I had mentioned in The Run Down that Durham, N.C., is starting to get a few more players again. One of the guys I mentioned was freshman tackle Ekene Ogboko as having a big upside in the class of 2026 at 6-5ish and 270 pounds.

Well, his older brother at Durham Riverside is starting to see a big uptick in his recruitment, nose tackle Nnamdi Ogboko, who is 6-5 and 320 pounds. He's gotten recent offers from Rutgers, Boston College, Vanderbilt, Appalachian State, Dartmouth, Connecticut, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, ECU, and James Madison. So he's well on his way.

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Arden Christ School junior cornerback Khalil Conley didn’t waste much time in committing to UNC.

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In a true slugfest The Pack outlasted UNC-G 15-13 to run their season record to 13-0. Next series is against Miami in Coral Gables to start ACC play.

After week 3 of in-conference competition, State is ranked number 1 in the SAISA Conference standings!
1. N. C. State
2. Jacksonville University
3. University of Miami
4. The Citadel
5. University of South Florida

All-ACC story​

2022-23 ACC Award Winners
All-ACC Team
First Team
Isaiah Wong, Miami, 337
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 324
Tyree Appleby, Wake Forest, 319
Hunter Tyson, Clemson, 271
Jamarius Burton, Pitt, 262

Second Team
Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 258
Terquavion Smith, NC State, 243
Jarkel Joiner, NC State, 203
Jordan Miller, Miami, 148
Blake Hinson, Pitt, 132

Third Team
Norchad Omier, Miami, 131
PJ Hall, Clemson, 126
Kihei Clark, Virginia, 102
Jesse Edwards, Syracuse, 54
Reece Beekman, Virginia, 54

Honorable Mention
El Ellis, Louisville, 50
Grant Basile, Virginia Tech, 43
Judah Mintz, Syracuse, 40
Jeremy Roach, Duke, 35
Quinten Post, Boston College, 33
Jayden Gardner, Virginia, 31
RJ Davis, North Carolina, 26
DJ Burns Jr., NC State, 24
Caleb Love, North Carolina, 21

Note: All-ACC Team points are determined on a 5-3-1 system (five points for first team, three points for second team, one point for third team).

Player of the Year
Isaiah Wong, Miami, 30 votes
Tyree Appleby, Wake Forest, 23
Armando Bacot, North Carolina, 9
Hunter Tyson, Clemson, 4
Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 3
Jamarius Burton, Pitt, 3
Jarkel Joiner, NC State, 2
Jeremy Roach, Duke, 1

Rookie of the Year
Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 68 votes
Judah Mintz, Syracuse, 7

All-Defensive Team
Reece Beekman, Virginia, 63 votes
Jesse Edwards, Syracuse, 56
Leaky Black, North Carolina, 55
Dereck Lively II, Duke, 45
Kihei Clark, Virginia, 26

All-Freshman Team
Kyle Filipowski, Duke, 75 votes
Judah Mintz, Syracuse, 72
Tyrese Proctor, Duke, 51
JJ Starling, Notre Dame, 39
Dereck Lively II, Duke, 39

Coach of the Year
Jeff Capel, Pitt, 57 votes
Jim Larrañaga, Miami, 8
Brad Brownell, Clemson, 6
Kevin Keatts, NC State, 2
Tony Bennett, Virginia, 2

Defensive Player of the Year
Reece Beekman, Virginia, 29 votes
Leaky Black, North Carolina, 18
Jesse Edwards, Syracuse, 13
Dereck Lively II, Duke, 6
Federiko Federiko, Pitt, 3
Ja'von Franklin, Georgia Tech, 3
Justyn Mutts, Virginia Tech, 2
Norchad Omier, Miami, 1

Most Improved Player
Quinten Post, Boston College, 23 votes
Sean Pedulla, Virginia Tech, 14
Jordan Miller, Miami, 14
Chase Hunter, Clemson, 10
Cameron Hildreth, Wake Forest, 3
Casey Morsell, NC State, 3
Wooga Poplar, Miami, 3
Jesse Edwards, Syracuse, 2
JJ Traynor, Louisville, 1
Federiko Federiko, Pitt, 1
Jeremy Roach, Duke, 1

Sixth Man of the Year
Nike Sibande, Pitt, 47 votes
Ben Vander Plas, Virginia, 8
Ryan Young, Duke, 7
Dariq Whitehead, Duke, 6
Bensley Joseph, Miami, 3
Deivon Smith, Georgia Tech, 2
Devin McGlockton, Boston College, 2

NC State hosting its NFL Pro Day on March 28. Isaiah Moore and Christopher Dunn were at the NFL Combine, so the rest of the draft eligible players will get their chance to shine. I'm guessing all eyes will be on linebacker Drake Thomas and his 40-yard dash time.

One of the ACC Greats of Coaching pass away. Coach Holland was a very good coach. His teams in the 80's were always solid to very good. Prayers for his family.


Go Pack

Looking to buy2 tix for this session. Thanks!

Two lower level seats available if interested! Feel free to email me at hkgarris@gmail.com.

What is the official rule on the possibility of him getting a medical red shirt.
Injured 2 years in a row . What has to happen?

Will he try it?
Thoughts?

Here is my primer for the ACC wrestling tournament for novices:

Each weight class has a bracket built for 8 wrestlers, however there are only six wrestlers. Therefore, the top two seeds receive a bye into the semifinal round.

