ROCK HILL, S.C. — The second day of the adidas 3SSB championships took place Wednesday in Rock Hill, S.C.

College coaches weren’t allowed to come Wednesday, but they’ll descend on the nine-court facility Thursday. NBA scouts were allowed to come, which included former NC State assistant coach Orlando Early, who is now with the Los Angeles Clippers. Former recruiting gurus Corey Evans and Andrew Slater were also watching and both are with the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Each team only played one game Wednesday, so it wasn’t possible to watch all the top NC State targets in one day. Watching some of the traveling team programs from the main recruiting footprint of North Carolina, Georgia and Virginia was emphasized, along with seeing a few “can’t-miss types” mixed in.

No. 1 on the to-do list was recently offered senior point guard Kaden Magwood of Team Loaded VA, who is now attending Lincolnton (N.C.) Combine Academy.

Magwood is ranked No. 60 overall in the country by Rivals.com, but my hunch is that he’ll end up ranked a good chunk higher. Is he a pure point guard? Not in the least, but he can make some creative passes. His gift is that he’s exciting with the ball in his hands, whether creating for himself or for others. He could play point guard at the right school or be off the ball as a combo guard.

It has been asked on the board on whether Magwood and Davidson (N.C.) Day senior guard Isaiah Denis could play together or not? I think they could, but it would be with Denis playing more point guard and Magwood creating off the ball.

Magwood’s jumper looked fine and he’s on a loaded team with senior small forward Nate Ament and junior power forward Latrell Allmond on his team, who also have NCSU offers.

Simply put, the Louisville, Ky., native is a Kevin Keatts kind of guard, so it is a little surprising he waited this long to offer him. Some have speculated he could be Louisville’s to lose, but one well-placed source wasn’t buying that narrative.

NC State was really late in offering Ament, who is No. 10 overall in the class of 2025. I think Ament will be an NBA small forward one day. He jumper spun out a few times, so he didn’t have a huge game, but his smoothness, 6-8 length and ability to work all three scoring levels is obvious. It feels like every school in the country wants Ament right now, and he was reportedly completely dominant in his game Tuesday.

Allmond looks to be in terrific shape and he said he’s 6-8 and 220 pounds. He is originally from Southern Pines, N.C., and went to the O’Neal School as a reclassed eighth grader when I stumbled on to him. He made the move to Richmond (Va.) John Marshall and played with NC State sophomore forward Dennis Parker. Allmond was the first class of 2026 prospect offered by NC State and unofficially visited in the past.

Allmond is playing in the 17s division, which makes sense because I believe he said he’s 18 years old. Rivals.com has him ranked at No. 34 overall in the country in the class of 2026.

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The first game I watched featured Fayetteville (N.C.) Berean Prep junior power forward Justin Caldwell and Montverde (Fla.) Academy junior wing Kayden Allen on Team Loaded NC 16s. Caldwell struggled in this one in getting just two free throws made, but Allen showed he’s a gifted scorer and why he’s ranked No. 19 overall in the country in the class of 2206. Scoring comes really easy for the 6-4 Allen, who originally attended Grayson High outside the Atlanta, Ga., area. Allen has a quality offer list, and it wouldn’t be surprising to see NC State offer at some point.

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Garner Road 15s featured sophomore wing Jordan Page, who played last year at Raleigh Broughton High. Page had to grind his way to 11 points and part of the reason is because he’s the second tallest player on the court, more often than not. He is closer to 6-4, and while a good rebounder for size, he didn’t have the. usual space to operate like he usually does. Small picture, he’ll learn from the experience and go outside more often. Big picture, I still believe he’ll end up as a top 35 recruit in the class of 2027.

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The night was finished off by watching two elite class of 2027 prospects — small forward Lincoln Cosby of Overtime Elite in Atlanta, Ga., and wing Ryan Hampton of Rockwall (Texas) Rockwall-Heath High.

Cosby is a smooth 6-8 small forward, who just needs a weight room and is originally from Nashville, Tenn. Hampton showed he can really score with a slick arsenal and terrific size for a wing at around 6-5. He’s the younger brother of former Rivals.com five-star prospect R.J. Hampton, who bypassed college to play in New Zealand and has been in the NBA and G-League since 2019.

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Thursday’s agenda will include senior wing Bryce Heard of D1 Minnesota, who has already officially visited NC State and is considering a wide arrange of options of what he wants to do in 2024-25. Also, senior wing Adriel Nyorha is a Canadian on Brookwood Elite, who is making his way to Winston-Salem (N.C.) Christian and could be a top 100 talent now that he’s in the U.S.

