There are obviously going to be a ton of conversations over the next couple months on the status of college sports, and it’s understandable that there would be a healthy amount of skepticism about things going off as planned.
There are rumors, for instance, that one ACC school could be on the verge of announcing very shortly that their fall classes will be online only. On the surface that would seem to be an awfully early announcement for such, but we have read elsewhere that some universities think that the end of May would be the latest that they could make a call on the fall semester.
That is significant because there is a consensus feeling that college sports will not happen if students are not on campus. The question naturally becomes does that mean just one school can derail it for others, or does it take a majority of universities to take that course before that becomes the reality.
A few weeks ago, we had a sense that many felt the most likely outcome was a likely condensed, potentially conference games only football season in the fall. Things though change quickly. There was a lot of chatter in recent days that the spring season might be the best bet.
The financial losses of no football would be astronomical. For NC State, that loss would be in the range of $25-50 million (and more on the high end of that range). For the moment, the leadership around the Wolfpack are living in the now and feel optimistic about the immediate standing. There were only about 20 seniors in the spring sports at NC State that were affected by the NCAA ruling they can have the year back in eligibility, so footing the bill on that is not expected to be a significant problem (since not all will be back).
NC State director of athletics Boo Corrigan and chancellor Randy Woodson have been earning high marks behind the scenes for their leadership thus far. Corrigan has taken primarily an approach of trying not to look too far ahead and focusing on what they can control in the immediate future, especially when it comes to meeting the needs of student-athletes.
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The commitment of three-star running back Caleb McDowell came rather suddenly, and interestingly it came with McDowell having yet to take an actual visit to NC State. However, McDowell said that he has taken what has become the new trend in college recruiting (by necessity): virtual visits.
Colleges are now essentially using FaceTime and other platforms to show players around facilities and meet coaches. NC State football had not done it extensively but has been ramping it up, and do not be surprised if it becomes a new trend that sticks. Virtual visits are a good way to show a longer list of prospects what you have to offer, especially for those recruits who logistically have a difficult time making it to campus for a visit.
Zoom meetings are also another way to be able to essentially have an in-home visit. It will be interesting to see if the NCAA tries to regulate those technologies going forward.
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There is an unmistakable trend: NC State is trying to get more athletic at the skill positions. That has been very well documented, and those efforts went into overdrive after last season. We can recall telling one of our highest-level sources who is intimately knowledgeable about the Wolfpack football program how the receivers that were signed late in the fall (Anthony Smith, Jalen Coit and Chris Scott) were making it perhaps the fastest class that has signed with NC State in a while.
The response we got from the source: “We needed it.”
Thus far, all four of NC State’s verbal commitments are skill players, and furthermore NC State had actual measurables to ensure that they are athletic. Receiver Julian Gray is a legit speedster via his 40 times (4.49 seconds at Nike, 4.56 seconds at Rivals) and track times that have been recorded.
Receiver Jakolbe Baldwin may not have great speed, but he also has elite quickness, evident by the shuttle times he put up not only at NC State’s summer camp (4.13 seconds) but also the Rivals camp (4.11 seconds). Anything below 4.2 seconds is considered really, really good. Both Baldwin (33.8 inches vertical and 10-foot-6 broad jump) and Gray (10-foot-2 broad jump and 34.8 inch vertical) have great leaping numbers. Any broad jump over 10-feet is considered outstanding.
Three-star cornerback Mario Love Jr. is not quite the athlete those two were, but he still ran decently well at NC State’s summer camp (4.6 seconds) with a nice vertical (32.7 inches).
One of the things that attracted NC State to McDowell, we are told, were indeed his numbers. They did the research and discovered that McDowell’s track times when he was a freshman in high school (McDowell was injured his sophomore year in track and obviously did not get to run this past year) were in the 82nd percentile for the 100 (11.2 seconds) and 95th percentile in the 200 (22.28 seconds) that year.
He is also athletic enough to do back flips and dunk a basketball despite being a little less than 5-foot-10 tall. His weight lifting numbers (350-pound bench press, 600-pound squat and 300-pound power clean) are also outstanding.
