1. NC State will have a solid group of visitors this weekend, and a few “maybe’s” could turn into unofficial visitors.
In the cases of Williams, Brown and Baker, they have been to NC State before multiple times. The big visits will come from Georgia-based running backs Jayden “Duke” Scott and Nykahi Davenport. Scott was offered by NC State on Jan. 18, and then Davenport was offered Jan. 27. Visits like this could help determine an official visit down the road in the future.
Add in NC State offering running backs Duke Watson and Keenan Phillips from Georgia, who both had stories on the site this week, and it does have that feel that the Peach State could determine NC State’s fortunes at running back.
Mount Airy (N.C.) High junior running back Tyler Mason continues to be the lone high major running back in the state, with offers Boston College, Virginia Tech and Louisville. ECU offered him on Thursday. NC State has had Mason on campus Jan. 20, but haven’t offered yet.
Knapp in our story this week said he will spend this morning at Duke and then this afternoon/evening at NC State. He’ll then head to North Carolina on Saturday for the day.
Williams will arrive at 3:30 p.m. today from Clinton, N.C. He transferred there from Spring Lake (N.C.) Overhills and had a bust-out junior season with an incredible 44 tackles for loss and 18 sacks.
NC State was Baker’s first scholarship offer, and then the floodgates opened for the dual-threat sophomore quarterback. He just completed his successful basketball season at Walkertown (N.C.) High, and while early, NC State has made a strong impression on him thus far.
Brown has been a steady unofficial visitor over the last two years. Rivals.com has always been bullish on the four-star prospect, who has accumulated 29 scholarship offers. He came out with a top 10 of NC State, Arkansas, Clemson, Florida State, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Penn State and Virginia Tech, so an eclectic group.
Marshall doesn’t have an NC State offer yet but Indiana and West Virginia have just offered him. He’s unique because he’s 6-5 and 185 pounds, and there aren’t a lot of many wide receiver/defensive back prospects with that kind of range.
2. There are probably only two-three times a year to pay attention to big recruiting weekends at UNC, and this is one of them.
The Duke at North Carolina basketball game will bring players to town, and maybe some will also stop by NC State, but it shows what players the Tar Heels are serious about. It also shows how little overlap the two schools can have certain cycles.
Overlap recruits in 2024:
• Jonathan Paylor, WR, Burlington Cummings
• Peter Pesansky, DE, Tampa (Fla.) Jesuit
• Khalil Conley, WR/CB, Arden Christ School
• Keenan Jackson, WR, Waxhaw Cuthbertson
• Brody Barnhardt, S, Charlotte Providence Day
• Anthonie Knapp, OT, Roswell (Ga.) High
Barnhardt is the most interesting name. I’ve long touted he’s the one defensive recruit NC State needs to land in the state of North Carolina. He’s narrowed his list to NC State, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin, but this shows he’s ready to expand his list, which he also did for the Badgers. He’d also be the most likely to stop by NC State for a few hours, but there is no guarantee he will, but it wouldn’t be surprising.
Conley hasn’t been to NC State and an eight-hour round trip shows his seriousness about seeing UNC this weekend. NC State wants Conley at cornerback and have pointed to both Aydan White and Zack Myers, who also attended Christ School.
Unrelated, I talked to Christ School junior outside linebacker Cayden Jones at the NCISAA Division 4 state title game against Matthews (N.C.) Carmel Christian. He said he’s not 100 healthy from his elbow injury suffered during the season, but he’s close, and he’d like to unofficially visit Alabama for sure this spring.
Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley High junior wide receiver Alex Taylor not coming this weekend is a small victory for NC State. He’s reportedly going to officially visit Clemson on June 2-4 and North Carolina on June 23-25.
3. The one-two freshman punch of Kendre’ Harrison and Dionte Neal at Reidsville (N.C.) High continue to roll through the playoffs, with Lincolnton (N.C.) Lincoln Charter up next Saturday at Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley.
