Pendergrass picks Wake

Wake Forest picked up a huge verbal commitment this weekend when Florida Top 100 running back Brandon Pendergrass of Royal Palm Beach High pledged to the Demon Deacons. Pendergrass took an official visit to Winston-Salem this past weekend for Wake's season-opening 20-10 victory over Syracuse and decided that he had found the place for him before he left.

"I committed to Wake Forest," Pendergrass confirmed. "My visit went good. I got a chance to see the team and see how they were on game day and see how the players played and how the coaches coached them."

Pendergrass, the nation's No. 13 all-purpose back and the No. 96 overall prospect in the Sunshine State for this year's class, was impressed with the Wake Forest offense and how he might fit into the system.

"I thought I fit in good because they run a lot of zone read and if you read it and you hit it up good you can get some yards," he said. "Their running back Micah Andrews had 140-something yards and he didn't even finish out the game because of leg cramps."

He also was impressed by the Wake Forest campus.

"I liked the fact that they are a good academic school," Pendergrass said. "It's a closed campus and a private school so the whole campus is right there together. There is no traffic, so I liked that."

Deacons assistant coach Ray McCartney is the recruiter of record for Pendergrass.

"He is a good guy," Pendergrass said. "Even still after he's done recruiting me, he's still going to look out for me I learned from some of the other players that I talked to when I was up there."

Pendergrass also got to meet with Wake Forest head coach Jim Grobe

"He was a nice guy," Pendergrass said. "He's a nice, down to Earth person and overall is sounded like he was a good person and was working on building the program."

With Pendergrass being from South Florida, it didn't hurt the Deacons that they will get the chance to face in-state powers Florida State and Miami (Fla.) in conference play.

"That did play a factor," Pendergrass said. "Being already from Florida and you see the big schools already in the ACC and being a part of the ACC you know you are going to play those schools every year or just about every year."

Pendergrass will not take any further visits and says he decision is final.

"That's it for me."