McDowell’s size may have had some colleges skeptical, but also do not be surprised if he has a breakout senior year when he focuses on offense exclusively.
There are rumors, for instance, that one ACC school could be on the verge of announcing very shortly that their fall classes will be online only. On the surface that would seem to be an awfully early announcement for such, but we have read elsewhere that some universities think that the end of May would be the latest that they could make a call on the fall semester.
That is significant because there is a consensus feeling that college sports will not happen if students are not on campus. The question naturally becomes does that mean just one school can derail it for others, or does it take a majority of universities to take that course before that becomes the reality.
A few weeks ago, we had a sense that many felt the most likely outcome was a likely condensed, potentially conference games only football season in the fall. Things though change quickly. There was a lot of chatter in recent days that the spring season might be the best bet.
The financial losses of no football would be astronomical. For NC State, that loss would be in the range of $25-50 million (and more on the high end of that range). For the moment, the leadership around the Wolfpack are living in the now and feel optimistic about the immediate standing. There were only about 20 seniors in the spring sports at NC State that were affected by the NCAA ruling they can have the year back in eligibility, so footing the bill on that is not expected to be a significant problem (since not all will be back).
NC State director of athletics Boo Corrigan and chancellor Randy Woodson have been earning high marks behind the scenes for their leadership thus far. Corrigan has taken primarily an approach of trying not to look too far ahead and focusing on what they can control in the immediate future, especially when it comes to meeting the needs of student-athletes.
***
The commitment of three-star running back Caleb McDowell came rather suddenly, and interestingly it came with McDowell having yet to take an actual visit to NC State. However, McDowell said that he has taken what has become the new trend in college recruiting (by necessity): virtual visits.
Colleges are now essentially using FaceTime and other platforms to show players around facilities and meet coaches. NC State football had not done it extensively but has been ramping it up, and do not be surprised if it becomes a new trend that sticks. Virtual visits are a good way to show a longer list of prospects what you have to offer, especially for those recruits who logistically have a difficult time making it to campus for a visit.
Zoom meetings are also another way to be able to essentially have an in-home visit. It will be interesting to see if the NCAA tries to regulate those technologies going forward.
•••
There is an unmistakable trend: NC State is trying to get more athletic at the skill positions. That has been very well documented, and those efforts went into overdrive after last season. We can recall telling one of our highest-level sources who is intimately knowledgeable about the Wolfpack football program how the receivers that were signed late in the fall (Anthony Smith, Jalen Coit and Chris Scott) were making it perhaps the fastest class that has signed with NC State in a while.
The response we got from the source: “We needed it.”
Thus far, all four of NC State’s verbal commitments are skill players, and furthermore NC State had actual measurables to ensure that they are athletic. Receiver Julian Gray is a legit speedster via his 40 times (4.49 seconds at Nike, 4.56 seconds at Rivals) and track times that have been recorded.
Receiver Jakolbe Baldwin may not have great speed, but he also has elite quickness, evident by the shuttle times he put up not only at NC State’s summer camp (4.13 seconds) but also the Rivals camp (4.11 seconds). Anything below 4.2 seconds is considered really, really good. Both Baldwin (33.8 inches vertical and 10-foot-6 broad jump) and Gray (10-foot-2 broad jump and 34.8 inch vertical) have great leaping numbers. Any broad jump over 10-feet is considered outstanding.
Three-star cornerback Mario Love Jr. is not quite the athlete those two were, but he still ran decently well at NC State’s summer camp (4.6 seconds) with a nice vertical (32.7 inches).
One of the things that attracted NC State to McDowell, we are told, were indeed his numbers. They did the research and discovered that McDowell’s track times when he was a freshman in high school (McDowell was injured his sophomore year in track and obviously did not get to run this past year) were in the 82nd percentile for the 100 (11.2 seconds) and 95th percentile in the 200 (22.28 seconds) that year.
He is also athletic enough to do back flips and dunk a basketball despite being a little less than 5-foot-10 tall. His weight lifting numbers (350-pound bench press, 600-pound squat and 300-pound power clean) are also outstanding.
McDowell’s size may have had some colleges skeptical, but also do not be surprised if he has a breakout senior year when he focuses on offense exclusively.
