‘Why not commit?’ How a top college football recruit from Wake Forest decided on Duke

Duke’s fan base celebrated new coach Manny Diaz’s season-opening football victory last week against Elon, but the Blue Devils’ coaching staff had previously reveled another symbolic “first” in their new environs.

On June 28, Wake Forest High quarterback Kavon Simmons announced his commitment to Duke. Recruiting services rank the third-year starting quarterback as an “athlete” prospect, but the Blue Devils measured the 6-foot-2, 170-pounder’s stature beyond his 3-star ranking.

Simmons’ commitment from a Wake County power with three state titles (2016, 2017 and 2018) provided a stamp of approval on a staff looking to establish itself among Triangle high school coaches and players.

“It’s very important to us that we dominate our footprint starting here and in the state of North Carolina,” said Diaz as the Blue Devils (1-0) prepare for Friday night’s game at Northwestern (1-0). “You take I-95 and I-85 North and South, and the population has a lot of outstanding students who also are great at football.”

Simmons’ talent and grades attracted an offer from Cornell among attention from other Ivy League schools and the Air Force Academy, but his desire to stay close to home closed the deal. He committed rather than playing out his senior year in quest of more offers.

“There was no reason for me not to commit,” he said. “Everything is great — the players, the coaches, the academics and the environment. And my family is only 30 minutes away. Everything lined up. Why not commit?”

Simmons’ season, though, hasn’t started as smoothly as his recruiting experience.

First, the Cougars lost their season opener to Clayton. Then, last Friday’s game at South Garner was postponed until Monday due to weather. Simmons played only two quarters before he left the game with a bone bruise to his lower body that has him week to week.

Wake Forest clung to a 9-3 halftime lead upon handing the reins to Joe Anderson, a 6-foot-5 senior backup. Anderson finished off the 16-3 victory with a fourth-quarter, 32-yard touchdown pass Herbert Pringle caught over the shoulder as he crossed into the end zone.

Now, the Cougars (1-1) face a quick turnaround. They play at 7 p.m. Friday at Southeast Raleigh (2-0), a program off to an explosive start with high-scoring wins over Enloe (49-15) and Wakefield (47-13).

Anderson’s availability as Simmons’ backup offers yet another example of Wake Forest’s program thriving outside our 21st-century micro-wave sports society of instant satisfaction. It’s as if the Cougars exist in a Richie Cunningham “Happy Days” TV show time warp.

That has been especially true after Anderson impressed college coaches last summer at Appalachian State’s camp. High school sports, after all, reflect the player movement observed in NFL free agency and the college transfer portal.

“I talked to Joe a few weeks ago about how he is good enough to play somewhere else,” Simmons said. “But he told me he loves Wake Forest. That says a lot about our community. Joe is a great teammate and a great person.”

Wake Forest’s Reggie Lucas, in his 16th year as the head coach at his alma mater, has emphasized fostering a family culture among his players. Those attitudes tend to show up in the parents.

“We expect our players to treat each other as brothers,” Lucas said. “I think our parents are comfortable with how we coach our players.”

A Monday night example played out as Anderson’s father, Mike, left South Garner’s stadium. He was proudly engaged in a conversation with a reporter about his son’s experience at App State’s camp. But when Mike Anderson spotted Simmons’ father, he abruptly abandoned the reporter. He stepped quickly to offer Ken Simmons words of support about Kavon recovering from the injury.

Lucas’ own track record practices what he preaches. Two years ago, Lucas’ son, Nigel, was a returning starting quarterback entering his senior year. But when his assistant coaches suggested playing Simmons as a sophomore quarterback and shifting Nigel to running back, the dad/head coach didn’t balk.

As anyone who has spent time around high school sports knows, dad/head coaches have a history of favoring their sons.

“That gave me a lot of confidence when Coach Lucas did that,” Simmons said.

Wake Forest traditionally operated out of a Wing-T offense until Simmons. As a sophomore he threw for 15 touchdown passes and ran for one. Wake Forest adjusted its offense his junior year to take better advantage of his dual-threat talent. Simmons threw 19 touchdown passes and ran for 15.

Soon enough his career blossomed into a Duke scholarship offer. Simmons has been joined by two other Duke in-state commitments: 4-star defensive lineman Bryce Davis (6-2, 265) from Greensboro Grimsley and 3-star quarterback Dan Mahan (6-5, 180) of Burlington Williams.

“I knew it was just a matter of time before one of the local colleges jumped on Kavon,” Lucas said. “He went to camps, threw some balls and ran some patterns as a receiver. His athleticism grabbed the attention of Duke’s staff.”