Hopefully something for everyone here, whether you followed the recruiting thread this year or are just tuning in now.
CLASS OF 2017 HEADLINERS
DE MICHAEL ALLEN (Lanier HS / Sugar Hill, GA)
Rivals Rating: 4-star (5.8)
Recruitment: A big target for Wake Forest since he was first offered at Wake’s Underclassman camp in July 2015. There were times that I was ready to count Wake out of the race, but Allen kept returning for unofficial visits even as other opportunities rolled in. Finished with 11 SEC offers and 8 other ACC offers. Also added offers from USC and Notre Dame. Currently ranked as the #95 overall player in the class by RankByOffers.com. Even with all of those offers, he didn’t appear to seriously consider anyone other than Wake Forest and Tennessee. After receiving a flurry of Crystal Ball predictions in the summer Wake wrapped him up and he’s been solid ever since.
Other Notes: Schools were drawn to his length, athleticism and character. He’s a rush end that will be capable of occasionally dropping into coverage where he can use his length. His stock dropped a bit on the camp circuit when he came across as more raw technique-wise than some had expected and lost his share of one-of-one battles against super-elite OLs. A redshirt-year would probably be ideal. With good coaching and strength and conditioning the ceiling appears to be limitless.
WR WAYDALE JONES (A.C. Jones HS / Beeville, TX)
Rivals Rating: 3-star (5.6)
2016 Awards/Recognition: 4A All-State Team in Texas (AP)
Recruitment: UNC, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest were the three schools involved in January. Boise State offered but couldn’t get traction with Waydale. UNC dropped out early when they landed the one player believed to be higher on their board than Waydale. Wake moved very aggressively to get his first official visit and locked him up before he visited anywhere else.
Other Notes: My second-favorite player in the class. Remarkable find late in the cycle. Insanely productive senior season (115 receptions for 1,979 yards and 30 touchdown). Versatile playmaker. Can hurt you a number of different ways. Legit 6’4. Also has legit speed, although not a burner. 3.99 GPA. Wants to become a physician.
LB JEFFERY BURLEY (Jackson HS / Jackson, GA)
Rivals Rating: 3-star (5.5)
2016 Awards/Recognition: Class 3A All-State Team in Georgia (AJC)
Recruitment: Also had P5 offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Minnesota, Illinois, N.C. State and Louisville. I’ll admit that I didn’t pay much attention to his recruitment because he never tweeted that he had an offer from Wake, and we already had several LB commits. But throughout his recruitment he had really great things to say about Wake, even as other P5 offers came in. Leading up to his commitment, both Minnesota and N.C. State seemed confident that they would land him, but he went with the school that he seemed to be favoring throughout. Wake then had to fend off a months-long attempt by Ole Miss to flip him. Burley’s official visit to Wake seemed to solidify his commitment and he cancelled a planned visit to Oxford. My understanding is that the Rebels were ready to accept a commitment from him.
Other Notes: His highlights will be one of the favorites at the recruiting reception. He’s a hard hitter for sure. I’d think he will be a strong candidate to play early. Already looks the part physically. Leading rebounder on his high school basketball team.
LB CHASE MONROE (Davidson Day HS / Davidson, NC)
Rivals Rating: 3-star (5.5)
2016 Awards/Recognition: North Carolina Defensive Player of the Year. Charlotte Observer’s Area Defensive Player of the Year. MaxPreps Small School All-America Team.
Recruitment: Chose Wake over P5 offers from Kentucky, Mississippi State, West Virginia and Illinois. It didn’t look good for Wake for a while. After Kentucky told him that he was the #1 overall LB on their board there seemed to be a lot of mutual interest. Then West Virginia (who has former DDay QB Will Grier on the roster) offered him after seeing him in a 7on7 tournament in Morgantown.
Other Notes: Versatile LB seems to do everything well. Ideal for a team looking for a LB that can cover a lot of ground. Like most high school recruits on that side of the ball, he will benefit from Wake’s strength program. I think most fan’s expectations are that he will become a star at Wake. I think those expectations are very reasonable.
