1. Alpha Wolf was very good to have follow-up visits for several out of state football recruits, many of whom were recently offered.
But the big news was the arrival of Monroe (N.C.) High senior athlete Jordan Young. There was no question that Clemson and NC State battled to get Young on campus last Friday. Does that mean the race is now over because he came to NC State? No, but it likely means the Wolfpack are the clear leader and the stakes have been raised.
NC State’s the lone program to give Young the option to play both offense and defense, at wide receiver and any of three defensive back positions. He’s also particular on certain things, for instance he’s the first recruit I’ve ever talked to that is looking for a program that has Sunday off after games. Usually, recruits aren’t that close to being detail oriented.
The other tidbit Young shared was that he is welcoming Alabama to make a late run at him and wants to see Georgia at Alabama on Sept. 28. Young will then pick a college Oct. 12, but the winning school will probably know well in advance of his birthday.
What is also interesting about that time period is that Monroe plays at Marshville (N.C.) Forest Hills and NC State senior wide receiver commit Je’rel Bolder on Oct. 4. College coaches are able to watch a high school team play once before the playoffs start, and it just makes sense for college coaches to watch that particular game. It could be quite the sideline watching night.
The other subplot of that game is that it got stained by a brawl in the stands last year at Monroe High, causing the game on the field to get called with Monroe leading 28-0 during the third quarter Sept. 29. I know I would have been at that game to see Young and Bolder play, but NC State had the weird back-to-back Friday night games last September, and hosted Louisville that night in a 13-10 loss.
2. One of the dynamics involving Young’s decision is what will Clemson do if NC State wins out.
One theory that could happen, but definitely not a lock to happening, is that the Tigers will give a long look at NC State senior cornerback commit Cam Strong of Anderson (S.C.) T.L. Hanna High.
Clemson never offered Strong, but he did camp at Clemson on June 9-11, 2023, and then returned to CU during the season. So, he’s not a total stranger to the Clemson coaching staff and defensive backs coach Mike Reed, a former assistant coach under former coach Tom O’Brien.
Ultimately, it came down to NC State, Georgia Tech and West Virginia. That theory has likely been floated because Hanna High is about 18 miles away from Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C.
Usually, the way that kind of situation works is that Clemson wouldn’t dare go after a player in Strong’s position unless they knew it would get done. NC State would relish the idea of the Tigers going after Strong, only to have him say “Nope” and stay with the Wolfpack. Optics are everything in recruiting sometimes.
NC State will play at Clemson on Sept. 21, which will be well before Young’s final decision.
3. Working back to Alpha Wolf, some of the younger players in the state ended up going elsewhere last Friday.
Duke and new coach Manny Diaz pulled off a smart recruiting move. Long-time recruiting guru Tom Lemming usually comes through the Triangle every year in late January/early February to collect pictures and bio information for his recruiting book that comes out each summer. It’s held at Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons and usually on the day that NC State holds its Junior Day. The players make their way into town and usually 90 percent of them make the trip across the street to NCSU. A few will go to Duke or UNC afterwards, but mostly NC State.
Lemming decided to come back for the younger players, mostly class of 2026 and 2027, but did it at Southern Durham (N.C.) High last Friday. It led to a handful of players with NC State offers to go to that event, and then potentially see Duke.
Some potential future targets didn’t get invited to Alpha Wolf this time around, or got invited late. Rolesville (N.C.) High sophomore defensive back Marquis Bryant and Raleigh Millbrook sophomore middle linebacker Quinton Cypher hadn’t heard from NC State early last week. They both should be major recruiting targets down the road and have NC State offers. Cypher pivoted to visiting Georgia last Friday and ended up earning a Bulldogs offer.
4. One of the rite of passages has become the HighSchoolOT Jamboree at Wake Forest (N.C.) High, which will be held Aug. 17 this year.
At the end of the day, it’s always about watching players play and seeing if they answer the most important question — can they really play? Otherwise, thousands of words can be breathlessly written about recruits, who simply won’t be good enough.
The schedule this year is as follows:
• 6 p.m. — Durham Jordan vs. Henderson Vance County
• 7 p.m. — Raleigh Millbrook vs. Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons
• 8 p.m. — Durham Hillside at Wake Forest
• 9 p.m. — Southern Durham vs. Rolesville
For NC State recruiting purposes, there are five main recruiting targets with scholarship offers at this point:
College coaches aren’t allowed to hit the road in August. All five players didn’t go to Alpha Wolf, but should be semi-regulars at NC State home games this season.
