Wake Forest Baseball Announces New Director of Recruiting
Wake Forest head baseball coach Tom Walter announced on Wednesday the addition of Dan Valerio to the Demon Deacons’ staff as Director of Recruiting. Valerio joins the staff after spending the 2024 season with the Detroit Tigers organization as a video coordinator and scout in the amateur scouting department.
“The addition of Dan Valerio to our staff signifies another leap forward for Wake Forest baseball,” Walter told the Wake Forest media. “Recruiting high school players is still our lifeblood. Dan’s reputation in travel baseball and within training facilities is sterling. I couldn’t be more pleased with how our staff has come together.”
Valerio, who also spoke to the media on Wednesday, expressed excitement about joining a program that has experienced sustained success under Walter's guidance.
“I’m grateful for the opportunity to join the Wake Forest baseball family,” Valerio said. “Getting the chance to learn from experienced leaders in Coach Walter and Coach Cilento means a great deal to me, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to be part of a program that values development, accountability and success at the highest level.”
Experience in Recruiting and Evaluating Athletes
Valerio arrives at Wake Forest following a season with the Detroit Tigers. His role with the Tigers involved capturing video on targeted prospects while assisting in the evaluation and coverage of amateur talent within the organization.
Before working in professional baseball, Valerio served as assistant scouting director for Prep Baseball Report New Jersey, where he evaluated players using tools like TrackMan, Blast, and video analysis. He also created scouting reports, ranked top uncommitted prospects, and helped cover talent across the state.
Valerio also has experience in college recruiting, having worked as recruiting coordinator at Rowan College of South Jersey–Gloucester. In that position, he oversaw both on-campus and off-campus recruiting and helped identify and evaluate high school athletes.
In addition to his coaching and scouting work, Valerio is the owner and CEO of DV Training LLC, where he designs baseball programs aimed at helping athletes develop. He played three seasons of professional baseball with the Somerset Patriots, Windy City ThunderBolts, Eastside Diamond Hoppers, and Chatham Anglers.
In college, Valerio had a standout career, earning All-American honors on multiple occasions. Not only did he help Gloucester Community College to two College World Series appearances, but he eventually led Southeastern University to multiple NAIA College World Series appearances and an NAIA World Series championship.
The Ideal Addition to the Deacons' Coaching Staff
Valerio is a perfect fit for Wake Forest's focus on turning high school talent into elite collegiate athletes. With experience in scouting, recruiting, and hands-on development through DV Training LLC, he likely knows what it takes to identify athletes with high potential.
That philosophy on development over immediate results is exactly what makes him a good fit for the Demon Deacons. His approach aligns closely with the program's goal of turning talented recruits into collegiate athletes that can eventually contend for a national championship.
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Carson, a 2025 TCU graduate, is a sports journalist who covers college athletics for several On SI sites. While most of his experience is with TCU On SI, he also writes with Wake Forest On SI and Houston On SI. He also has a passion for the college baseball scene, most notably being a fan of TCU Baseball. In 2023, Carson was in Omaha and reported on the Men’s College World Series, where TCU finished 4th in the nation. His past work not only consists of major sports like football, basketball, and baseball, but with others like track and field and cross country as well.