Three-star running back Erin Collins from Seffner (Fla.) Armwood High’s decision to commit to NC State was hardly a surprise. Collins, we were led to believe, wanted to actually pull the trigger while he was in Raleigh for his unofficial visit last week, but his family pressured him into waiting.
Originally, the thought was that Collins would take an official visit early in the fall to finalize everything. What caused him to speed up his plans is unclear, but our guess is that the tightening amount of space in the class may have played a role in it.
Based on our conversation with two-star receiver Max Fisher from Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga High, our expectation is that he will be next to commit (assuming there is still space for him in the class). Fisher’s plan was to visit Indiana this weekend, but that seemed like a mere formality.
The only question we would have was that the original intention for NC State was to take one running back and three receivers. Collins obviously gives the Pack a pair of RBs in the class, and senior Jumichael Ramos sitting out this season could conceivably lessen the need of a receiver by one.
Assuming Fisher is still a go next week, that leaves an offensive linemen, a safety and finishing out the defensive line as the priorities going forward. We understand that three-star defensive lineman Matthew Butler from Garner (N.C.) High will release a top four Saturday. Our full expectation would be that Butler’s top four would consist of Tennessee, South Carolina, NC State and Duke. The one caveat would be an Alabama offer potentially changing everything for him.
Butler then plans to make his commitment on Friday, Oct. 14. That is a bye week for Garner.
At offensive line, four-star T.J. Moore from Charlotte Mallard Creek is supposed to announce his choice Monday. Several reasons lead us to believe he will probably pick Tennessee.
He is supposed to visit there this weekend with his family. Tennessee backed off West Virginia-native Billy Ross this week (thus leading him to probably commit to UNC this weekend) presumably in favor of Moore and a credible source led us to believe that UT was going to be Moore’s pick when he flirted with making a commitment in late-June.
If Moore does go to Tennessee or South Carolina, whom many believe are his top two schools, our expectation is that recently offered Greensboro (N.C.) Dudley tackle Bryson Speas, a Virginia commitment, could shoot to the top of the board along with Hollywood (Fla.) South Broward’s Jordan Carty (provided Carty’s transcripts check out well).
Needless to say though it is conceivable that the Pack could be done with its class in record time.
With the dust settled on the July evaluation period, you can easily divide NC State’s class of 2017 targets into new guys vs. old guard.
It’s always interesting to see which players prior to the April evaluation period have remained. Some have cut NC State and the Wolfpack have cut some guys themselves after not playing well, which we simply call “reneging scholarships.”
Then there are guys who might be in limbo in terms of previous key targets, but now it’s a little less clear. Warren (Ohio) Harding senior center Derek Culver is a perfect example of that. Culver unofficially visited NC State the first weekend of October, and he was impressed with NC State. The 6-foot-10, 230-pounder worked his way up to being ranked No. 51 overall in the country in the class of 2017 by Rivals.com. On paper, he’s a must-get recruit due to ranking, scholarship offers and potential.
The problem was that he had a rough July and is he able to score at the college level? There were games where he barely played for Ohio Basketball Club traveling team. NC State watched him a pair of times (at least) in Las Vegas last week, so the Wolfpack did their due diligence. If he ends up officially visiting, then that shows NCSU is willing to roll the dice on his upside.
Not many of the “old, old guard” remain from pre-April, but a few do. Raleigh native Thomas Allen, a senior point guard, was offered after April (early June to be exact), but the Wolfpack had been tracking the former Garner High standout since the winter. Allen doesn’t appear to have any new schools coming at him after the July evaluation period, and there is a sense that other colleges might be wary of battling NC State on a player in its backyard. Allen will be leaving for Wolfeboro (N.H.) Brewster Academy in early September.
Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman senior shooting guard Charles O’Bannon qualifies for that category for sure. In a round about way, Fort Wayne (Ind.) Snider power forward Malik Williams also does. Both top 35 players have NC State in their final eight, but odds are better that O’Bannon will officially visit Raleigh than Williams. The latter was a priority for former NC State assistant coach Rob Moxley, who went to see him play with Snider a few times this high school season.
It appeared that NC State wasn’t going to keep pursuing Williams, but 6-10 players who can make three-pointers are pretty rare. Williams never listed NC State, but the Wolfpack kept watching him play, first in Atlanta at an Under Armour event and then AAU Nationals at Disney World in the Orlando, Fla. suburbs.
