1. The end of May is nearly over and that is a terrific thing for NC State football recruiting.
With June becoming the biggest month in the recruiting calendar for the class of 2024, that trickles down in many ways to quiet down May. In many ways, May has become the “leave them alone month” when it comes to prospects who have had super long-time recruitments.
For some of these players, like junior wide receivers Alex Taylor of Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley, Jonathan Paylor of Burlington (N.C.) Cummings and Jordan Shipp of Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day, they’ve been recruited by NC State for 15 months or longer. Matthews (N.C.) Weddington junior wide receiver Keenan Jackson was offered 11 months ago. Taylor’s teammate, junior wide receiver Terrell Anderson, has been on the radar since his sophomore year, but was offered Oct. 28, 2022, by the Wolfpack. At the time, it seemed to be a later offer with Anderson, and that is a little crazy considering he’s still six-plus months away from Signing Day.
Long-time defensive back targets Ondre Evans and Jivan Baly have also gone through lengthy recruitments. Whoever gets either cornerback has worked for their commitment and put in the time.
Once they locked in their official visits, there simply isn’t any news value left with them until they come to Raleigh. The official visit is everything in recruiting and schools pump in an incredible amount of money to make them go.
As a reporter, I covered Paylor probably in September of his sophomore year, and with Shipp, Anderson and Taylor, i knew they were high major talents toward the end of their sophomore years. Jackson has been interviewed since March 2022, when he was a standout at the Rivals.com camp. In the month of May, it’s a simple “Is anything new?” If not, no reason to bother these guys and burn them out, which can easily occur with recruits.
For coaches such as NCSU wide receivers coach Joker Phillips, who have to keep things fresh for that long, it’s impressive. They are essentially getting paid to check in with 16-to-18-year-olds and each person has their own communication vibe. Some like texts or DMs and some like to be called or FaceTimed. Some just ignore coaches and media.
I first predicted that the class of 2024 in the state would be defined at wide receiver, and that has proven to be true. It is the one position group that has serious overlap with North Carolina recruiting, since Paylor, Taylor, Shipp, Anderson and Jackson are considering the Tar Heels. That has made Phillips the key man because it also a position the Wolfpack have struggled of late in recruiting, and have really struggled over the last 22 years in developing a first-round talent. It’s imperative that NC State gets two elite wide receiver prospects, and a third one with upside would be ideal. The glass half full types will see that they can get on to the field early at NC State.
Now the road has been a little bumpy in recruiting wide receivers. Changing the offense and with offensive coordinator Robert Anae also coaching the inside wide receivers, was a twist on things. In a perfect world, recruits want to see what a new offense is, but with many committing before mid-August, it’s not as feasible as the “old days.” The receivers also have to have faith that sophomore quarterback MJ Morris is the real deal.
2. The other subset of recruits is players who essentially have been recruited since January, or the prospects who go from Group of Five offers and graduated to Power Five Conference targets once their junior year video comes out after the season.
There are several examples of those players, who will be officially visiting in June. It usually ramps up at the first Junior Day event, which was Jan. 21. It then usually follows with an unofficial visit to a spring practice or the spring game. Some years, it could involve going to a Wolfpack basketball game, but that wasn’t used much (or at all) this cycle.
The hiring of Garett Tujague as offensive line coach led to many recruitments that started in January, though some of the players he had recruited while at Virginia. The offensive line board really wasn’t developed yet in December, and two that were on it, won’t be going to NC State — Michigan center commit Jake Guarnera and Mooresville (N.C.) Lake Norman tackle Ethan Calloway, who didn’t have NCSU in his final eight. One long-time offensive line target is guard Robby Martin of Huntington (W.Va.) High, who really eschews the glitz of the recruiting process.
Tujague has been able to jump in and get the process rolling with tackles Marcus Mascoll of Snellville (Ga.) South Gwinnett and Deryc Plazz of Jacksonville (Fla.) Andrew Jackson and interior linemen Will Sanders of Brookwood (Ala.) High and Kyle Altuner of Olney (Md.) Good Counsel. The board got a jolt in May with offers out to tackles Trenton Mitchell of Gastonia (N.C.) Ashbrook, Tyler West of Andrews (N.C.) High and former South Carolina commit Mike Williams of Springdale (Md.) Flowers High.
Every indication is that NC State will get their usual haul of solid offensive lineman, who will get transformed during a redshirt year with work in the strength and conditioning program.
These six months or so recruitments are almost ideal in college football now. The coaches have gotten a taste of the transfer portal, which I quickly dubbed speed-dating. Being able to land a solid veteran or better after 3-4 weeks or recruiting has forever altered recruiting of younger players.
