1. NC State entered the week in a good spot for Raleigh native Silas Demary Jr., who is a reclassed senior combo guard for Lincolnton (N.C.) Combine Academy. The ebbs and flows of Demary’s recruitment has been fascinating.
Demary had announced that he was going to pick his college at 3:30 p.m. Friday at his previous high school, Raleigh Millbrook High. Immediate speculation was USC and NC State. Last Sunday, it was in flip a coin territory, but by mid-week, it was hard to shake that the winds were blowing more to the Left Coast.
USC went 26-7 overall and 14-6 in the Pac-12 last year, and are now making the move to the Big Ten in the future. Former Florida Gulf Coast coach Andy Enfield has been at USC since 2013-14, and has four NCAA Tournament appearances, and they would have gone during the COVID year.
What was hard to shake included a few things — Demary was super quiet, USC was confident and for the last two weeks, there has been an unusual amount of talk about the Trojans wanting Demary and Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler senior point guard Isaiah Collier. Demary had also signed with the same agent that convinced former NC State signee Josh Hall to bypass college for pro basketball.
Some in the industry decided that Demary was a “lock” this month for NC State, but there wasn’t any evidence of that. Partly due to the fact that Demary was still thirsty to collect new offers. Collier is the No. 4 overall player in the country and is down to USC, UCLA, Michigan and Cincinnati, but he also is committing Nov. 16. Outside of maybe the Steph Curry Camp, I’m not sure how much time Collier and Demary have been around each other. Collier was offered by NC State in June 2021.
Another wrinkle, NC State offered Bronx (N.Y.) Our Saviour Lutheran School senior point guard Ty-Laur Johnson on Sept. 24, and that definitely got the attention of the Demary camp. Johnson is ranked No. 54 overall in the country, which is four spots higher than Demary, and Memphis has now jumped in.
NC State didn’t look like they were going to offer him. They had the chance to watch him with Charlotte (N.C.) Liberty Heights during his reclassed junior season, and then with Team Curry traveling team during the April evaluation period and at the NBPA Camp on June 27-July 2. He was a fringe top 150 prospect and the questions revolved around the consistency of his jumper and how much of a point guard was he, or was he more a combo guard.
The NBPA Camp was where Demary emerged as a regional recruit. Tennessee jumped in and it looked like the Volunteers were going to land him, with St. John’s, Arizona State, VCU and Georgia also giving chase.
The Demary/Tennessee relationship fell apart when the Volunteers landed Raleigh Word of God combo guard Freddie Dilione. Tennessee wanted to land both Dilione and Demary, and it looked like they would, but then Demary ultimately decided he didn’t want to share a backcourt with Dilione.
NC State offered July 20 and then USC a few days late July 24. It became clear post-Tennessee that Demary was in “collect offers” mode. That is a far cry from “decision making” mode. Wake Forest and Alabama also jumped in, and he claimed an offer from Indiana. He really wanted a Kansas offer, but the Jayhawks didn’t pull the trigger.
The other interesting aspect once Demary got the NC State offer was that he hadn’t been to NC State during his four years of high school, despite being a local prospect. He snapped the draught with an unofficial visit to start off August, and then returned Sept. 9-11.
Some will bring up USC and NIL money. If NC State’s collectives still haven’t figured out potential NIL scenarios and the budget that is needed for it after 15-plus months, that is also telling. That said, USC has zero commits thus far and have whiffed on a good share of California prep products.
2. Where does NC State go from here if they don’t land Demary today?
That’s tricky. NC State remains in good shape with Dennis Parker of Richmond (Va.) John Marshall, with Georgetown the main competition. It was a good sign that Parker bypassed his last-minute decision to officially visit Missouri.
With the 8 p.m. kickoff this Saturday, it was hard to bring in basketball recruits from different parts of the state, knowing the game could end around 11:30 p.m.-12 a.m. The hope is that a good amount of recruits make the Thursday Night Game against Virginia Tech on Oct. 27, and the Wolfpack lucked out with home games vs. Wake Forest and Boston College before the November signing period.
NC State as previously stated, also has to be careful about saving enough official visits for the spring when the portal opens up and the Wolfpack might have to replace half the roster. Even with Demary, the Pack are going to have to land a point guard in the portal to challenge Breon Pass and L.J. Thomas.
I’ve said since last March that it has felt like NC State has had to recruit with an arm tied behind their proverbial back with athletic director Boo Corrigan’s decision to openly talk about coach Kevin Keatts’ job status, and then bringing in three new assistant coaches. Once that can of worms is opened, it’s hard to close it on the recruiting trail.
What history will show and what was predicted four years ago, the class of 2023 ended up being so guard heavy in the the state of North Carolina, between the regular members of the class and then having guys like Demary and Dilione reclass. Four years ago, it was clear that the group of Robert Dillingham (Kentucky), Aden Holloway (Auburn), Caleb Foster (Duke), Trey Green (Xavier), London Johnson (G-League), Jaylen Curry and Tremayne Parker, were going to be high-major recruits. Having nine point guards/combo guards from North Carolina is an extraordinary number.
The lesson learned is to not make the same mistake for the class of 2024, which has an extraordinary amount of wings coming up.
3. The Kyron Jones recruitment was unique and it also showed NC State kept an open mind about the Charlotte Christian prospect, paying off with him committing last Saturday.
Long-team readers know that I’ve been bullish on Jones after seeing him play Charlotte Providence Day on Oct. 15, 2021, and then saw him compete at the NCISAA Division 1 state meet at Raleigh Ravenscroft last May.
For whatever reasons, high major Division I colleges just didn’t want to offer him last year, even after running a 10.6 100-meter dash at the state meet. He seemed like a legit player at both running back or in the secondary.
Jones created his own recruitment by going to Colorado State, Iowa State and Air Force, and maybe even a swing through Indiana. The farther he got away from the state of North Carolina, the more popular he became. He’d go and camp and get offered at all those places.
Then Jones showed up at NC State’s camp on June 4, and that was a little bit of a surprise. He was disappointed that he ran a 4.5 because he had just done 4.4 at previous camps. But something clicked between NC State’s staff and Jones, and he got offered June 12. Duke followed suit and eventually he was ready to see NC State, Duke, Iowa State and UConn.
Everything pointed toward NC State, and he did his due diligence, going to see the Wolfpack at least five times since June 4, including his official visit during the Texas Tech game weekend. Then Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame, Kentucky and West Virginia all jumped in within a 24-hour period.
To Jones’ credit, he was already mentally set on NC State during that time period and didn’t waiver on his resolve, resulting in announcing his commitment. He saw the irony that the prospect that the high majors didn’t want at this time last year, was now one of the hottest recruits in the state.
Jones has the potential to gain more weight at a current 6-foot, 193 pounds, and that will help him run between the tackles, where he’s more of an outside runner now. He also doesn’t have as much tread on the tires because he’s not getting 20-plus carries a game at Charlotte Christian. He is nursing a hip pointer injury, but hopefully, he’ll be ready for next week’s showdown at Charlotte Providence Day.
Landing Jones has also re-opened the doors with Charlotte Christian. Things got a little frosty in the past, but it has thawed out now. In fact, NC State could land a tight end from the Knights as a preferred walk-on.
