1a. Looking back, I was spoiled.
For over a decade, I could count on Durham high schools to pump out football and basketball recruits. NC State got its fair share over the years, in both basketball recruiting and football.
Many hours were spent at Hillside, Southern Durham, Jordan, Riverside, Mount Zion, Voyager and a little at Northern Durham. You didn’t dare miss a Hillside vs. Southern Durham football game, and both have tremendous bands.
Some of the best recruiting memories involved recruits from Durham. They were just a little more fun — picture A.J. Davis at Northern Durham High who signed with the Wolfpack in the class of 2002.
NC State went “all in” on quarterbacks Vad Lee of Hillside and Kendall Hinton of Southern Durham, only to have them pick other ACC colleges. Lee transferred from Georgia Tech to James Madison and Hinton made the NFL at wide receiver out of Wake Forest.
There was the dance with defensive end Jeffrey Gunter, who NC State liked out of Riverside High in the class of 2017, but then he went to Coastal Carolina, only to later transfer to NC State. After changes in the coaching staff, he went back to Coastal Carolina and became a seventh-round NFL draft pick.
The recruitments for both Emanuel McGirt in the class of 2015 at Hillside, and then T.J. Thorpe at Jordan High in the class of 2011, were hyped up. Both were talented players who had injuries affect their college careers — McGirt at NC State and Thorpe at UNC and Virginia.
And some highly thought of players just didn’t pan out in college.
The drought in Durham started to hit the class of 2019 and 2020, with neither class producing a high major player. It has gotten a little bit better, but it is still a trickle.
UNC signed Southern Durham outside linebacker Jaybron Harvey in the class of 2023.
Duke signed a trio of players with defensive tackle Aaron Hall of Southern Durham and linebacker Anthony Freeman of Northern Durham in the class of 2021, and stole defensive end Vincent Anthony of Jordan High in 2022. Tennessee signed running back Jaylen Wright from Southern Durham in the class of 2021.
NC State had offered Anthony, but weren’t in the mix with Freeman, Hall, Harvey and Wright.
What changed in Durham? Some good coaches moved on is one theory. Coach Antonio King had it rolling at Durham Hillside, and then got hired at East Carolina to be the running backs coach after the 2015 season. The move didn’t work out, but it definitely changed the dynamic at Hillside. Coach Adrian Jones has a quality run at Southern Durham, and then he joined the staff at North Carolina Central after the 2013 season.
Past Durham signees from 2010-18:
• Jamal Currie-Elliott, 2018, RB, Hillside — Oregon/North Carolina Central
• Jordan Riley, 2017, DT, Riverside — North Carolina/Nebraska/Oregon
• Jeffrey Gunter, 2017, DE, Riverside — Coastal Carolina/NC State/Coastal Carolina
• Abdul Adams, 2016, RB, Hillside — Oklahoma/Syracuse
• Daeshawn Stephens, 2016, WR, Hillside — NC State/North Carolina Central
• Jordan Brown, 2016, RB, Southern Durham — North Carolina/Kansas State
• Kendall Hinton, 2015, QB, Southern Durham — Wake Forest
• Emanuel McGirt, 2015, OL, Hillside — NC State
• Maurice Trowell, 2014, WR, Southern Durham — NC State
• Dontae Thomas-Williams, 2014, RB, Hillside — West Virginia/ASA Junior College
• Kalen McCain, 2014, DB, Hillside — NC State/North Carolina Central
• Trevion Thompson, 2014, WR, Hillside — Clemson
• Korrin Wiggins, 2013, DB, Hillside — Clemson
• Khris Francis, 2013, RB, Hillside — North Carolina
• Jamal Marcus, 2012, LB, Hillside — Ohio State
• Phillip Williamson, 2012, OLB, Jordan — North Carolina/Winston-Salem State
• T.J. Thorpe, 2011, WR, Jordan — North Carolina/Virginia
• Vad Lee, 2011, QB, Hillside — Georgia Tech/James Madison
• Sherman Ragland, 2011, WR, Southern Durham — Wake Forest/Shaw
• A.J. Marshall, 2010, CB, Southern Durham — Wake Forest
• Tony Creecy, 2010, RB, Southern Durham — NC State
In basketball, NC State landed T.J. Warren, who played his first two years at Riverside High. The Wolfpack signed Tracy Smith in the class of 2007 out of Mount Zion, and got a commitment from former Mount Zion player Joseph Uchebo, who played at two other high schools, like Warren did.
