1. One of the biggest recruiting trends for NC State will involve the big men in the trenches on the offensive line.
NC State has an impressive array of young skill position players, and it will be up to the offensive to unlock their abilities in the future.
After recent interviews and stories on Wilmington (N.C.) Hoggard tackle Michael Gibbs, Louisville (Ky.) Male center Isaac Sowells Jr. and Jacksonville, N.C., native Antoni Ogumoro, a tackle now at Elgin (Okla.) High, it’s safe to say that NC State is in good shape with the trio and should get official visits in June to close it out.
Of the offensive lineman that have been offered, all three have been to NC State multiple times and are on the fast-track for early-summer commitments.
Ogumoro has a little bit more unknown due to having some new schools in the Oklahoma/Texas region offering now that he’s moved there after Thanksgiving. For instance, Oklahoma State just offered him today. Of the schools that have recruited him the longest, NC State and Tennessee standout, with probably UNC in third place.
NC State was Gibbs’ first high-major offer, and that means something. Penn State, Duke and Virginia Tech have joined the party. NC State has done a terrific job of prioritizing him thus far, between getting him on campus or seeing him in Wilmington, N.C.
Sowells Jr. has been to NC State twice including this past Saturday. He’s on a visit tour and it’s too early to say if the Wolfpack are his clear leader, but the Wolfpack should have a seat at the table from this point forward. It’s also clear that West Virginia, Louisville, Kentucky and Miami (Fla.) are also in the mix. South Carolina, Indiana (where his NFL dad played) and Penn State are the next tier at the moment.
2. Auburn defensive back Donovan Kaufman and outside linebacker Cam Riley, and Golden West Junior College safety Marquis Brown, are visiting NC State this weekend, and could be part of the final pieces to the Wolfpack’s defensive puzzle.
The Wolfpack started classes on Jan. 8, so clock is ticking in that regard unless the Auburn duo are taking classes there this semester. That is an option for any transfer, but the school might not have a scholarship for them after transferring.
Kaufman said he was getting recruited as a nickel and free safety by NC State. Kaufman is no stranger to the recruiting process. The Metairie (La.) Rummel High product was ranked No. 186 overall in the country, No. 9 in Louisiana and No. 11 safety nationally in the class of 2020.
Vanderbilt beat Ole Miss coming out of high school, and he also visited Florida State and Baylor. Tennessee and LSU had also been in the mix. Kaufman had 15 tackles in two games at Vanderbilt in 2020 and then entered the transfer portal. He picked Auburn over Texas and Florida State, with the Tigers having the edge of former Commodores coach Derek Mason as defensive coordinator at the time.
Kaufman had 109 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, six passes defended and six forced fumbles in 32 career games at Auburn. He had 37 tackles and an interception this past year. Kaufman entered the portal on Jan. 16.
Riley verbally committed to Auburn relatively early in the class of 2020. The then 6-4, 210-pounder was a Rivals.com three-star prospect, No. 15 overall in Alabama and No. 27 at outside linebacker nationally coming out of Evergreen (Ala.) Hillcrest High. He picked Auburn over offers from Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Mississippi State among others.
Riley broke into the starting lineup his junior year in 2022 — starting seven of 11 games — and had 66 tackles, including 12 stops against Alabama. He followed up with 32 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks for his senior year in 13 games (one start). Riley’s fifth-year of college is the extra COVID year.
Riley has grown to 6-5 and 242 pounds, and he has 120 career tackles, eight tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in 46 career games.
Brown hasn’t been talked about much over the last two months, but for a good reason. NC State offered him Oct. 26, but couldn’t get him on campus and he verbally committed to Utah State in early December. Whatever transpired over the next two weeks, he didn’t sign with Utah State on Dec. 20. Teammates Terrell Taylor, a defensive back, and defensive tackle Braydon Bailey did sign with Utah State.
The 6-4, 200-pounder had 62 tackles, five interceptions and six passes broken up in 11 games played, and was named first-team All-JuCo by Rivals.com’s JC Gridiron. The squad had five safeties listed, including former Wolfpack targets Isaiah Crosby (California signee) and Brylan Lanier (Mississippi State).
Brown graduated from Hillsboro (Ore.) Liberty High and then redshirted in 2022 at Golden West C.C., which is in lovely Huntington Beach, Calif.