CB TROY SIMON (Milton HS / Alpharetta, GA)
Rivals Rating: 3-star (5.5)
2016 Awards/Recognition: Defensive Back MVP at Nike’s The Opening Regional in Atlanta
Recruitment: Chose Wake over P5 offers from Notre Dame, Mississippi State, Cal, Maryland, Illinois, and Oregon State
Other Notes: He has become a fan favorite for being very pro-Wake on social media and for tweaking Taylor Powell (gently) by subtweeting after Powell decommitted. But it will be some of his physical cornerback play that will draw the attention of fans at the recruiting reception. One potential red-flag is a pedestrian 40-time at Nike camp, although it didn’t stop some bigger schools from offering afterwards.
DT TYLER WILLIAMS (Oxbridge Academy / West Palm Beach, FL)
Rivals Rating: 3-star (5.5)
2016 Awards/Recognition: Palm Beach County Player of the Year. Area Defensive Player of the Year by both the Palm Beach Post and the Sun Sentinel. 3A All-State in Florida. MaxPreps Small-School All-America (with Surratt and Chase Monroe)
Recruitment: The combination of a good combine and an early commitment to FAU caused a number of P5 teams to look at him in the early spring. Wake Forest, Louisville, Iowa State and Minnesota all offered in quick succession. He quickly became a big target for Wake Forest, who sealed the deal on the 4th of July.
Other Notes: Perhaps the most under-discussed recruit in the class. I’m every bit as excited about him as one of last year’s headliners, Sulaiman Kamara. Like Kamara, his lack of ideal height (6’1) kept the SEC offers away. But he’s a very solidly built 290 pounds, had a very good Nike combine, and then had a terrific senior year. His coach described him as the “centerpiece” of an Oxbridge defense that allowed an average of 8.9 points per game. Williams finished with 19 tackles for loss on the year.
S TY HARDIMON (Lassiter HS / Marietta, GA)
Rivals Rating: 3-star (5.6)
Recruitment: Wake offered in May, but was never highly involved from what I could tell. Originally committed to Cal over P5 offers from Wake, Northwestern, Minnesota, West Virginia, Rutgers and Iowa State. Wake capitalized on a coaching change at Cal in January and flipped him following a surprise (at least to me) official visit.
Other Notes: There’s some question about whether he is a CB or a safety. I think we will hear today that they will start him at safety. Will be slightly undersized for a safety, but he’s quick, quick, quick and not afraid to hit. Hardimon is very strong academically.
(Note: I ran out of time, otherwise I would have included in-state commits Sage Surratt and Christian Beal)
FIVE OVERALL OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE CLASS
#1 - There was a heavier focus on recruiting Georgia…and it paid off
It’s difficult to quantify the additional focus on Georgia but it was apparent throughout. According to Rivals, Wake Forest offered 51 recruits in Georgia. That was more than North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia combined. (Wake offered 23 recruits in North Carolina, 6 in South Carolina, 34 in Florida and 14 in Virginia)
Wake ended up landing six commits from Georgia, including 4 of the top players in the class (Mike Allen, Jeffery Burley, Ty Hardimon and Troy Simon).
#2 - Fewer commits had multiple P5 offers
2016 class: Twelve (57%) of the commits had 2 or more other P5 offers. Just over one-third of the commits had 4 or more other P5 offers.
2017 class: Seven (37%) of the commits had 2 or more other P5 offers. Just over one-quarter of the commits had 4 or more other P5 offers.
#3 - There were fewer attempts to poach Wake commits
2016 class: 4 commits added P5 offers AFTER they committed to Wake: Watson (Maryland, Illinois, Indiana and Syracuse), Nash (Cal), Maggio (Boston College) and Dortch (Maryland and Iowa State). That doesn’t include Suhren, who was heavily recruited by Vanderbilt late (although an official offer was never reported).
In 2017, only two commits (Taylor Powell and Jeffery Burley) received P5 offers after committing to Wake.
#4 - At the end of the cycle, Wake was aggressive in flipping recruits from non-P5 conferences
From December 1 through National Signing Day, Wake flipped 4 non-P5 commits: Zach Tom (Southern Miss), Ja’Sir Taylor (Temple), Sean Maginn (Arkansas State) and Sage Surratt (Harvard)
#5 - The class came together later a little later this cycle
14 of the 19 players in the class committed after June 14. 11 of the 19 commits were offered* after March 31, which is late by some standards. Going forward, I might not follow recruiting as closely before May 1 or so.
