Josh Harrison '24 Commits to Wake Forest Football

josh

Josh Harrison ’24 looked forward to proving himself this summer at football camps across the country and watching more scholarship offers roll in.

Now he doesn’t have to, and he has no complaints.

Josh announced his verbal commitment to Wake Forest University on Saturday, choosing the Demon Deacons over a big list of competing offers that was growing by the day.

“In the end, I really felt like this was the best opportunity to develop as a young man and a football player,” Josh said by phone.

“(Wake Forest) really showed me a lot of attention. They kept it real with me and made me feel like a high priority for their defense.”

It bears repeating that Josh had never formally played football when he chose to leave behind his old high school in Upstate South Carolina to become a Greenie two years ago.

“I was just thinking about that,” Josh said.

“I was really focused on playing basketball back then and football took over. It was a quick turnaround, but it was awesome.”

Josh can play on both sides of the ball. However, he is easily one of the most gifted edge rushers to ever wear green. The 6-foot-3, 225-pound junior chased quarterbacks down for a team-high 11 sacks and 13 hurries last fall. Overall, he made 58 tackles (14 for a loss), which earned him a spot on the NCISAA Division I all-state team as well as the all-conference team for the Charlotte Independent Schools Athletic Association.

Josh’s weighted grade-point average of 4.58 made him attractive to recruiters as well. His other offers included Appalachian State, Army, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Lafayette, Miami (Ohio), Missouri, Old Dominion, South Carolina State, Western Carolina, and Yale.  

Josh’s father, Derrick, is a former Western Carolina player. Also notable is that Deion Sanders and his staff at Jackson State offered Josh before their transition to Colorado.

Josh is the second Christ School football player to make an ACC commitment since Spring Break began on March 3. Defensive back/wide receiver Khalil Conley ’24 said he would play for UNC-Chapel Hill on March 6.