2019 Wake Forest Football Recruiting - Deacs sign best class in school history with “perfect” Early National Signing Period

For the second year in a row Dave Clawson and the Wake Forest Demon Deacons completed a “perfect” Early National Signing Period in football by officially signing all of its 19 commits on the first day.

The signing “period” turned into a 70 minute walk in the park for the coaching staff, as everybody signed and sent in their National Letter Of Intent by 8:10 AM.

This is the best recruiting class in school history and is highlighted by a handful of players from North Carolina and South Carolina, most notably a pair of four-star wide receivers in Nolan Groulx and Donavon Greene. Both guys hail from the Old North State.

As of publishing, the 2019 Wake Forest recruiting class ranks 46th in the nation and 9th in the ACC according to 247Sports. This is an improvement from last year’s 63rd and 13th ranking.

Groulx is ranked as the 198th player in the nation, and 28th at the wide receiver position according to the 2019 247Sports Composite rankings. The 6-0, 185 pound receiver out of Hough High School in Cornelius, NC decommitted from Wisconsin in May before committing to Wake Forest just over a month later in mid-June.

Aside from Wisconsin, Groulx also received offers from a litany of other schools, including South Carolina, Nebraska, N.C. State, West Virginia, South Carolina, and Duke.

Greene is from just up the road in Mount Airy, measuring in at 6-2, 185 pounds. He committed to Clawson and the Deacs a week to the day after Groulx committed (June 24th). He adds to an already immensely talented receiving corps, and ranks 238th nationally, and 36th at his position. He chose Wake over Duke, App State, East Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Notre Dame, N.C. State, and North Carolina.

Groulx and Greene are the best and second best recruits to sign with Wake Forest since 247Sports started doing their rankings back in 1999.

Moving south of the border and to the defensive side of the ball, the staff was able to land a freak athlete in defensive end Shamar McCollum of Dillon, SC. He, along with Groulx and Greene, stuck out in last weekend’s N.C.-S.C. Shrine Bowl Game. He is a three-star recruit, ranking 421st nationally and 29th at the defensive end position.

McCollum ranks 5th in the All-Time Wake Forest recruiting rankings.

Another player who figures to be a name to know for Wake Forest fans for years to come is safety Jeremiah Gray out of Charlotte Christian. He is also a three-star recruit, coming in the top 750 nationally. At the time Gray committed he was the third member of the 2019 recruiting class, but following the decommitment of the first two, he became the earliest commit to actually sign with the Deacs.

The staff recruited all over the nation, but primarily buttered its bread in the southeast, signing all but two players in the class from North Carolina (5), South Carolina (3), Georgia (3), Florida (2), Tennessee (2), Virginia (2). Interestingly enough, both of the guys not from down here are from New Jersey in DE Will Smart, and LB Chase Jones.

All but one player is ranked as a three-star or better by 247Sports, and it is a very even breakdown on offense and defense, with nine offensive players and nine defensive players. Kicker Ivan Mora is the only special teams specific recruit signed to the class.

On offense there is a quarterback, two running backs, five wide receivers, and one offensive lineman. On defense there are four defensive linemen, two linebackers, and three secondary players.

Overall the staff did an incredible job on the recruiting trail this year, securing early commitments, holding on to guys who blew up after committing to Wake Forest, and winning some big recruiting battles over in-state rivals and nationally relevant programs.

One really good way to determine how a player is regarded nationally is to look at his offer sheet, and nearly every player Wake Forest signed has a couple of schools that make you say “oh wow we beat THEM for this guy.” This is a testament to the staff for not being afraid to go after top talent and landing guys who in the past may not have considered coming to Wake Forest.

This is another great recruiting haul for Wake Forest and we at Blogger So Dear cannot wait to see these players on the gridiron in the OId Gold and Black.

Welcome to Wake Forest guys, it will be the best 3-5 years of your life and you have chosen an excellent school that will reap dividends for you long after you have moved on from Mother So Dear.