Here are some recruiting notes heading into what could be a busy stretch for NC State football:
• The Wolfpack offered Southeast Raleigh (N.C.) High safety Tyler Williams over the weekend, and frankly we are not sure that Williams was high on the radar for an offer, which is indicative of how impressive his performance at camp must have been. Both NCSU and Appalachian State, which had a good portion of their coaching staff including head coach Scott Satterfield, both offered Williams, who worked out for the Pack defensive backs coach.
Our hunch is that Williams may not take too long to make a decision. NC State is his first major offer, and we have heard (though not confirmed) in the past that he grew up a fan of the Wolfpack. His recruiting coach, Des Kitchings, made a not-so-subtle tweet about the situation shortly after the offer:
As we noted on the camp report, NCSU looks at Williams as a safety/nickel prospect. He would be No. 1 on our top 50 (may be shrinking down to a lower number this week) if we released one today.
• It does seem like there might be a race forming to who gets the tight end spot. Quietly, we have always felt that Messiah Swinson from Long Island (N.Y.) Lutheran High had his mind made up on NC State after his visit earlier in the spring in April. Word is that Swinson is favoring NCSU, but he wants his mother to see the school before signing off on a commitment.
However, Daevon Robinson from Medford (N.J.) Shawnee High may be itching to beat Swinson to the punch. Robinson tweeted that his commitment is coming soon. Robinson has a top three of NC State, Rutgers and Connecticut, and if he picked NCSU it would be a big blow for Rutgers which has prioritized Robinson for an extended period of time. However, we get the sense that NC State feels good about its chances.
The two bring different elements to the table. Robinson, on film, looks like a big-time athlete for a tight end, whereas we are told that NCSU loves Swinson’s upside at 6-foot-7, 230-plus pounds.
• There is a belief that three-star receiver Jasiah Provillon could make a commitment to NC State when he visits this weekend (should be a nice unofficial visit weekend). The Irvington (N.J.) High standout has had a top four of NC State, Michigan State, Louisville and Boston College. What we will be interested to see is will he bring his teammate and friend, defensive end Lancine Turay with him. The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Turay supposedly has NC State in his top three with Maryland and Rutgers (brother plays at Rutgers).
If NCSU lands Provillon, Turay and one of Swinson/Robinson to go with four-star quarterback Devin Leary and the hauls last year (offensive lineman Joshua Fedd-Jackson, linebacker Louis Acceus and defensive end Ibrahim Kante) and the landing of four-star Kelvin Harmon in the 2016 class, the Pack has clearly established a strong footing in the New Jersey/New York region.
• The word we heard was that NC State could take three offensive linemen in this class, possibly a fourth depending on attrition. Devin Hayes from Orlando (Fla.) Jones High took one spot. Could the next two go soon?
Four-star Jovaughn Gwyn from Charlotte Harding is basically down to NC State, South Carolina and Duke, with Wake Forest getting a courtesy listing. One source noted that the low-key Gwyn is the type of recruit that NC State does best with (i.e. does not get caught up in the hype and glamor of recruiting). The evidence shows in Gwyn basically keeping the same top list of schools despite a flood of offers that have come in since spring. He wants to decide before leaving for the Nike Opening at the end of the month.
Some think it’s a NC State-Duke battle, others think NC State-South Carolina. For the Pack, it is nice to be the common denominator.
We thought that three-star offensive tackle Gabriel Gonzalez from Mebane (N.C.) Eastern Alamance High was going to pick up an offer from UNC this weekend, but we have not seen any reports of it yet after going to the UNC recruiting showcase event, The Freak Show. Gonzalez is supposed to visit NC State this weekend.
The one question we would have is would NC State hold a spot for the physically-impressive looking Kahric Belle from North Miami Beach (Fla.) High?
• Speaking of the Freak Show, from an NC State standpoint it appeared to be a harmless event. The two players that seemed, for now, destined to be a UNC-NC State battle are defensive tackles Alim McNeill and Jordan Davis. Neither showed up at UNC’s event despite both supposedly being on the expected list.
McNeill did visit NC State the Friday before the Freak Show. His travel baseball team has prevented him from doing too many visits this summer, but from what we understand he might have had the weekend off from baseball this weekend.
We were not surprised Davis did not visit since he is not doing much recruiting at the moment.
Three-star defensive end Joseph Boletepeli from Wake Forest (N.C.) Heritage High was also a no-show, although the early indications we’ve had are that UNC is not expected to be a serious player there anyway. Wake Forest might be a bigger threat than UNC from an in-state school standpoint.
Thus the only two class of 2018 prospects that have cross-interest in NCSU and UNC were Gwyn and Gonzalez, and UNC is not in a threatening position with Gwyn.
• Speaking of Boletepeli and McNeill, if NCSU gets both of them to go with recently offered Williams and the already committed duo of Ricky Person from Heritage High and Trent Pennix from Sanderson High, it would be hard-pressed to find a better Wake County haul in recruiting for the Pack. It has also not been lost on the NC State coaches that the talent base is growing steadily in Wake and surrounding (Johnston County in particular) areas.
• Look for the cornerback position recruiting to heat up in the next couple of months. As many as six corners claiming offers (five of which we could verify) could be taking visits between this coming weekend and mid-July. Also, commitment De’Von Graves from Appomattox (Va.) County High is supposed in town this weekend.
• Will the Fourth of July be a big day of fireworks? We’ll find out as we get closer. Two players are set to decide that day: defensive end Thurman Geathers from Kennesaw (Ga.) North Cobb High and JC defensive tackle Jabari Ellis from Georgia Military College.
Geathers is not trending as well for NC State after he did not make a visit last week. Ellis told us that he was clearly favoring South Carolina before making a trip to Raleigh over the weekend, but we can tell that NC State moved the needle for him and put itself into play.