The first round begins at 11:00 with two matches in each weight class:
The 5th and 4th seeded wrestle with the winner facing the top seed in the semifinal round and the 3rd and 6th seeded wrestle with the winner facing the 2nd seed wrestler in the semifinal round. The semifinal round starts at 1:00 PM

The consolation semi rounds follows at 3:30 PM
The loser in top side of the bracket will face the loser of the first-round match from the bottom of the bracket
The loser in the bottom side of the bracket will face the loser of the first-round match from the top of the bracket.

The consolation final round follows at 5:00 PM
These matches are between the winners in the consolation semifinals. There are automatic NCAA bids on the line at 133/149/157/285. There are only two automatic bids at 125 and 165. You have to get to the finals to earn an automatic bid

The Championship matches start at 7:00 PM.


Here how scoring works in a tournament.

• You receive placement points 10 for 1st place, 7 for 2nd place, 4 for 3rd place and 2 for 4th place.
• You receive 1 advancement points when you win your first round or semifinal round match in the championship bracket
• You receive .5 advancement points when you win your consolation semifinal match
• If you receive a bye and win your next match you receive an extra advancement point

BONUS POINTS: Here is how State is going to overcome VT: You get 2 points for a pin, 1.5 points for a TF (More than 15-point decision with back points) and 1 Points. for a Major decision ( more than 8 points in a decision)

We are going to score more bonus points because the match ups from Orine and Scott are going to put us in a position to score these valuable points. They are seeded third but the quality of the 4th through 6 seeds are pretty low in their weight classes and won these matches up in the dual with bonus points


Here is a scorecard calculator based on the match going according to how they are seeded and how the bonus points happened in previous match ups. Wrestling is unpredictable so to suggest it will be the same would be insane but you have to first put your predictions based on something rational

Pretty exciting game between Rockingham Richmond Country and Holly Springs at Sanford Lee County High. Like others have been talking about this week, they needed this game on a college campus. I heard at one point there was 750 people waiting to get inside. I hope they didn't get turned away.

Richmond County won 69-61, but the game was basically a one-score contest nearly all the way through. NC State junior wing commit Paul McNeil had what I considered an efficient 27 points in the win, with Wolfpack coach Kevin Keatts looking on. He had four three-pointers in the game. HIs teammates really stepped up in the second half.

Richmond County will play a talented Charlotte Myers Park at Reynolds Coliseum next Saturday. Myers Park locked up junior small forward Isaiah Evans and Huntersville North Mecklenburg, which NCSU assistant coach Joel Justus attended. I saw Evans went 4 of 16 from three-point land and they were down 41-21 at halftime. Evans had 16 of his 21 points in the second half. Junior point guard Bishop Boswell had 22 points for Myers Park.

Reidsville will play Farmville Central in the NCHSAA 2A title game. Freshmen Dionte Neal and Kendre' Harrison will be the rare duo to appear in title games between football and basketball in their first year of high school.

On the girls side, junior center Blanca Thomas and Charlotte Catholic fell to Mooresville Lake Norman, and junior point guard Zamareya Jones and Bethel North Pitt lost to Pittsboro Seaforth. However, sophomore wing Adelaide Jernigan and Kernersville Bishop McGuiness advanced in NCHSAA 1A to the title game.

Cannon Peebles, frosh on baseball team, had an all time performance today leading the Pack to a 21-2 win. He had a single, 3 doubles and 2 home runs, one from each side of the plate. That is 6-6 with 10 RBI's. Pack is now 11-0.

Here is a picture of Coach V's grave. RIP.
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1. NC State will have a solid group of visitors this weekend, and a few “maybe’s” could turn into unofficial visitors.

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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.

Here is the wrestling bracketology for the ACC tournament with scoring. I also including the ranking from the three different services and the seedings and the expected finish for each weight class. It will be close but if Trombley wins at 125 and Trumble gets his revenge against Smith in the semi finals at 197 we should win by the slimmest of margins. If one one of this matches goes the other way VT will win unless we get an upset win.


125: Earlier in January, Trombley and VT’s Ventresca wrestled a tight match that Trombley won in overtime. Since that match Trombley has shown significant improvement. Trombley most likely will face Pitt’s Camacho in the semifinals, and he handled him fairly well in the dual. Ventresca also beat Wagner 6-2 earlier in the year. Trombley/Ventresca should be a tight match and have a significant impact for VT if Ventresca can win the rematch. I am picking Trombley because he has shown a lot of improvement since his overtime win over Ventresca. Whomever wrestles Grimmager has an opportunity for bonus points.


133: This is a highly competitive top three for this weight class. VT’s Latona lost to Pitt’s Phillippi in overtime, Orine beat Phillippi in Overtime, Orine lost to Latona 3-1. The seeds were determined by national ranking. Anything is possible in this bracket but for scoring purposes I went by seeding but gave Orine a bonus point in round 1 and in the consolation rounds as he crushed seeds 4-6 who he will face in the consolations and 1st round. These are huge points in the team score.


141: There are 4 top 10 wrestlers in this bracket, and while Pitt’s Matthews has had close wins against Jack 4-2, McNeil 3-2 and Crook 6-2, he is the odds-on favorite as no one has yet to get a takedown against him. I am scoring this bracket as it is seeded as Jack did a nice job against McNeil and McNeil earned a major decision over Crooks. I see MC Neil earning bonus points in Round one . UVA’ Courtney is good enough to be a spoiler in round one as he won two rounds in the NCAA tournament last year.


The total scores for the three lightweights has State in the lead with 27.5 point, followed by Pitt with 27 pts and VT with 25.5 and UCC with 15.5.