Two other “old, old” types include La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere senior small forward Brian Bowen and Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy senior point guard Matt Coleman. We’ve been following both players for three full years. NC State just watched Meanstreets and Bowen play, and Coleman continued to list the Wolfpack this week at the Nike Camp in Los Angeles. Coleman also noted he might wait to sign next April.
The next wave of targets were players offered after the April evaluation period. Camden (Miss.) Jackson Velma senior point guard Nick Weatherspoon and Arlington (Va.) Bishop O’Connell senior center Nate Watson have both indicated they want to officially visit NC State in August. The duo flashed their considerable potential in front of NC State coaches last week in Las Vegas. Those two and O’Bannon might have been watched more than any players on the board in July.
Greenville (S.C.) Legacy Charter senior forward Nicolas Claxton and Baton Rouge (La.) Madison Prep senior wing Josh Anderson both unofficially visited NC State in June. Anderson has indicated he would like to return for an official visit, while Claxton also could. The latter was quiet in July only because he was playing Virgin Islands 18s squad in July.
Another June unofficial visitor was Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep senior power forward P.J. Washington of Frisco, Texas. He played with Coleman on the USA 18s squad following Nike Peach Jam on July 6-10. Heavy hitters will be battling for Washington until the bitter end, but the five-star is worth it. Kentucky, Texas, Arizona, UNC and NC State, appear to be his final five.
Of the “new guard” offers, Houston native Jase Febres, a skilled wing, and perhaps post player Mayan Kiir of Bradenton (Fla.) Victory Rock Prep, both had encouraging things to say about their NC State offer. Febres has an uncle in Charlotte, so is familiar with NCSU and the ACC. Kiir does like Louisville, who has offered, and Febres likes UCLA, who hasn’t offered.
NC State has also made a move with three players from Georgia: shooting guard M.J. Walker of Jonesboro High, point guard Collin Sexton of Mableton Pebblebrook and Alex O’Connell of Alpharetta Milton.
NCSU also offered power forward RaiQuan Gray of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Dillard and small forward Savion Flagg of Alvin (Texas) High. None of the new guard has unofficially visited NC State.
Sexton might be the hardest to land but is also the prize. He led the Nike EYBL in scoring at 31.7 points per game for Southern Stampede. He then was MVP for USA 17s, and joined CP3 and helped them win “The 8” in Las Vegas. Pre-blow up, Alabama was mentioned prominently with Sexton.
Originally, the thought was that Collins would take an official visit early in the fall to finalize everything. What caused him to speed up his plans is unclear, but our guess is that the tightening amount of space in the class may have played a role in it.
Based on our conversation with two-star receiver Max Fisher from Washington (D.C.) Gonzaga High, our expectation is that he will be next to commit (assuming there is still space for him in the class). Fisher’s plan was to visit Indiana this weekend, but that seemed like a mere formality.
The only question we would have was that the original intention for NC State was to take one running back and three receivers. Collins obviously gives the Pack a pair of RBs in the class, and senior Jumichael Ramos sitting out this season could conceivably lessen the need of a receiver by one.
Assuming Fisher is still a go next week, that leaves an offensive linemen, a safety and finishing out the defensive line as the priorities going forward. We understand that three-star defensive lineman Matthew Butler from Garner (N.C.) High will release a top four Saturday. Our full expectation would be that Butler’s top four would consist of Tennessee, South Carolina, NC State and Duke. The one caveat would be an Alabama offer potentially changing everything for him.
Butler then plans to make his commitment on Friday, Oct. 14. That is a bye week for Garner.
At offensive line, four-star T.J. Moore from Charlotte Mallard Creek is supposed to announce his choice Monday. Several reasons lead us to believe he will probably pick Tennessee.
He is supposed to visit there this weekend with his family. Tennessee backed off West Virginia-native Billy Ross this week (thus leading him to probably commit to UNC this weekend) presumably in favor of Moore and a credible source led us to believe that UT was going to be Moore’s pick when he flirted with making a commitment in late-June.
If Moore does go to Tennessee or South Carolina, whom many believe are his top two schools, our expectation is that recently offered Greensboro (N.C.) Dudley tackle Bryson Speas, a Virginia commitment, could shoot to the top of the board along with Hollywood (Fla.) South Broward’s Jordan Carty (provided Carty’s transcripts check out well).
Needless to say though it is conceivable that the Pack could be done with its class in record time.
•••
With the dust settled on the July evaluation period, you can easily divide NC State’s class of 2017 targets into new guys vs. old guard.