In basketball, it’s getting rarer for freshman and sophomore to “rack up” offers, not because of their talent or upside, but due to the grind. Football isn’t there yet, but to put this in perspective, the class of 2026 won’t get contacted by college coaches until Sept. 1 of their junior year. So, it’s easier to throw out some offers because the follow-up isn’t quite the same. The real key for younger players is to get them on campus and prioritize the “no-brainers” but that still means multi-year recruitments like Paylor.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to recruit a player for a long time except for one thing — if you don’t get him. June could also be called the heartbreak month for college coaches because of all the time invested in particular players. That was in clear view last year when wide receivers Noah Rogers and Nathan Leacock didn’t officially visit last June. Rogers ended up picking Ohio State, and eventually Leacock selected Tennessee. It’s a brutal business, especially if the recruit is a constant caller or texter when combined with game-day visits, practice visits, Junior Day events, June Camps or to stop in just to stop in.
3. NC State has very few official visitors of what could described as late spring revelations.
Call this part three of how the 18 official visitors list breaks down into categories.
Rome (Ga.) High junior defensive end Justin Terrell and the previously mentioned Marshall, West and Altuner would fall into this category. Terrell has different circumstances as he was a Wake Forest commit at one point. He’ll be officially visiting NC State on June 23. Marshall was offered April 18 and Altuner was offered April 29, so later in the process. Altuner did have a recruiting relationship with Tujague from the Virginia days.
Going back to the reporting process, the questions you ask of someone who was just offered in March or April are much different than say Paylor, who to keep things fresh with, involves a particular unique angle. There are numerous targets that could be months away
Not lined for an official visitor yet, but junior nose tackle Nnamdi Ogboko of South Garner (N.C.) High is a perfect example of being in the early stages of being heavily pursued by P5 schools.
Ogboko was able to attend a spring practice March 3, but he’s still just building his recruiting relationship with defensive line coach Charley Wiles. That’s an easy one to explain because he didn’t play football until this past fall. The 6-4, 338-pounder grew up playing basketball in Durham, N.C. If Duke had offered this past January or February, he might have jumped on it. The Blue Devils offered him Thursday, and he might not even have them in his top group now.
Elijah Groves of Cross Plains (Tenn.) East Robertson High is another junior who is essentially just starting his recruitment. His HUDL film is excellent and he fits the mold of the taller, lanky outside linebacker, who once he puts on 20-some pounds could challenge for All-ACC offers one day. Glover helped lead his 1A school to the Tennessee state title in 2022, and he averaged 19 points and 10.5 rebounds this past season 6-4 and 210 pounds, another impressive feat. Purdue and Virginia Tech are his other P5 offers.
Linebackers such as Groves and Justin Logan, and defensive back/athlete Ronnie Royal — both Logan and Royal will officially visit in June — are difference makers on defense.
With June becoming the biggest month in the recruiting calendar for the class of 2024, that trickles down in many ways to quiet down May. In many ways, May has become the “leave them alone month” when it comes to prospects who have had super long-time recruitments.
For some of these players, like junior wide receivers Alex Taylor of Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley, Jonathan Paylor of Burlington (N.C.) Cummings and Jordan Shipp of Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day, they’ve been recruited by NC State for 15 months or longer. Matthews (N.C.) Weddington junior wide receiver Keenan Jackson was offered 11 months ago. Taylor’s teammate, junior wide receiver Terrell Anderson, has been on the radar since his sophomore year, but was offered Oct. 28, 2022, by the Wolfpack. At the time, it seemed to be a later offer with Anderson, and that is a little crazy considering he’s still six-plus months away from Signing Day.
Long-time defensive back targets Ondre Evans and Jivan Baly have also gone through lengthy recruitments. Whoever gets either cornerback has worked for their commitment and put in the time.
Once they locked in their official visits, there simply isn’t any news value left with them until they come to Raleigh. The official visit is everything in recruiting and schools pump in an incredible amount of money to make them go.
As a reporter, I covered Paylor probably in September of his sophomore year, and with Shipp, Anderson and Taylor, i knew they were high major talents toward the end of their sophomore years. Jackson has been interviewed since March 2022, when he was a standout at the Rivals.com camp. In the month of May, it’s a simple “Is anything new?” If not, no reason to bother these guys and burn them out, which can easily occur with recruits.
For coaches such as NCSU wide receivers coach Joker Phillips, who have to keep things fresh for that long, it’s impressive. They are essentially getting paid to check in with 16-to-18-year-olds and each person has their own communication vibe. Some like texts or DMs and some like to be called or FaceTimed. Some just ignore coaches and media.
I first predicted that the class of 2024 in the state would be defined at wide receiver, and that has proven to be true. It is the one position group that has serious overlap with North Carolina recruiting, since Paylor, Taylor, Shipp, Anderson and Jackson are considering the Tar Heels. That has made Phillips the key man because it also a position the Wolfpack have struggled of late in recruiting, and have really struggled over the last 22 years in developing a first-round talent. It’s imperative that NC State gets two elite wide receiver prospects, and a third one with upside would be ideal. The glass half full types will see that they can get on to the field early at NC State.
