Wake making inroads with Jersey LB

Five schools have sent Abdel Banda of Morristown (N.J.) Delbarton official offers. The 6-foot-2, 215-pound outside linebacker will be looking to have an impact year so other schools do the same. So who leads?

"Right now I have offers from Georgia Tech, Purdue, Iowa, Indiana and my latest is Wake Forest. I visited Georgia Tech and Wake last week and I like both schools a lot," he said. "I have to say that I was really surprised with the Wake Forest visit."

So why was he so impressed with the Deacs?

"It's so nice down there. The coaches were great and I had a chance to meet a lot of the players and they were all great guys. It seems like they have a nice team chemistry going there and its a great academic school."

So is Wake Abdel's favorite?

"Well they are in my top five so far. I really like Notre dame a lot and they have been showing me a lot of interest, but I have no offer from them."

Banda is also very interested in Virginia.

"I really like coach Groh a lot. He really knows his football, but at the same time he's a regular guy. Al Golden is the coach recruiting me and he's really cool. The thing with Virginia is they told me that they really don’t know what position they want me for. They told me I could be a fullback down there. If they offer they will automatically be in my top five."

Banda has the size to grow into a big-time linebacker at the next level and he can really run. Time is all he needs to become a super player, but at 17 years old, he has a lot of it. Last season he had 60 tackles, four sacks, six hurries and seven tackles for loss.