Jay Huff was an intriguing player at Durham Voyager, and he signed with Virginia. Fellow 7-footer Jonas Aidoo, who is now at Tennessee, also played at Voyager.
Hillside High had two-time NC State commit Torian Graham for his first two years. One-time NC State signee Josh Hall is another Bull City product, who first played at Southern Durham. Another former Southern Durham standout is current Arkansas wing Ricky Council IV, who started off at Wichita State.
NBA small forward Trey Murphy was from Durham, but attended Cary (N.C.) Academy and played at Rice and Virginia.
The bonafides of the Bull City is unquestioned, but what does the future look.
1b. One of the motivations for this segment is that NC State offered Southern Durham sophomore wing Jackson Keith last Sunday after he took in the UNC at NC State game.
There are also some younger players in Durham that don’t have the recruiting hype but will.
One of the most exciting young football recruits in the state of North Carolina has two mid-major offers from East Carolina and Coastal Carolina, but everything is pointing toward freshman tackle Ekene’ Ogboko to be a big, big deal in the football recruiting world.
For starters, he’s 6-foot-5 and 270 pounds already as a freshman. Nothing about his HUDL film makes you think he’s a freshman. He moves well, has a terrific frame and will probably gain 30 pounds by the time he gets to college.
As the previous chart shows, Riverside has produced a few guys over the years, but not a lot. Seeing a Riverside game will be a priority next fall, to confirm he’s as good as I think he’ll be.
Durham Hillside is hopeful that sophomore safety Isaiah Deloatch will “have next” in the class of 2025. He recently attended NC State’s Junior Day on Jan. 20. He had 51 tackles and an interception in helping the Hornets go 13-1 last year. He’s also a standout in the hurdles in track and field.
Football isn’t where it needs to be, but again, it just shows that Durham needs to bounce back.
On the basketball side, besides Keith, the class of 2026 has two freshmen centers with potential. At 6-8, Rivers Knight might grow to be 7-0 at Jordan High, and he has legit three-point range. He just has to continue to adjust to the speed of the game, not get into foul trouble and get stronger.
Mount Zion isn’t Mount Zion anymore, but freshman center Prince Nwokemodo, who arrived over a year and a half ago from Africa. He’s about 6-9 and slender and he’s a good rebounder and shot-blocker. The last two prep seasons, he’s played against grown men with many of Mount Zion’s opponents featuring post-graduate or reclassed seniors. It would be nice to see Nwokemodo in a setting where he’s going against his peers.
I won’t say Durham is back, yet, but I’m hopeful for a brighter future.
3. Another area in the state that has been going through a down cycle in football recruiting has been Fayetteville, N.C.
Which is why it proved interesting that North Carolina has offered Fayetteville Trinity Christian sophomore Karlfonza “Fozzy” Smith, and NC State is showing strong interest in him.
Long-time followers of recruiting know Trinity Christian for basketball, but not as much in football. The school has sent point guard Dennis Smith Jr. and power forward Greg Gantt to NC State hoops, and guard Zovon Lindsay in Wolfpack football, who transferred to Coastal Carolina.
There is a difference between Charlotte and the rest of the state in NCISAA football. The Charlotte schools, Rabun Gap (Ga.) Rabun Gap-Nacoochee and Arden (N.C.) Christ School all play each other.
Looking at the Trinity Christian schedule this past fall, Charlotte Providence Day was the lone Charlotte area squad.
The 6-foot-2, 170-pound Smith looked like a natural as a slot receiver, and it bears watching how many more bubble screens, flanker screens, reverses and pop passes will be in the new offense. He has plus speed and he doesn’t waste much time in getting north-south.
But then Smith could be just as good at defensive back, where he had 32 tackles, four sacks and an interception. College coaches love rangy defensive backs.
Smith caught 13 passes for 178 yards and two scores, and rushed 14 times for 264 yards and five touchdowns.