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Saw where he is graduating early and going to Butler. Kid had good stats. Did we ever show much interest in him? JZ?

https://scontent-atl3-2.xx.fbcdn.ne...fAdQxwGm5hnwG1BAcWhLy5Q1ac872ZAuw&oe=6693148E
Interesting. We have a respectable amount of guys in the NFL. We come in 22nd currently with 32 players.

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NC State has offered 6-10, 195-pound junior power forward Cody Peck of Matthews (N.C.) Carmel Christian. I'm glad the various segments of The Run Down went just how I thought with an offer coming.

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Many of you ask what Boo does. Fair question. Some ask where we stand financially compared to our peers. Hope this sheds some light. https://www.sportico.com/leagues/co...9LhWIvYsrMlMw5poXY_aem_AsLwBlRJ2JY49CTg2kjrVw

Scouting video: Senior Isaiah Denis at NCISAA event​

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Scouting video: Junior Michael Phillips at NCISAA event​

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NC State hasn't offered junior wing Michael Phillips yet, but as the scouting video showed, he might be closing in on one.

Senior wide receiver Arrion Concepcion is the first of at least five silent verbal commits to NC State to announce publicly, and then you have senior running back target R.J. Boyd announcing at his party tonight, 6 p.m.-8 p.m.

Nose tackle Omarian Abraham will announce his college choice at 1 p.m. Monday.

Offensive lineman Michael Gibbs said he will announce June 30.

Defensive lineman Makhi Williams-Lee and offensive Andrew Stargel both are announcing July 4.

Running back Kentrell Rinehart is announcing July 5.

Senior defensive end Mykah Newton and center Isaac Sowells are both announcing July 18.

Defensive back Jontae Gilbert is announcing Aug. 10, but he has been bouncing around, so it could come sooner.

Athlete Jordan Young will announce Oct. 10, his birthday weekend, but sounds like a lucky college will know well in advance as a silent commitment.

Speedy senior running back Kentrell Rinehart picks NC State​

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Very cool technology available in the near future.

Always good to get accurate measurements on players, and the top 2026 and 2027 prospects on the Nike side are in St. Louis, Mo., this week.

Class of 2026:
Ashton Pierce, SG, Huntersville North Mecklenburg — 6-1, 165 pounds, 6-4 wingspan
Cole Cloer, SF, Greensboro Caldwell Academy — 6-6, 180 pounds, 6-10 wingspan
Dionte Neal, PG, Reidsville High — 5-7, 147 pounds, 5-8 wingspan
Kendre’ Harrison, PF, Reidsville High — 6-6 1/2, 247 pounds, 7-0 wingspan
Kobe Edwards, PG, Wilson Greenfield School — 6-1, 144 pounds, 6-4 wingspan
Markus Kerr, SG, Charlotte Chambers — 6-5, 6-9 wingspan
Michael Phillips, SF, Raleigh Grace Christian — 6-6 1/2, 182 pounds, 6-8 wingspan
Rivers Knight, PF, Durham Jordan — 6-8, 218 pounds, 6-9 wingspan
Tarris Bouie III, SG, Charlotte Chambers — 6-4, 156 pounds, 6-8 wingspan
Sam Funches IV, C, Madison (Miss.) Germantown High — 6-10, 220 pounds, 7-5 wingspan

Class of 2027:
C.J. Rosser, SF, Rocky Mount Northern Nash — 6-8, 171 pounds, 7-1.5 wingspan

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1. Columbus (Ohio) Westland High senior running back Kentrell Rinehart will be making his college decision at 5:30 p.m. ET on www.instagram.com/Rivalsdotcom.

NC State is favored to land him with Iowa as the main competition. NC State and Iowa running backs coach Ladell Betts, an accomplished running back himself, must have the same taste in backs. The two schools battled over Kendrick Raphael of Naples, Fla., in the class of 2023. Raphael originally picked the Hawkeyes in late June and then flipped to NC State in the fall.

Rinehart would join R.J. Boyd of Waycross (Ga.) Ware County High at running back at NCSU. Big picture, NC State would have Raphael, redshirt freshman Dylan Smothers and freshmen Isiah Jones and Jayden “Duke” Scott, plus redshirt junior fullback Jordan Poole. Jones will likely redshirt this season after an injury-marred senior year at Rolesville (N.C.) High.

Of the group, Rinehart brings a little more open-field speed than Raphael and Smothers. He’s also bigger at 6-2 and 220 pounds than all the backs.

Scott is talented at being an inside and outside runner and brings good size at a listed 212 pounds. He proved in high school he could carry the load his senior year after getting dinged up his first few years of high school.