Now the road has been a little bumpy in recruiting wide receivers. Changing the offense and with offensive coordinator Robert Anae also coaching the inside wide receivers, was a twist on things. In a perfect world, recruits want to see what a new offense is, but with many committing before mid-August, it’s not as feasible as the “old days.” The receivers also have to have faith that sophomore quarterback MJ Morris is the real deal.
2. The other subset of recruits is players who essentially have been recruited since January, or the prospects who go from Group of Five offers and graduated to Power Five Conference targets once their junior year video comes out after the season.
There are several examples of those players, who will be officially visiting in June. It usually ramps up at the first Junior Day event, which was Jan. 21. It then usually follows with an unofficial visit to a spring practice or the spring game. Some years, it could involve going to a Wolfpack basketball game, but that wasn’t used much (or at all) this cycle.
The hiring of Garett Tujague as offensive line coach led to many recruitments that started in January, though some of the players he had recruited while at Virginia. The offensive line board really wasn’t developed yet in December, and two that were on it, won’t be going to NC State — Michigan center commit Jake Guarnera and Mooresville (N.C.) Lake Norman tackle Ethan Calloway, who didn’t have NCSU in his final eight. One long-time offensive line target is guard Robby Martin of Huntington (W.Va.) High, who really eschews the glitz of the recruiting process.
Tujague has been able to jump in and get the process rolling with tackles Marcus Mascoll of Snellville (Ga.) South Gwinnett and Deryc Plazz of Jacksonville (Fla.) Andrew Jackson and interior linemen Will Sanders of Brookwood (Ala.) High and Kyle Altuner of Olney (Md.) Good Counsel. The board got a jolt in May with offers out to tackles Trenton Mitchell of Gastonia (N.C.) Ashbrook, Tyler West of Andrews (N.C.) High and former South Carolina commit Mike Williams of Springdale (Md.) Flowers High.
Every indication is that NC State will get their usual haul of solid offensive lineman, who will get transformed during a redshirt year with work in the strength and conditioning program.
These six months or so recruitments are almost ideal in college football now. The coaches have gotten a taste of the transfer portal, which I quickly dubbed speed-dating. Being able to land a solid veteran or better after 3-4 weeks or recruiting has forever altered recruiting of younger players.
In basketball, it’s getting rarer for freshman and sophomore to “rack up” offers, not because of their talent or upside, but due to the grind. Football isn’t there yet, but to put this in perspective, the class of 2026 won’t get contacted by college coaches until Sept. 1 of their junior year. So, it’s easier to throw out some offers because the follow-up isn’t quite the same. The real key for younger players is to get them on campus and prioritize the “no-brainers” but that still means multi-year recruitments like Paylor.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to recruit a player for a long time except for one thing — if you don’t get him. June could also be called the heartbreak month for college coaches because of all the time invested in particular players. That was in clear view last year when wide receivers Noah Rogers and Nathan Leacock didn’t officially visit last June. Rogers ended up picking Ohio State, and eventually Leacock selected Tennessee. It’s a brutal business, especially if the recruit is a constant caller or texter when combined with game-day visits, practice visits, Junior Day events, June Camps or to stop in just to stop in.
3. NC State has very few official visitors of what could described as late spring revelations.
Call this part three of how the 18 official visitors list breaks down into categories.
Rome (Ga.) High junior defensive end Justin Terrell and the previously mentioned Marshall, West and Altuner would fall into this category. Terrell has different circumstances as he was a Wake Forest commit at one point. He’ll be officially visiting NC State on June 23. Marshall was offered April 18 and Altuner was offered April 29, so later in the process. Altuner did have a recruiting relationship with Tujague from the Virginia days.
Going back to the reporting process, the questions you ask of someone who was just offered in March or April are much different than say Paylor, who to keep things fresh with, involves a particular unique angle. There are numerous targets that could be months away
Not lined for an official visitor yet, but junior nose tackle Nnamdi Ogboko of South Garner (N.C.) High is a perfect example of being in the early stages of being heavily pursued by P5 schools.
Ogboko was able to attend a spring practice March 3, but he’s still just building his recruiting relationship with defensive line coach Charley Wiles. That’s an easy one to explain because he didn’t play football until this past fall. The 6-4, 338-pounder grew up playing basketball in Durham, N.C. If Duke had offered this past January or February, he might have jumped on it. The Blue Devils offered him Thursday, and he might not even have them in his top group now.
Elijah Groves of Cross Plains (Tenn.) East Robertson High is another junior who is essentially just starting his recruitment. His HUDL film is excellent and he fits the mold of the taller, lanky outside linebacker, who once he puts on 20-some pounds could challenge for All-ACC offers one day. Glover helped lead his 1A school to the Tennessee state title in 2022, and he averaged 19 points and 10.5 rebounds this past season 6-4 and 210 pounds, another impressive feat. Purdue and Virginia Tech are his other P5 offers.
Linebackers such as Groves and Justin Logan, and defensive back/athlete Ronnie Royal — both Logan and Royal will officially visit in June — are difference makers on defense.
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