It’s always interesting to see which players prior to the April evaluation period have remained. Some have cut NC State and the Wolfpack have cut some guys themselves after not playing well, which we simply call “reneging scholarships.”
Then there are guys who might be in limbo in terms of previous key targets, but now it’s a little less clear. Warren (Ohio) Harding senior center Derek Culver is a perfect example of that. Culver unofficially visited NC State the first weekend of October, and he was impressed with NC State. The 6-foot-10, 230-pounder worked his way up to being ranked No. 51 overall in the country in the class of 2017 by Rivals.com. On paper, he’s a must-get recruit due to ranking, scholarship offers and potential.
The problem was that he had a rough July and is he able to score at the college level? There were games where he barely played for Ohio Basketball Club traveling team. NC State watched him a pair of times (at least) in Las Vegas last week, so the Wolfpack did their due diligence. If he ends up officially visiting, then that shows NCSU is willing to roll the dice on his upside.
Not many of the “old, old guard” remain from pre-April, but a few do. Raleigh native Thomas Allen, a senior point guard, was offered after April (early June to be exact), but the Wolfpack had been tracking the former Garner High standout since the winter. Allen doesn’t appear to have any new schools coming at him after the July evaluation period, and there is a sense that other colleges might be wary of battling NC State on a player in its backyard. Allen will be leaving for Wolfeboro (N.H.) Brewster Academy in early September.
Las Vegas (Nev.) Bishop Gorman senior shooting guard Charles O’Bannon qualifies for that category for sure. In a round about way, Fort Wayne (Ind.) Snider power forward Malik Williams also does. Both top 35 players have NC State in their final eight, but odds are better that O’Bannon will officially visit Raleigh than Williams. The latter was a priority for former NC State assistant coach Rob Moxley, who went to see him play with Snider a few times this high school season.
It appeared that NC State wasn’t going to keep pursuing Williams, but 6-10 players who can make three-pointers are pretty rare. Williams never listed NC State, but the Wolfpack kept watching him play, first in Atlanta at an Under Armour event and then AAU Nationals at Disney World in the Orlando, Fla. suburbs.
Two other “old, old” types include La Porte (Ind.) La Lumiere senior small forward Brian Bowen and Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy senior point guard Matt Coleman. We’ve been following both players for three full years. NC State just watched Meanstreets and Bowen play, and Coleman continued to list the Wolfpack this week at the Nike Camp in Los Angeles. Coleman also noted he might wait to sign next April.
The next wave of targets were players offered after the April evaluation period. Camden (Miss.) Jackson Velma senior point guard Nick Weatherspoon and Arlington (Va.) Bishop O’Connell senior center Nate Watson have both indicated they want to officially visit NC State in August. The duo flashed their considerable potential in front of NC State coaches last week in Las Vegas. Those two and O’Bannon might have been watched more than any players on the board in July.
Greenville (S.C.) Legacy Charter senior forward Nicolas Claxton and Baton Rouge (La.) Madison Prep senior wing Josh Anderson both unofficially visited NC State in June. Anderson has indicated he would like to return for an official visit, while Claxton also could. The latter was quiet in July only because he was playing Virgin Islands 18s squad in July.
Another June unofficial visitor was Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep senior power forward P.J. Washington of Frisco, Texas. He played with Coleman on the USA 18s squad following Nike Peach Jam on July 6-10. Heavy hitters will be battling for Washington until the bitter end, but the five-star is worth it. Kentucky, Texas, Arizona, UNC and NC State, appear to be his final five.
Of the “new guard” offers, Houston native Jase Febres, a skilled wing, and perhaps post player Mayan Kiir of Bradenton (Fla.) Victory Rock Prep, both had encouraging things to say about their NC State offer. Febres has an uncle in Charlotte, so is familiar with NCSU and the ACC. Kiir does like Louisville, who has offered, and Febres likes UCLA, who hasn’t offered.
NC State has also made a move with three players from Georgia: shooting guard M.J. Walker of Jonesboro High, point guard Collin Sexton of Mableton Pebblebrook and Alex O’Connell of Alpharetta Milton.
NCSU also offered power forward RaiQuan Gray of Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Dillard and small forward Savion Flagg of Alvin (Texas) High. None of the new guard has unofficially visited NC State.
Sexton might be the hardest to land but is also the prize. He led the Nike EYBL in scoring at 31.7 points per game for Southern Stampede. He then was MVP for USA 17s, and joined CP3 and helped them win “The 8” in Las Vegas. Pre-blow up, Alabama was mentioned prominently with Sexton.