Others players of note in the event including running back Amareon Blue of Jordan High (Eastern Michigan commit), defensive end Taeshawn Alston of Vance County (South Carolina), junior defensive back Braylon Peebles of Cardinal Gibbons, outside linebacker Isaiah DeLoatch of Hillside (Rutgers), quarterback Kavon Simmons of Wake Forest (Duke) and defensive end Isaiah Campbell of Southern Durham (Clemson).
5. The next main class of 2025 announcement for NC State football recruiting will come at 11 a.m. Aug. 16.
That is when when Winston-Salem (N.C.) Mount Tabor junior wide receiver Shamarius “Snook” Peterkin will announce between NC State and Virginia Tech, with UNC in that murky land of do they want him or a transfer wide receiver.
To set the stage of that week, Mount Tabor is playing a jamboree on Aug. 14 in High Point, N.C., then he’ll pick his college at 11 a.m. Friday at Mount Tabor and later that night they play in a jamboree at Gaffney (S.C.) High, which has junior quarterback Jayvon Gilmore, who picked Arkansas on Thursday.
NC State has never landed a player from Mount Tabor in the Rivals.com era. Mount Tabor and Clemmons (N.C.) West Forsyth have been tricky places to recruit over the years at times.
Not that Mount Tabor had too many players to go after, but main ones have been linebacker A.J. Nicholson (Florida State) in the class of 2002, athlete O.C. Wardlow (Virginia) in the class of 2016, wide receiver Divine Deablo (Virginia Tech) in the class of 2016, and current senior safety JaDon Blair (Notre Dame). Peterkin is low-key off the field, but he’s a slick point guard in basketball and is a smooth receiver and kick/punt returner in football. If he didn’t play football, he’d probably be a low/mid-major hoops recruit.
Peterkin is slender at 6-3 and 170 pounds, but if he picks NC State, he’ll have time to work on his body with so many receivers on the roster when he would arrive in the class of 2025.
Rivals.com has Peterkin ranked No. 227, which is partly based on how well he played against Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley last fall before cramps knocked him out for the second half. He finished his junior year with 42 catches for 824 yards and 12 touchdowns, and added 77 yards on the ground. Peterkin returned seven kickoffs for 210 yards and a 99-yard touchdown, and had five punt returns for 122 yards and a 77-yard touchdown.
But the big news was the arrival of Monroe (N.C.) High senior athlete Jordan Young. There was no question that Clemson and NC State battled to get Young on campus last Friday. Does that mean the race is now over because he came to NC State? No, but it likely means the Wolfpack are the clear leader and the stakes have been raised.
NC State’s the lone program to give Young the option to play both offense and defense, at wide receiver and any of three defensive back positions. He’s also particular on certain things, for instance he’s the first recruit I’ve ever talked to that is looking for a program that has Sunday off after games. Usually, recruits aren’t that close to being detail oriented.
The other tidbit Young shared was that he is welcoming Alabama to make a late run at him and wants to see Georgia at Alabama on Sept. 28. Young will then pick a college Oct. 12, but the winning school will probably know well in advance of his birthday.
What is also interesting about that time period is that Monroe plays at Marshville (N.C.) Forest Hills and NC State senior wide receiver commit Je’rel Bolder on Oct. 4. College coaches are able to watch a high school team play once before the playoffs start, and it just makes sense for college coaches to watch that particular game. It could be quite the sideline watching night.
The other subplot of that game is that it got stained by a brawl in the stands last year at Monroe High, causing the game on the field to get called with Monroe leading 28-0 during the third quarter Sept. 29. I know I would have been at that game to see Young and Bolder play, but NC State had the weird back-to-back Friday night games last September, and hosted Louisville that night in a 13-10 loss.
2. One of the dynamics involving Young’s decision is what will Clemson do if NC State wins out.
One theory that could happen, but definitely not a lock to happening, is that the Tigers will give a long look at NC State senior cornerback commit Cam Strong of Anderson (S.C.) T.L. Hanna High.
Clemson never offered Strong, but he did camp at Clemson on June 9-11, 2023, and then returned to CU during the season. So, he’s not a total stranger to the Clemson coaching staff and defensive backs coach Mike Reed, a former assistant coach under former coach Tom O’Brien.
Ultimately, it came down to NC State, Georgia Tech and West Virginia. That theory has likely been floated because Hanna High is about 18 miles away from Memorial Stadium in Clemson, S.C.
