Coach Paul Hoggard chuckles when asked about the first time Justin Jackson showed up for a Richmond Senior High football practice.

Richmond Senior’s student body doesn’t include ninth graders, so Jackson was already a sophomore by that time.

“He was about 175 pounds with size 13 shoes,’’ Hoggard said. “We really struggled trying to figure out what position he should play.’’

Jackson eventually settled in at linebacker. But it was a year later, after he had matured into a 6-foot-1, 215-pounder, that Jackson progressed from awkward ugly duckling to a graceful swan.

The result was a banner season for the 13-1 Raiders in which Jackson produced 123 tackles and earned All-Mid-Southeastern 4-A Conference honors.

The performance also caught the eye of the coaching staffs at Duke and Wake Forest, who came through with scholarship offers this spring. More offers were expected to come Jackson’s way after impressive outings at several camps and combines this spring, but he decided not to wait, opting instead to accept the Demon Deacons offer last Friday.

“He went there for Junior Day (in March) and when he came back he said, ‘Coach, I really feel like that’s the place for me,’’’ Hoggard said. “He visited several others for Junior Day, so he’s been on other campuses.

“But he came in last Friday and said, ‘I feel good about Wake and I think that’s what I want to do.’ I said, ‘You think that’s what you want to do? You’ve got to know that if you want to commit.’

“He said, ‘That’s what I want to do.’ So that’s what he did.’’

Jackson becomes the seventh member of Wake Forest’s recruiting Class of 2009, but he’s the first in-state prospect to pick the Deacons.

Wake Forest has recruited Jackson to play outside linebacker where he can best take advantage of his 4.5-second speed in the 40-yard dash.

“When people saw his speed at the combines, their interest got a little higher,’’ Hoggard said.

An eye on the Falcons

Bob Paroli has spent 50 years as a high school coach, the last three at Seventy-First High School in Fayetteville.

Despite that experience, Paroli says he has a harder time figuring out the wants and desires of college football recruiters than he does defensive schemes in the Mid-Southeastern 4-A Conference.

“Everyone is so caught up in the five-star athlete,’’ Paroli said. “I haven’t figured out what a five-star athlete is, except he’s the one whose coach has promoted him and sent out all kinds of info on him.’’

Paroli doesn’t expect to have any of those “five-star athletes’’ on his roster in 2008. But the Falcons do have two players with major-college skills in linebacker Lamar McLendon and defensive back James Hopper.

McLendon, in fact, has already received his first scholarship offer from East Carolina. The 6-1, 210-pounder was a first-team all-league selection as a junior and has impressed college scouts with his mobility, Paroli said.

“He’s physical, but he can run, (4.5 in 40) and he plays with great intelligence,’’ Paroli said. “As a sophomore, we lost him in the Scotland game and it took an awful lot of moving people around to take up his slack. And that was as a tenth grader.’’

Hopper, a 5-10, 180-pounder, played safety for the Falcons last season, but is expected to shift to cornerback in 2008. He’ll also become Seventy-First’s primary running back, replacing Cumberland County’s leading rusher, Jamal Shuman (1,346 yards in 2007).

“Hopper, we think, is a great athlete,’’ Paroli said. “He’s had two vertical jumps over 40 inches in a couple of the combines. He ran a 4.38 40 in one of the Shrine Bowl combines.’’

Paroli expects the offers to increase for both players once recruiters get to see them up close during the June summer camp period.

“They are two fine football players who would make a great contribution to anyone’s program,’’ Paroli said. “I think there will be more (offers) based on my conversations with the coaches who have come through.’’

Staff writer Sammy Batten can be reached at battens@fayobserver.com or 486-3534