring recruiting events at Wake Forest but does not yet have an offer. He said very recently that Wake Forest is very interested but needs to decide how many RB’s they are taking in this year’s class before they will offer. In the meantime, he has continued to add to an offer list that now includes App State, Ball State, Marshall and Miami(OH) among others.
It looks like the staff is very interested in 5’8 KirVonte Benson (Unrated / Marietta, GA). However, that is about all that I can tell. I can’t find any mention of an offer.
If anyone has some actual #sources, I would really like some help with the following questions:
Does McCrimmon have an offer from the current staff?
Was the Taylor Boose offer as a RB or a fullback?
Does KirVonte Benson have an offer at this point?
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deaclite
Ricky Peral
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Lindy football mag is out and we are #14 in the ACC and #78 overall. Apparently, the staff left BG in great shape with them being a strong #1 in the MAC and #34 overall. That is just ahead of Duke #35,and #36 Utah State. They would be fifth in the ACC.
Some news on the unofficial visit front:
Heavily recruited 3-star RB Mikell Lands-Davis is planning a June visit to Wake Forest. He will also visit Cal, Michigan, UNC and NC State. All of those schools have offered, plus his early favorites Georgia Tech and Clemson. I probably should have mentioned that in the RB post.
3-star WR Freddie Simmons Jr (remember the note from Coach Scheier?) also announced he is going to visit Wake, along with camps at Penn State, Maryland and Duke, and visits to UVA, UNC and Oregon. Of those schools only UVA and Wake have offered. Based on this news, he might be the first recruit to come off of my Big Board list and then reappear. However, I still think that he is looking to go to school on the West Coast (he actually reverse-recruited Cal) and has said that Rutgers is his leader if he stays on the East Coast.
In the nearer-term, I think that 3-star WR Flynn Nagel will be on campus this weekend. He does not show a Wake Forest offer as of now. He does show offers from BC, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State and Purdue. He is Rivals #53 WR in the country.
I thought about compiling a list of expected visitors this summer, but there are so many members of the Big Board planning visits to Wake that I am not sure a list would be that helpful.
Heavily recruited 3-star RB Mikell Lands-Davis is planning a June visit to Wake Forest. He will also visit Cal, Michigan, UNC and NC State. All of those schools have offered, plus his early favorites Georgia Tech and Clemson. I probably should have mentioned that in the RB post.
3-star WR Freddie Simmons Jr (remember the note from Coach Scheier?) also announced he is going to visit Wake, along with camps at Penn State, Maryland and Duke, and visits to UVA, UNC and Oregon. Of those schools only UVA and Wake have offered. Based on this news, he might be the first recruit to come off of my Big Board list and then reappear. However, I still think that he is looking to go to school on the West Coast (he actually reverse-recruited Cal) and has said that Rutgers is his leader if he stays on the East Coast.
In the nearer-term, I think that 3-star WR Flynn Nagel will be on campus this weekend. He does not show a Wake Forest offer as of now. He does show offers from BC, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State and Purdue. He is Rivals #53 WR in the country.
I thought about compiling a list of expected visitors this summer, but there are so many members of the Big Board planning visits to Wake that I am not sure a list would be that helpful.
CreamyGoodness
Thanks Creamy!
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After reading through this thread the one sad fact is that Duke is now looked at as a comparable or tier better football program. Going head to head with them for a recruit used to be cake.
If anybody knows which recruit is attending which camp. Here is the camp schedule from the official site. http://www.wakeforestsports.com/camps/football.html
One more interesting note that I just stumbled across. Wake offered JUCO LB Caleb Potter last week (per his Twitter). He looks like he will be tough to get, but I thought it was newsworthy from the JUCO perspective.
The rule at Wake isn't no JUCOs, it is no JUCO's that wouldn't have qualified out of high school. Do I have that right?
The rule at Wake isn't no JUCOs, it is no JUCO's that wouldn't have qualified out of high school. Do I have that right?
Has Wake always had a 7on7 tourney or is that new?
91deac
Richard Joyce
Not sure about last summer, but wake normally has a 7on7 passing camp. It is for high school teams and is one of the more popular ones in the area.
BlastOnPatrol
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For what it's worth a Barton Simmons, a recruiting analyst for 247, predicted Steven Claude would commit to us in his crystal ball predictions yesterday.
http://247sports.com/Player/Steven-Claude-27964
http://247sports.com/Player/Steven-Claude-27964