• The Wolfpack offered Southeast Raleigh (N.C.) High safety Tyler Williams over the weekend, and frankly we are not sure that Williams was high on the radar for an offer, which is indicative of how impressive his performance at camp must have been. Both NCSU and Appalachian State, which had a good portion of their coaching staff including head coach Scott Satterfield, both offered Williams, who worked out for the Pack defensive backs coach.
Our hunch is that Williams may not take too long to make a decision. NC State is his first major offer, and we have heard (though not confirmed) in the past that he grew up a fan of the Wolfpack. His recruiting coach, Des Kitchings, made a not-so-subtle tweet about the situation shortly after the offer:
As we noted on the camp report, NCSU looks at Williams as a safety/nickel prospect. He would be No. 1 on our top 50 (may be shrinking down to a lower number this week) if we released one today.
• It does seem like there might be a race forming to who gets the tight end spot. Quietly, we have always felt that Messiah Swinson from Long Island (N.Y.) Lutheran High had his mind made up on NC State after his visit earlier in the spring in April. Word is that Swinson is favoring NCSU, but he wants his mother to see the school before signing off on a commitment.
However, Daevon Robinson from Medford (N.J.) Shawnee High may be itching to beat Swinson to the punch. Robinson tweeted that his commitment is coming soon. Robinson has a top three of NC State, Rutgers and Connecticut, and if he picked NCSU it would be a big blow for Rutgers which has prioritized Robinson for an extended period of time. However, we get the sense that NC State feels good about its chances.
The two bring different elements to the table. Robinson, on film, looks like a big-time athlete for a tight end, whereas we are told that NCSU loves Swinson’s upside at 6-foot-7, 230-plus pounds.
• There is a belief that three-star receiver Jasiah Provillon could make a commitment to NC State when he visits this weekend (should be a nice unofficial visit weekend). The Irvington (N.J.) High standout has had a top four of NC State, Michigan State, Louisville and Boston College. What we will be interested to see is will he bring his teammate and friend, defensive end Lancine Turay with him. The 6-foot-6, 240-pound Turay supposedly has NC State in his top three with Maryland and Rutgers (brother plays at Rutgers).
If NCSU lands Provillon, Turay and one of Swinson/Robinson to go with four-star quarterback Devin Leary and the hauls last year (offensive lineman Joshua Fedd-Jackson, linebacker Louis Acceus and defensive end Ibrahim Kante) and the landing of four-star Kelvin Harmon in the 2016 class, the Pack has clearly established a strong footing in the New Jersey/New York region.
• The word we heard was that NC State could take three offensive linemen in this class, possibly a fourth depending on attrition. Devin Hayes from Orlando (Fla.) Jones High took one spot. Could the next two go soon?
Four-star Jovaughn Gwyn from Charlotte Harding is basically down to NC State, South Carolina and Duke, with Wake Forest getting a courtesy listing. One source noted that the low-key Gwyn is the type of recruit that NC State does best with (i.e. does not get caught up in the hype and glamor of recruiting). The evidence shows in Gwyn basically keeping the same top list of schools despite a flood of offers that have come in since spring. He wants to decide before leaving for the Nike Opening at the end of the month.
Some think it’s a NC State-Duke battle, others think NC State-South Carolina. For the Pack, it is nice to be the common denominator.
We thought that three-star offensive tackle Gabriel Gonzalez from Mebane (N.C.) Eastern Alamance High was going to pick up an offer from UNC this weekend, but we have not seen any reports of it yet after going to the UNC recruiting showcase event, The Freak Show. Gonzalez is supposed to visit NC State this weekend.
The one question we would have is would NC State hold a spot for the physically-impressive looking Kahric Belle from North Miami Beach (Fla.) High?
• Speaking of the Freak Show, from an NC State standpoint it appeared to be a harmless event. The two players that seemed, for now, destined to be a UNC-NC State battle are defensive tackles Alim McNeill and Jordan Davis. Neither showed up at UNC’s event despite both supposedly being on the expected list.
McNeill did visit NC State the Friday before the Freak Show. His travel baseball team has prevented him from doing too many visits this summer, but from what we understand he might have had the weekend off from baseball this weekend.
We were not surprised Davis did not visit since he is not doing much recruiting at the moment.
Three-star defensive end Joseph Boletepeli from Wake Forest (N.C.) Heritage High was also a no-show, although the early indications we’ve had are that UNC is not expected to be a serious player there anyway. Wake Forest might be a bigger threat than UNC from an in-state school standpoint.
Thus the only two class of 2018 prospects that have cross-interest in NCSU and UNC were Gwyn and Gonzalez, and UNC is not in a threatening position with Gwyn.
• Speaking of Boletepeli and McNeill, if NCSU gets both of them to go with recently offered Williams and the already committed duo of Ricky Person from Heritage High and Trent Pennix from Sanderson High, it would be hard-pressed to find a better Wake County haul in recruiting for the Pack. It has also not been lost on the NC State coaches that the talent base is growing steadily in Wake and surrounding (Johnston County in particular) areas.
• Look for the cornerback position recruiting to heat up in the next couple of months. As many as six corners claiming offers (five of which we could verify) could be taking visits between this coming weekend and mid-July. Also, commitment De’Von Graves from Appomattox (Va.) County High is supposed in town this weekend.
• Will the Fourth of July be a big day of fireworks? We’ll find out as we get closer. Two players are set to decide that day: defensive end Thurman Geathers from Kennesaw (Ga.) North Cobb High and JC defensive tackle Jabari Ellis from Georgia Military College.
Geathers is not trending as well for NC State after he did not make a visit last week. Ellis told us that he was clearly favoring South Carolina before making a trip to Raleigh over the weekend, but we can tell that NC State moved the needle for him and put itself into play.
