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Wake Forest Football: 2020 Recruiting Class Update

The Deacs are doing quite well on the recruiting trail

By Adam Bridgers
NCAA Football: Wake Forest at Duke James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

It has been far too long since we’ve had an article focused on football recruiting, so let’s remedy that with a big compilation of commits for the 2020 recruiting class. This won’t be an in depth dive into each recruit, but rather just a quick overview and some high school stats and awards if I can find them on MaxPreps. I’ll start with the most recent commits and work backwards from there. Currently, the Deacs have 14 commits that give them the 24th best class in the nation and the 7th best class in the ACC according to 247 sports, so they are off to a great start. Be sure to follow @wfuRecruitBot on Twitter for updates on Wake Forest recruits.

Caelen “Los” Carson is a 6-0, 175 pound DB out of Waldorf, Maryland. He is listed as a 3-star prospect and the 103rd best DB in the 2020 class. He chose Wake over offers from Army, Fordham, Howard, and JMU. In his junior season at North Point, Carson recorded 52 tackles, 1 interception, and 13 passes defended. From his highlight tape, Carson appears to be very good at predicting routes and doesn’t mind getting physical with receivers.

James Ash is a 6-3, 280 pound DT from Tampa, Florida. He is rated as a 3-star player and the 113th best defensive tackle in the 2020 class by 247 Sports. In his junior season, Ash racked up 45 total tackles, including 19 tackles for loss and 5 sacks. The staff is clearly making the defensive line a priority, as 4 of the first 14 commits so far have been defensive linemen. This shouldn’t be a surprise, as the Deacs had a lot of problems getting pressure on opposing QBs last season without sending extra guys.

Jasheen Davis is a 3-star DE from Snellville, Georgia. He stands at 6-2, 240 pounds and is rated as the 41st best weak-side defensive end in the 2020 class. Davis chose Wake over offers from 27 other schools, including FAU, Colorado State, Coastal Carolina, Louisville, Syracuse, VT, West Virginia, and Arkansas. In his junior season, he recorded 51 total tackles, 20 tackles for loss, and 5 sacks in just 9 games. The fact that Dave Clawson is able to make Wake Forest stand out among over 25 other potential schools is one of the reason he has the program trending in an upward direction.

George Sell is an OT from Chagrin Falls, Ohio who stands at 6-4, 265 pounds. He is rated as a 3-star prospect and the 75th best tackle in the 2020 recruiting class by 247 Sports. Sell chose Wake Forest over offers from Ball State, Boston College, Bowling Green, and Cincinnati. While it’s difficult to find any statistics for offensive linemen, I can tell you that Sell helped Kenston win their first ever state championship. You can see his highlights from his latest season below.

Ahmani Marshall is a 6-0, 205 pound RB from right down the road in Kernersville, NC. He is rated as a 3-star prospect and the 73rd best RB in the 2020 class by 247 Sports. He chose to stay with the hometown team over offers from Air Force, Charlotte, Duke, ECU, Kentucky, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Virginia, and Virginia Tech. In his junior season, Marshall ran the ball 153 times for 1134 yards and 20 TDs while helping lead East Forsyth to an undefeated season that culminated in a 4A State Championship. Marshall plans to graduate early and enroll at Wake Forest next January, according to Conor O’Neill.

Kendron Wayman is a DE out of Ridgely, Maryland who stands at 6-4, 215 pounds. He is listed as a 3-star player and the 60th best strong-side defensive end in the 2020 class by 247 Sports. He committed to the Deacs over offers from BC, Maryland, Pittsburgh, and UConn. In his junior year at North Caroline, he was 1st Team All Conference and the conference Defensive Player of the Year. His highlights are below.

J.J. Roberts is a 5-11, 175 pound CB from Ona, WV. He is rated as a 3-star player and the 142nd best CB in the 2020 class per 247 Sports. Roberts had competing offers from Air Force, Army, Eastern Kentucky, Eastern Michigan, Miami (OH), and Rutgers. According to his MaxPreps page, Roberts finished his junior season with 52 total tackles, 1 tackle for loss, and 1 interception. Its often difficult to judge a high school corner just looking at stats (sometimes the forward pass is a rarity), but based on his tape he appears to be very good at shedding blocks and helping stop the run.