3. The class of 2027 is starting to get some high major offers in the state.
It’s kind of surprising, and also shows that some schools will offer now, and maybe even still hold those offers valid down the road. NC State has not offered an in-state 2027 prospect yet, and it’s a little unclear who that could be at this point. Perhaps, Fayetteville (N.C.) Seventy-First freshman nose tackle John Archer could be a candidate.
Under normal circumstances, Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day tight end/defensive end Griff Galloway would be a candidate to receive an early NC State offer. However, with him being the son of UNC wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway, that’s very unlikely. It does need to be said that who knows where Coach Galloway could be in 2027. North Carolina pulled the trigger on offering Galloway this past week, as did Penn State, Florida, Texas A&M, Marshall, Appalachian State and Eastern Kentucky.
Providence Day teammate, safety Brennan Drummond, was offered by Arkansas and Florida.
Arden (N.C.) Christ School quarterback Mason Holtzclaw is impressive physically and has offers from Kentucky, Appalachian State, East Carolina, New Mexico State, Toledo and Charlotte. He was at NC State’s Junior Day on Saturday, and he camped last June.
Arkansas, East Carolina, Campbell and UAB, have offered Cornelius (N.C.) Hough quarterback Ethan Royal. He also camped at NC State last June.
One of the by-products of seeing Southern Durham junior defensive tackle Isaiah Campbell, was stumbling on to his freshman teammates. Quarterback Tyson Broadway and wide receivers Lane Henderson and Jonathan Dillon, were all offered by Georgia Tech. Troy and Liberty also offered Dillon.
Troy, Marshall and Liberty swept through the state and offered numerous players. Indiana and Troy offered Rolesville (N.C.) High defensive back Marquis Bryant.
Virginia Tech and Troy have offered West Charlotte athlete Davion Jones, and Charlotte Chambers linebacker Michael Griffin has offers from Troy and Virginia Tech.
Charlotte Palisades wide receiver Caleb Kearney has offers from Virginia Tech and East Carolina.
Charlotte Independence offensive lineman Nori White has offers from East Carolina and Charlotte.
Shelby (N.C.) High speedster Majay Thompson was offered by Charlotte, and he could be next in the football-rich area.
NC State has an impressive array of young skill position players, and it will be up to the offensive to unlock their abilities in the future.
After recent interviews and stories on Wilmington (N.C.) Hoggard tackle Michael Gibbs, Louisville (Ky.) Male center Isaac Sowells Jr. and Jacksonville, N.C., native Antoni Ogumoro, a tackle now at Elgin (Okla.) High, it’s safe to say that NC State is in good shape with the trio and should get official visits in June to close it out.
Of the offensive lineman that have been offered, all three have been to NC State multiple times and are on the fast-track for early-summer commitments.
Ogumoro has a little bit more unknown due to having some new schools in the Oklahoma/Texas region offering now that he’s moved there after Thanksgiving. For instance, Oklahoma State just offered him today. Of the schools that have recruited him the longest, NC State and Tennessee standout, with probably UNC in third place.
NC State was Gibbs’ first high-major offer, and that means something. Penn State, Duke and Virginia Tech have joined the party. NC State has done a terrific job of prioritizing him thus far, between getting him on campus or seeing him in Wilmington, N.C.
Sowells Jr. has been to NC State twice including this past Saturday. He’s on a visit tour and it’s too early to say if the Wolfpack are his clear leader, but the Wolfpack should have a seat at the table from this point forward. It’s also clear that West Virginia, Louisville, Kentucky and Miami (Fla.) are also in the mix. South Carolina, Indiana (where his NFL dad played) and Penn State are the next tier at the moment.
2. Auburn defensive back Donovan Kaufman and outside linebacker Cam Riley, and Golden West Junior College safety Marquis Brown, are visiting NC State this weekend, and could be part of the final pieces to the Wolfpack’s defensive puzzle.
The Wolfpack started classes on Jan. 8, so clock is ticking in that regard unless the Auburn duo are taking classes there this semester. That is an option for any transfer, but the school might not have a scholarship for them after transferring.
Kaufman said he was getting recruited as a nickel and free safety by NC State. Kaufman is no stranger to the recruiting process. The Metairie (La.) Rummel High product was ranked No. 186 overall in the country, No. 9 in Louisiana and No. 11 safety nationally in the class of 2020.