Smothers is the X-factor because out of all the young backs, he’s the best in the passing game, both as a receiver and in blitz pickup. Rinehart might have good hands, but he wasn’t used in the passing game at his previous high school, Columbus Bishop Ready. The flip side to that, he also won’t be needed to carry the ball an astonishing 341 times at Westland High. Even the biggest of running backs have a “pitch count” on how many hits they can take in a career.

Conversely, Boyd had 114 carries for 694 yards and 10 scores last year, and he’s more of a project at the position. Both Boyd and Rinehart are “one cut and go” kind of runners. They don’t dance much. Boyd isn’t as fast, but he has enough wiggle in the hole and the power to break through weaker tackling attempts and that is how he gets his big runs. In the old days, he’d be a fullback.

What is left — Part I​

2. NC State targeted three linebackers and are still awaiting their decisions.

Havelock (N.C.) High outside linebacker Donovan Darden officially visited June 14-16, and both Cameron White of Seffner (Fla.) Armload and Jaiden Braker of Snellville (Ga.) South Gwinnett both did the mid-week visit June 19-21.

Of the three, I sensed that Braker is the most ready to commit, followed by Darden and White. Braker has a wide-ranging list with NC State, Rutgers, South Carolina, Kentucky and Utah. That covers the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12 and SEC.

Braker is a pure outside linebacker with good size, speed and plays downhill with aggressiveness. His HUDL video did not show much in pass coverage, but his athleticism should translate to pass defense. He’s the classic NC State recruit of being a high 3-star who has NFL potential.

White officially visited NC State, Central Florida, West Virginia, Syracuse and Louisville. If that isn’t a classic list for a NC State recruit this cycle, I don’t know what is. Add in Georgia Tech and it would have checked a lot of boxes.

White plays violent and is the most likely of the three to be a middle linebacker one day. He wants to hit people, moves around in the box and flashed some good instincts against the pass. He might not be as fast as Braker, but they’d complement each other well.

Darden was offered June 1 and has decided to not rush in with a quick decision. He went to see NC State, Illinois and South Carolina, so that means a battle of defensive coordinators with NC State ties with Tony Gibson, Clayton White (Gamecocks) and Aaron Henry (Illinois).

Darden has only been playing linebacker for less of a season. He was a quarterback at Havelock at one point, and is good friends with tight end Javonte Vereen of NC State. Darden would strictly be an outside linebacker in college, but he plays well in space and is a fluid athlete. NC State would redshirt him and he’d develop over time.

NC State has typically added linebackers late or flipped them from other schools in the fall the last two years — Joshua Ofor, Elijah Groves (Kentucky), Kelvon McBride (Vanderbilt) and Kamal Bonner (Georgia Tech). Add in junior college transfer Wyatt Wright, and the Wolfpack usually eventually meet their linebacker goals each year under Gibson.

What is left — part II​

3. Offensive line recruiting is never easy, and part of that is not having many in-state prospects to go after.

The Wolfpack split on the southeast corner of the state duo in tackle Michael Gibbs of Wilmington, N.C., and Antoni Ogumoro of Jacksonville, N.C., who now attends Elgin (Okla.) High and picked Tennessee. They were the original duo targeted, and Gibbs capped off his commitment last Sunday. NC State originally liked Gibbs at guard, but after gaining 58 pounds since winter, he’s now being projected at tackle. He’ll be a classic project for the NC State strength and conditioning program.

Center Isaac Sowells of Louisville (Ky.) Male has enjoyed the recruiting process from start to finish and was a regular unofficial visitor to NC State, and then capped off his official visit June 21-23. Kentucky, South Carolina and Miami (Fla.) remain in the mix with NC State and he’ll announce July 18.

The other official visitor that NC State brought in was tackle Austin Pay of Highland (Utah) Lone Peak High, who came June 14-16. Pay will definitely be a fall decision and is essentially a class of 2027 recruit due to his Morman Mission. His father played with NCSU offensive line coach Garett Tujague at BYU, and his older brother is the Cougars starting center this season.

Pay went to Arkansas, Oregon, NC State and swapped in BYU for Texas A&M for his fourth visit, and also has Utah in the mix.

In a best case scenario where Sowells solidifies the center spot, the Wolfpack still have work to do. That could be mean flipping an offensive lineman or two down the road, or finding a player who emerges this season. Recruiting offensive lineman is more about finding guys with the right build and motor and then molding their technique, so the guess is that NC State will look at some offensive lineman who are committed to MAC, Sun Belt and AAC schools, who want to be in the P4.

Odds are someone will emerge and graduate from mid-major to high major with a good senior year. Not saying it will be him, but Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons senior Jack Sheehan is someone the staff knows well, who has offers from Coastal Carolina, Old Dominion, Marshall, Troy, East Carolina and Miami (Ohio), but hasn’t broken through with a P4 offer.