Quinton Cooley is a 5-8, 190 pound RB from Bailey, NC. He is rated as a 3-star and the 102nd best running back in the class. He committed to the Deacs over one other offer from Navy. In his junior season, Cooley rushed for 1,756 yards on 149 carries (11.8 yards per carry) and scored 30 touchdowns while splitting carries with 4-star NC State commit Zonovan Knight. He also likely has one of the highest QB ratings in the nation after finishing the season completing both of his pass attempts for 91 yards and 1 touchdown. Bring on the trick plays. His play earned him a spot on the HighSchoolOT’s All East team.

Zach Vaughan is a 6-6, 260 pound OT from Milton, Massachusetts. He is rated as a 3-star player and the 143rd best tackle in the 2020 class per 247 Sports. He chose the Deacs over offers from UMass and UConn. I’m certainly no expert on offensive line play, but Vaughan has plenty of size and moves well, so that’s good enough for me. Check out his junior season highlights below.

Michael Frogge is a 6-5, 225 pound TE from Greensboro, NC. He is rated as a 3-star prospect and the 60th best tight end in the 2020 class by 247 Sports. He had competing offers from Louisville, South Carolina, App State, Charlotte and Tulane. In his junior season, Frogge caught 39 passes for 660 yards and 6 TDs in 12 game for Northern Guilford High School. From looking at his highlights, Frogge has great speed for his size and is really good at changing pace and direction on a dime to get by his defender. And, of course, he’s 6-5 so that always helps. Watch his highlights below and see how many times he sets up a defender and then blows by them on a double move.

Luke Petitbon is a 6-3, 285 pound OL from Washington DC. He is rated as a 3-star recruit and the 11th best center in the 2020 class by 247 Sports. He chose the Deacs over offers from Boston College, Illinois, Purdue and Cincinnati. In his junior season, Petitbon was selected as a member of the ALL-USA District of Columbia Football Team by USA Today. He has also received an invite to play in the 2020 Under Armour All-American game. It always helps to have talent in the trenches, and the future of the offensive line appears to be in good hands. Check out his junior year highlights below.

Shane Whitter is a 6-0, 220 pound LB out of Burlington, NC. He is listed as a 3-star recruit and the 21st best inside linebacker in the 2020 recruiting class by 247 Sports. In his junior season, Whitter recorded 95 solo tackles, 12 tackles for loss, 3 sacks, 2 fumble recoveries and 1 interception, according to his MaxPreps page. For his efforts, he was named a Times-News All-Region first team player for the 2018 season. Based on all the issues the Deacs had last season, I feel pretty confident in saying you can never have too many linebackers, and Whitter seems like a guy who can do it all from the middle linebacker position.

Malik Puryear is a 6-6, 234 pound DE from High Point, NC. He is rated a 3-star player and the 59th best weak-side DE in the 2020 class. He had other offers from Charlotte, Louisville, Liberty, and Virginia. In his junior season, Puryear recorded 33 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and 6 sacks in 12 games for High Point Christian Academy. Looking at his highlight video, Puryear appears to be a very athletic speed rusher off the edge, and uses his height and wingspan to disrupt the passing lanes of the opposing QB. Clawson is doing a good job securing local talent, as Puryear is the 5th player out of the 14 committed on this list from North Carolina.

Mitch Griffis is a 5-11, 180 pound dual threat QB from Ashburn, Virginia. He is rated as a 3-star prospect and the 32nd best dual threat QB in the 2020 class. Griffis committed to the Deacs all the way back in 2018 over offers from App State, Howard, Kent State, and Maryland. In his junior season, Griffis led his team to a 12-1 record and picked up All-Region 5C Offensive Player of the Year honors. Griffis is an extremely talented QB who was obviously overlooked by a lot of schools due to his size, just like former Wake Forest great and AAF legend John Wolford. I’m already a fan. Check out his junior season highlights below.

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