*note: some offer dates were estimated
METRICS: YEAR-OVER-YEAR COMPARISONS
Year-Over-Year Comparison: # of recruits rated 5.6 or above by Rivals (2017 class tied the 2016 class for the fewest since 2008)
2017: 4
2016: 4
2015: 9
2014: 7
2013: 7
2012: 6
2011: 9
2010: 10
2009: 6
2008: 4
Year-Over-Year Comparison: # of Rivals two-stars in the class
2017: 9
2016: 6
2015: 10
2014: 14
2013: 7
2012: 3
2011: 5
2010: 6
2009: 9
2008: 9
Year-Over-Year Comparison: # of recruits included in the Top 600 players in the country per RankByOffers.com
2017: 2 (Allen and Simon)
2016: 3 (Zimmer, Watson and Suhren)
2015: 5 (Archibald, Claude, Austin, Reid and Strnad)
2014: 4 (Shaw, Jaboree Williams, Terry and Uter)
2013: 3 (Harris, Helms and Armstrong)
METRICS: PEER GROUP COMPARISONS
Peer Comparison: # of recruits rated 5.6 or above by Rivals (2017)
NCSU: 9
UVA: 7
BC: 7
Syracuse: 6
Wake Forest: 4
Peer Comparison: Fewest # of two-stars in the class (2017)
NCSU: 5
UVA: 8
Wake Forest: 9
BC: 9
Syracuse: 11
Peer Comparison: # of recruits included in the Top 600 players in the country per Rank by Offers (as of January 29th)
UVA: 8
Syracuse: 3
NCSU: 3
Wake Forest: 2
BC: 1
Peer Comparison: Rivals Average Star Ranking (2017)
NCSU: 2.85
UVA: 2.65
BC: 2.62
Wake Forest: 2.55
Syracuse: 2.48
Bottom Five P5 Teams in Rivals 2017 Team Rankings (note: this measure is heavily influenced by class size):
Purdue – 1080 points (20 commits)
Wake Forest – 1050 points (19 commits)
Kansas State – 1035 points (18 commits)
Ole Miss – 1020 points (14 commits)
Cal – 991 points (14 commits)
CLASS OF 2017 HEADLINERS
DE MICHAEL ALLEN (Lanier HS / Sugar Hill, GA)
Rivals Rating: 4-star (5.8)
Recruitment: A big target for Wake Forest since he was first offered at Wake’s Underclassman camp in July 2015. There were times that I was ready to count Wake out of the race, but Allen kept returning for unofficial visits even as other opportunities rolled in. Finished with 11 SEC offers and 8 other ACC offers. Also added offers from USC and Notre Dame. Currently ranked as the #95 overall player in the class by RankByOffers.com. Even with all of those offers, he didn’t appear to seriously consider anyone other than Wake Forest and Tennessee. After receiving a flurry of Crystal Ball predictions in the summer Wake wrapped him up and he’s been solid ever since.
Other Notes: Schools were drawn to his length, athleticism and character. He’s a rush end that will be capable of occasionally dropping into coverage where he can use his length. His stock dropped a bit on the camp circuit when he came across as more raw technique-wise than some had expected and lost his share of one-of-one battles against super-elite OLs. A redshirt-year would probably be ideal. With good coaching and strength and conditioning the ceiling appears to be limitless.
WR WAYDALE JONES (A.C. Jones HS / Beeville, TX)
Rivals Rating: 3-star (5.6)
2016 Awards/Recognition: 4A All-State Team in Texas (AP)
Recruitment: UNC, Vanderbilt and Wake Forest were the three schools involved in January. Boise State offered but couldn’t get traction with Waydale. UNC dropped out early when they landed the one player believed to be higher on their board than Waydale. Wake moved very aggressively to get his first official visit and locked him up before he visited anywhere else.
Other Notes: My second-favorite player in the class. Remarkable find late in the cycle. Insanely productive senior season (115 receptions for 1,979 yards and 30 touchdown). Versatile playmaker. Can hurt you a number of different ways. Legit 6’4. Also has legit speed, although not a burner. 3.99 GPA. Wants to become a physician.
