For the past few months, Ida Baker High School senior Johnny Garcia has been hearing a lot of positives about the campus and football program at Wake Forest University.

The messages have been sent from friend and former North Fort Myers standout Tommy Bohanon, who enrolled at Wake in January and is entering his freshman season with the Demon Deacons.

“I know him a lot,” Garcia said. “When they first offered me, he started texting me and telling me about it.”

After a recent visit to the school, located in Winston-Salem, N.C., Garcia was even more convinced, and verbally committed to Wake last Saturday.

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Garcia expects to play tight end at the next level. He has started at the position the past three years with the Bulldogs, along with playing defensive end and linebacker on the opposite side of the ball.

Garcia took into account more than football when he made his visit, selecting Wake over West Virginia, Florida, South Florida and Boston College.

“I definitely wanted to go to a good football program, but also a place with great academics – their academics are insane,” said Garcia, who plans to major in business. “When I went up there they were already at the top of my list, but just going around the campus, seeing where I would be staying and what I would do on a daily basis, helped me make the decision.”

Garcia becomes the first Baker football player to commit to a school in the Football Bowl Subdivision.

Mike Anderson, who graduated from Baker this past June, received a scholarship to play at Division I Western Carolina, which plays in the Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as I-AA).

Running back/defensive back Joseph Byrd, a senior teammate of Garcia, currently has several offers from FBS programs.

Like Bohanon, Garcia plans to graduate high school early and participate in Wake’s spring practice.