Rivals.com had me take part in a fact or fiction this week on whether Harrison could be the best defensive line prospect from the state of North Carolina since Dexter Lawrence of Wake Forest (N.C.) High in the class of 2016.
That covers some highly-ranked players and some guys who also developed into first-round picks like Jordan Davis of Charlotte Mallard Creek and Georgia. Other higher ranked players since Lawrence include Travis Shaw of Grimsley, Payton Page of Greensboro Dudley, K.J. Henry of Clemmons (N.C.) West Forsyth and most recently Daevin Hobbs of Concord (N.C.) Robinson.
I’m not going to compare Harrison to 300-plus behemoths like Lawrence, Davis, Shaw and Page, but he will surpass Henry and Hobbs if he keeps developing.
Here is where things get nuanced with Harrison. When I first saw him play last May, it was in basketball, and he sure looked like a future top 75 kind of player and a must-get for NC State hoops when it came to light that former Wolfpack player C.C. Harrison was his uncle.
Then things switched up a bit when Wake Forest offered him in football before he even enrolled at Reidsville. That put the spotlight on Harrison the football prospect, and he’s exploded. Even more confusing in a good way, the 6-6 or so, 230-pounder could be just as good a tight end as he is at defensive end. He’s still raw as one would expect of a freshman, and a lot of the hype is about how good could he be down the road?
Basketball is also fueling the football hype in many ways. How many freshman football prospects average 22.0 points, 15.0 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game? He’s putting up video game numbers.
Neal is also having a banner year in both football and basketball, but wants to play college hoops. He had 12 interceptions and was also a factor at wide receiver and in the return game. He’s averaging 22.2 points, 11.5 assists and 5.7 steals per game in basketball this season, which is almost unheard of point guard statistics. The only reason the hype hasn’t exploded with him with college offers is his size at 5-9.
The Lincoln Charter/Reidsville winner plays the winner of Goldsboro and Farmville Central, which should be an outstanding prep game. Harrison and Neal could be the rare freshman to play in the state title games in both football and basketball.
In the cases of Williams, Brown and Baker, they have been to NC State before multiple times. The big visits will come from Georgia-based running backs Jayden “Duke” Scott and Nykahi Davenport. Scott was offered by NC State on Jan. 18, and then Davenport was offered Jan. 27. Visits like this could help determine an official visit down the road in the future.
Add in NC State offering running backs Duke Watson and Keenan Phillips from Georgia, who both had stories on the site this week, and it does have that feel that the Peach State could determine NC State’s fortunes at running back.
Mount Airy (N.C.) High junior running back Tyler Mason continues to be the lone high major running back in the state, with offers Boston College, Virginia Tech and Louisville. ECU offered him on Thursday. NC State has had Mason on campus Jan. 20, but haven’t offered yet.
Knapp in our story this week said he will spend this morning at Duke and then this afternoon/evening at NC State. He’ll then head to North Carolina on Saturday for the day.
Williams will arrive at 3:30 p.m. today from Clinton, N.C. He transferred there from Spring Lake (N.C.) Overhills and had a bust-out junior season with an incredible 44 tackles for loss and 18 sacks.
NC State was Baker’s first scholarship offer, and then the floodgates opened for the dual-threat sophomore quarterback. He just completed his successful basketball season at Walkertown (N.C.) High, and while early, NC State has made a strong impression on him thus far.
Brown has been a steady unofficial visitor over the last two years. Rivals.com has always been bullish on the four-star prospect, who has accumulated 29 scholarship offers. He came out with a top 10 of NC State, Arkansas, Clemson, Florida State, LSU, Mississippi, Mississippi State, North Carolina, Penn State and Virginia Tech, so an eclectic group.
Marshall doesn’t have an NC State offer yet but Indiana and West Virginia have just offered him. He’s unique because he’s 6-5 and 185 pounds, and there aren’t a lot of many wide receiver/defensive back prospects with that kind of range.
2. There are probably only two-three times a year to pay attention to big recruiting weekends at UNC, and this is one of them.