LB JEFFERY BURLEY (Jackson HS / Jackson, GA)
Rivals Rating: 3-star (5.5)
2016 Awards/Recognition: Class 3A All-State Team in Georgia (AJC)
Recruitment: Also had P5 offers from Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Minnesota, Illinois, N.C. State and Louisville. I’ll admit that I didn’t pay much attention to his recruitment because he never tweeted that he had an offer from Wake, and we already had several LB commits. But throughout his recruitment he had really great things to say about Wake, even as other P5 offers came in. Leading up to his commitment, both Minnesota and N.C. State seemed confident that they would land him, but he went with the school that he seemed to be favoring throughout. Wake then had to fend off a months-long attempt by Ole Miss to flip him. Burley’s official visit to Wake seemed to solidify his commitment and he cancelled a planned visit to Oxford. My understanding is that the Rebels were ready to accept a commitment from him.
Other Notes: His highlights will be one of the favorites at the recruiting reception. He’s a hard hitter for sure. I’d think he will be a strong candidate to play early. Already looks the part physically. Leading rebounder on his high school basketball team.
LB CHASE MONROE (Davidson Day HS / Davidson, NC)
Rivals Rating: 3-star (5.5)
2016 Awards/Recognition: North Carolina Defensive Player of the Year. Charlotte Observer’s Area Defensive Player of the Year. MaxPreps Small School All-America Team.
Recruitment: Chose Wake over P5 offers from Kentucky, Mississippi State, West Virginia and Illinois. It didn’t look good for Wake for a while. After Kentucky told him that he was the #1 overall LB on their board there seemed to be a lot of mutual interest. Then West Virginia (who has former DDay QB Will Grier on the roster) offered him after seeing him in a 7on7 tournament in Morgantown.
Other Notes: Versatile LB seems to do everything well. Ideal for a team looking for a LB that can cover a lot of ground. Like most high school recruits on that side of the ball, he will benefit from Wake’s strength program. I think most fan’s expectations are that he will become a star at Wake. I think those expectations are very reasonable.
CB TROY SIMON (Milton HS / Alpharetta, GA)
Rivals Rating: 3-star (5.5)
2016 Awards/Recognition: Defensive Back MVP at Nike’s The Opening Regional in Atlanta
Recruitment: Chose Wake over P5 offers from Notre Dame, Mississippi State, Cal, Maryland, Illinois, and Oregon State
Other Notes: He has become a fan favorite for being very pro-Wake on social media and for tweaking Taylor Powell (gently) by subtweeting after Powell decommitted. But it will be some of his physical cornerback play that will draw the attention of fans at the recruiting reception. One potential red-flag is a pedestrian 40-time at Nike camp, although it didn’t stop some bigger schools from offering afterwards.
DT TYLER WILLIAMS (Oxbridge Academy / West Palm Beach, FL)
Rivals Rating: 3-star (5.5)
2016 Awards/Recognition: Palm Beach County Player of the Year. Area Defensive Player of the Year by both the Palm Beach Post and the Sun Sentinel. 3A All-State in Florida. MaxPreps Small-School All-America (with Surratt and Chase Monroe)
Recruitment: The combination of a good combine and an early commitment to FAU caused a number of P5 teams to look at him in the early spring. Wake Forest, Louisville, Iowa State and Minnesota all offered in quick succession. He quickly became a big target for Wake Forest, who sealed the deal on the 4th of July.
Other Notes: Perhaps the most under-discussed recruit in the class. I’m every bit as excited about him as one of last year’s headliners, Sulaiman Kamara. Like Kamara, his lack of ideal height (6’1) kept the SEC offers away. But he’s a very solidly built 290 pounds, had a very good Nike combine, and then had a terrific senior year. His coach described him as the “centerpiece” of an Oxbridge defense that allowed an average of 8.9 points per game. Williams finished with 19 tackles for loss on the year.
S TY HARDIMON (Lassiter HS / Marietta, GA)
Rivals Rating: 3-star (5.6)
Recruitment: Wake offered in May, but was never highly involved from what I could tell. Originally committed to Cal over P5 offers from Wake, Northwestern, Minnesota, West Virginia, Rutgers and Iowa State. Wake capitalized on a coaching change at Cal in January and flipped him following a surprise (at least to me) official visit.
Other Notes: There’s some question about whether he is a CB or a safety. I think we will hear today that they will start him at safety. Will be slightly undersized for a safety, but he’s quick, quick, quick and not afraid to hit. Hardimon is very strong academically.