Vanderbilt beat Ole Miss coming out of high school, and he also visited Florida State and Baylor. Tennessee and LSU had also been in the mix. Kaufman had 15 tackles in two games at Vanderbilt in 2020 and then entered the transfer portal. He picked Auburn over Texas and Florida State, with the Tigers having the edge of former Commodores coach Derek Mason as defensive coordinator at the time.
Kaufman had 109 tackles, eight tackles for loss, two sacks, two interceptions, six passes defended and six forced fumbles in 32 career games at Auburn. He had 37 tackles and an interception this past year. Kaufman entered the portal on Jan. 16.
Riley verbally committed to Auburn relatively early in the class of 2020. The then 6-4, 210-pounder was a Rivals.com three-star prospect, No. 15 overall in Alabama and No. 27 at outside linebacker nationally coming out of Evergreen (Ala.) Hillcrest High. He picked Auburn over offers from Texas A&M, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Tennessee, Ole Miss and Mississippi State among others.
Riley broke into the starting lineup his junior year in 2022 — starting seven of 11 games — and had 66 tackles, including 12 stops against Alabama. He followed up with 32 tackles, 3.5 tackles for loss, and 2.5 sacks for his senior year in 13 games (one start). Riley’s fifth-year of college is the extra COVID year.
Riley has grown to 6-5 and 242 pounds, and he has 120 career tackles, eight tackles for loss and 2.5 sacks in 46 career games.
Brown hasn’t been talked about much over the last two months, but for a good reason. NC State offered him Oct. 26, but couldn’t get him on campus and he verbally committed to Utah State in early December. Whatever transpired over the next two weeks, he didn’t sign with Utah State on Dec. 20. Teammates Terrell Taylor, a defensive back, and defensive tackle Braydon Bailey did sign with Utah State.
The 6-4, 200-pounder had 62 tackles, five interceptions and six passes broken up in 11 games played, and was named first-team All-JuCo by Rivals.com’s JC Gridiron. The squad had five safeties listed, including former Wolfpack targets Isaiah Crosby (California signee) and Brylan Lanier (Mississippi State).
Brown graduated from Hillsboro (Ore.) Liberty High and then redshirted in 2022 at Golden West C.C., which is in lovely Huntington Beach, Calif.
3. The class of 2027 is starting to get some high major offers in the state.
It’s kind of surprising, and also shows that some schools will offer now, and maybe even still hold those offers valid down the road. NC State has not offered an in-state 2027 prospect yet, and it’s a little unclear who that could be at this point. Perhaps, Fayetteville (N.C.) Seventy-First freshman nose tackle John Archer could be a candidate.
Under normal circumstances, Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day tight end/defensive end Griff Galloway would be a candidate to receive an early NC State offer. However, with him being the son of UNC wide receivers coach Lonnie Galloway, that’s very unlikely. It does need to be said that who knows where Coach Galloway could be in 2027. North Carolina pulled the trigger on offering Galloway this past week, as did Penn State, Florida, Texas A&M, Marshall, Appalachian State and Eastern Kentucky.
Providence Day teammate, safety Brennan Drummond, was offered by Arkansas and Florida.
Arden (N.C.) Christ School quarterback Mason Holtzclaw is impressive physically and has offers from Kentucky, Appalachian State, East Carolina, New Mexico State, Toledo and Charlotte. He was at NC State’s Junior Day on Saturday, and he camped last June.
Arkansas, East Carolina, Campbell and UAB, have offered Cornelius (N.C.) Hough quarterback Ethan Royal. He also camped at NC State last June.
One of the by-products of seeing Southern Durham junior defensive tackle Isaiah Campbell, was stumbling on to his freshman teammates. Quarterback Tyson Broadway and wide receivers Lane Henderson and Jonathan Dillon, were all offered by Georgia Tech. Troy and Liberty also offered Dillon.
Troy, Marshall and Liberty swept through the state and offered numerous players. Indiana and Troy offered Rolesville (N.C.) High defensive back Marquis Bryant.
Virginia Tech and Troy have offered West Charlotte athlete Davion Jones, and Charlotte Chambers linebacker Michael Griffin has offers from Troy and Virginia Tech.
Charlotte Palisades wide receiver Caleb Kearney has offers from Virginia Tech and East Carolina.
Charlotte Independence offensive lineman Nori White has offers from East Carolina and Charlotte.
Shelby (N.C.) High speedster Majay Thompson was offered by Charlotte, and he could be next in the football-rich area.
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