The Duke at North Carolina basketball game will bring players to town, and maybe some will also stop by NC State, but it shows what players the Tar Heels are serious about. It also shows how little overlap the two schools can have certain cycles.
Overlap recruits in 2024:
• Jonathan Paylor, WR, Burlington Cummings
• Peter Pesansky, DE, Tampa (Fla.) Jesuit
• Khalil Conley, WR/CB, Arden Christ School
• Keenan Jackson, WR, Waxhaw Cuthbertson
• Brody Barnhardt, S, Charlotte Providence Day
• Anthonie Knapp, OT, Roswell (Ga.) High
Barnhardt is the most interesting name. I’ve long touted he’s the one defensive recruit NC State needs to land in the state of North Carolina. He’s narrowed his list to NC State, West Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wisconsin, but this shows he’s ready to expand his list, which he also did for the Badgers. He’d also be the most likely to stop by NC State for a few hours, but there is no guarantee he will, but it wouldn’t be surprising.
Conley hasn’t been to NC State and an eight-hour round trip shows his seriousness about seeing UNC this weekend. NC State wants Conley at cornerback and have pointed to both Aydan White and Zack Myers, who also attended Christ School.
Unrelated, I talked to Christ School junior outside linebacker Cayden Jones at the NCISAA Division 4 state title game against Matthews (N.C.) Carmel Christian. He said he’s not 100 healthy from his elbow injury suffered during the season, but he’s close, and he’d like to unofficially visit Alabama for sure this spring.
Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley High junior wide receiver Alex Taylor not coming this weekend is a small victory for NC State. He’s reportedly going to officially visit Clemson on June 2-4 and North Carolina on June 23-25.
3. The one-two freshman punch of Kendre’ Harrison and Dionte Neal at Reidsville (N.C.) High continue to roll through the playoffs, with Lincolnton (N.C.) Lincoln Charter up next Saturday at Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley.
Rivals.com had me take part in a fact or fiction this week on whether Harrison could be the best defensive line prospect from the state of North Carolina since Dexter Lawrence of Wake Forest (N.C.) High in the class of 2016.
That covers some highly-ranked players and some guys who also developed into first-round picks like Jordan Davis of Charlotte Mallard Creek and Georgia. Other higher ranked players since Lawrence include Travis Shaw of Grimsley, Payton Page of Greensboro Dudley, K.J. Henry of Clemmons (N.C.) West Forsyth and most recently Daevin Hobbs of Concord (N.C.) Robinson.
I’m not going to compare Harrison to 300-plus behemoths like Lawrence, Davis, Shaw and Page, but he will surpass Henry and Hobbs if he keeps developing.
Here is where things get nuanced with Harrison. When I first saw him play last May, it was in basketball, and he sure looked like a future top 75 kind of player and a must-get for NC State hoops when it came to light that former Wolfpack player C.C. Harrison was his uncle.
Then things switched up a bit when Wake Forest offered him in football before he even enrolled at Reidsville. That put the spotlight on Harrison the football prospect, and he’s exploded. Even more confusing in a good way, the 6-6 or so, 230-pounder could be just as good a tight end as he is at defensive end. He’s still raw as one would expect of a freshman, and a lot of the hype is about how good could he be down the road?
Basketball is also fueling the football hype in many ways. How many freshman football prospects average 22.0 points, 15.0 rebounds and 4.2 blocks per game? He’s putting up video game numbers.
Neal is also having a banner year in both football and basketball, but wants to play college hoops. He had 12 interceptions and was also a factor at wide receiver and in the return game. He’s averaging 22.2 points, 11.5 assists and 5.7 steals per game in basketball this season, which is almost unheard of point guard statistics. The only reason the hype hasn’t exploded with him with college offers is his size at 5-9.
The Lincoln Charter/Reidsville winner plays the winner of Goldsboro and Farmville Central, which should be an outstanding prep game. Harrison and Neal could be the rare freshman to play in the state title games in both football and basketball.