(Note: I ran out of time, otherwise I would have included in-state commits Sage Surratt and Christian Beal)
FIVE OVERALL OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE CLASS
#1 - There was a heavier focus on recruiting Georgia…and it paid off
It’s difficult to quantify the additional focus on Georgia but it was apparent throughout. According to Rivals, Wake Forest offered 51 recruits in Georgia. That was more than North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia combined. (Wake offered 23 recruits in North Carolina, 6 in South Carolina, 34 in Florida and 14 in Virginia)
Wake ended up landing six commits from Georgia, including 4 of the top players in the class (Mike Allen, Jeffery Burley, Ty Hardimon and Troy Simon).
#2 - Fewer commits had multiple P5 offers
2016 class: Twelve (57%) of the commits had 2 or more other P5 offers. Just over one-third of the commits had 4 or more other P5 offers.
2017 class: Seven (37%) of the commits had 2 or more other P5 offers. Just over one-quarter of the commits had 4 or more other P5 offers.
#3 - There were fewer attempts to poach Wake commits
2016 class: 4 commits added P5 offers AFTER they committed to Wake: Watson (Maryland, Illinois, Indiana and Syracuse), Nash (Cal), Maggio (Boston College) and Dortch (Maryland and Iowa State). That doesn’t include Suhren, who was heavily recruited by Vanderbilt late (although an official offer was never reported).
In 2017, only two commits (Taylor Powell and Jeffery Burley) received P5 offers after committing to Wake.
#4 - At the end of the cycle, Wake was aggressive in flipping recruits from non-P5 conferences
From December 1 through National Signing Day, Wake flipped 4 non-P5 commits: Zach Tom (Southern Miss), Ja’Sir Taylor (Temple), Sean Maginn (Arkansas State) and Sage Surratt (Harvard)
#5 - The class came together later a little later this cycle
14 of the 19 players in the class committed after June 14. 11 of the 19 commits were offered* after March 31, which is late by some standards. Going forward, I might not follow recruiting as closely before May 1 or so.
*note: some offer dates were estimated
METRICS: YEAR-OVER-YEAR COMPARISONS
Year-Over-Year Comparison: # of recruits rated 5.6 or above by Rivals (2017 class tied the 2016 class for the fewest since 2008)
2017: 4
2016: 4
2015: 9
2014: 7
2013: 7
2012: 6
2011: 9
2010: 10
2009: 6
2008: 4
Year-Over-Year Comparison: # of Rivals two-stars in the class
2017: 9
2016: 6
2015: 10
2014: 14
2013: 7
2012: 3
2011: 5
2010: 6
2009: 9
2008: 9
Year-Over-Year Comparison: # of recruits included in the Top 600 players in the country per RankByOffers.com
2017: 2 (Allen and Simon)
2016: 3 (Zimmer, Watson and Suhren)
2015: 5 (Archibald, Claude, Austin, Reid and Strnad)
2014: 4 (Shaw, Jaboree Williams, Terry and Uter)
2013: 3 (Harris, Helms and Armstrong)
METRICS: PEER GROUP COMPARISONS
Peer Comparison: # of recruits rated 5.6 or above by Rivals (2017)
NCSU: 9
UVA: 7
BC: 7
Syracuse: 6
Wake Forest: 4
Peer Comparison: Fewest # of two-stars in the class (2017)
NCSU: 5
UVA: 8
Wake Forest: 9
BC: 9
Syracuse: 11
Peer Comparison: # of recruits included in the Top 600 players in the country per Rank by Offers (as of January 29th)
UVA: 8
Syracuse: 3
NCSU: 3
Wake Forest: 2
BC: 1
Peer Comparison: Rivals Average Star Ranking (2017)
NCSU: 2.85
UVA: 2.65
BC: 2.62
Wake Forest: 2.55
Syracuse: 2.48
Bottom Five P5 Teams in Rivals 2017 Team Rankings (note: this measure is heavily influenced by class size):
Purdue – 1080 points (20 commits)
Wake Forest – 1050 points (19 commits)
Kansas State – 1035 points (18 commits)
Ole Miss – 1020 points (14 commits)
Cal – 991 points (14 commits)
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