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Defensive end Zach Thompson decides this week to play football at Wake Forest
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Published: April 24, 2008
Defensive end Zach Thompson made life a bit more difficult for his father when he decided this week to play football at Wake Forest.
"You wouldn't believe the phone calls we've been getting about it," Thompson's father, Mickey, said yesterday. "They were saying 'You went to (Virginia).'
"Like I told him, 'I'm going to guide you to make sure you don't make a mistake, but ultimately it's going to be your decision. You can't make a mistake between Wake and Virginia.' "
Zach Thompson, a 6-5, 250-pound rising senior at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn, Va., liked Virginia, where his father played defensive tackle for Coach Dick Bestwick from 1977 through 1981. But he ultimately turned down an offer from the Cavaliers to commit to Wake Forest.
Other schools to offer grants were West Virginia, Syracuse, Boston College, N.C. State and Maryland.
"We kept going back and forth between Virginia and Wake," Mickey Thompson said. "And he just felt a little more comfortable with the smaller campus and all that kind of stuff.
"He was adamant that he liked both places, but he definitely wanted to go to Wake."
Mickey Thompson is the head coach at Stone Bridge High School, which won the District 5 state championship last season, and his son is the second player from the school to commit to Wake Forest this spring.
Mike Olson, a 6-4, 215-pound linebacker, committed to Wake Forest on April 10. Devon Brown, a redshirt freshman wide receiver for Wake Forest also played for Mickey Thompson at Stone Bridge.
Mickey Thompson said that Zach was told by the Wake Forest staff that he will play defensive end.
"He grew up being a skill kid," Thompson said. "He was not that big. He played guard in basketball, and all that kind of stuff. So he's got a lot of skills.
"To be a big guy with athletic skills, I think that's what kind of separates him. He's not just a big kid. He's a big kid with skills."
Zach Thompson is the second rising high school senior to commit to Wake Forest in the past week. Michael Campanaro, a 5-10, 185-pound cornerback from River Hill High School in Clarksville, Md., committed during his visit to the spring scrimmage last Saturday.
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