Usually, the way that kind of situation works is that Clemson wouldn’t dare go after a player in Strong’s position unless they knew it would get done. NC State would relish the idea of the Tigers going after Strong, only to have him say “Nope” and stay with the Wolfpack. Optics are everything in recruiting sometimes.
NC State will play at Clemson on Sept. 21, which will be well before Young’s final decision.
3. Working back to Alpha Wolf, some of the younger players in the state ended up going elsewhere last Friday.
Duke and new coach Manny Diaz pulled off a smart recruiting move. Long-time recruiting guru Tom Lemming usually comes through the Triangle every year in late January/early February to collect pictures and bio information for his recruiting book that comes out each summer. It’s held at Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons and usually on the day that NC State holds its Junior Day. The players make their way into town and usually 90 percent of them make the trip across the street to NCSU. A few will go to Duke or UNC afterwards, but mostly NC State.
Lemming decided to come back for the younger players, mostly class of 2026 and 2027, but did it at Southern Durham (N.C.) High last Friday. It led to a handful of players with NC State offers to go to that event, and then potentially see Duke.
Some potential future targets didn’t get invited to Alpha Wolf this time around, or got invited late. Rolesville (N.C.) High sophomore defensive back Marquis Bryant and Raleigh Millbrook sophomore middle linebacker Quinton Cypher hadn’t heard from NC State early last week. They both should be major recruiting targets down the road and have NC State offers. Cypher pivoted to visiting Georgia last Friday and ended up earning a Bulldogs offer.
4. One of the rite of passages has become the HighSchoolOT Jamboree at Wake Forest (N.C.) High, which will be held Aug. 17 this year.
At the end of the day, it’s always about watching players play and seeing if they answer the most important question — can they really play? Otherwise, thousands of words can be breathlessly written about recruits, who simply won’t be good enough.
The schedule this year is as follows:
• 6 p.m. — Durham Jordan vs. Henderson Vance County
• 7 p.m. — Raleigh Millbrook vs. Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons
• 8 p.m. — Durham Hillside at Wake Forest
• 9 p.m. — Southern Durham vs. Rolesville
For NC State recruiting purposes, there are five main recruiting targets with scholarship offers at this point:
College coaches aren’t allowed to hit the road in August. All five players didn’t go to Alpha Wolf, but should be semi-regulars at NC State home games this season.
Others players of note in the event including running back Amareon Blue of Jordan High (Eastern Michigan commit), defensive end Taeshawn Alston of Vance County (South Carolina), junior defensive back Braylon Peebles of Cardinal Gibbons, outside linebacker Isaiah DeLoatch of Hillside (Rutgers), quarterback Kavon Simmons of Wake Forest (Duke) and defensive end Isaiah Campbell of Southern Durham (Clemson).
5. The next main class of 2025 announcement for NC State football recruiting will come at 11 a.m. Aug. 16.
That is when when Winston-Salem (N.C.) Mount Tabor junior wide receiver Shamarius “Snook” Peterkin will announce between NC State and Virginia Tech, with UNC in that murky land of do they want him or a transfer wide receiver.
To set the stage of that week, Mount Tabor is playing a jamboree on Aug. 14 in High Point, N.C., then he’ll pick his college at 11 a.m. Friday at Mount Tabor and later that night they play in a jamboree at Gaffney (S.C.) High, which has junior quarterback Jayvon Gilmore, who picked Arkansas on Thursday.
NC State has never landed a player from Mount Tabor in the Rivals.com era. Mount Tabor and Clemmons (N.C.) West Forsyth have been tricky places to recruit over the years at times.
Not that Mount Tabor had too many players to go after, but main ones have been linebacker A.J. Nicholson (Florida State) in the class of 2002, athlete O.C. Wardlow (Virginia) in the class of 2016, wide receiver Divine Deablo (Virginia Tech) in the class of 2016, and current senior safety JaDon Blair (Notre Dame). Peterkin is low-key off the field, but he’s a slick point guard in basketball and is a smooth receiver and kick/punt returner in football. If he didn’t play football, he’d probably be a low/mid-major hoops recruit.
Peterkin is slender at 6-3 and 170 pounds, but if he picks NC State, he’ll have time to work on his body with so many receivers on the roster when he would arrive in the class of 2025.
Rivals.com has Peterkin ranked No. 227, which is partly based on how well he played against Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley last fall before cramps knocked him out for the second half. He finished his junior year with 42 catches for 824 yards and 12 touchdowns, and added 77 yards on the ground. Peterkin returned seven kickoffs for 210 yards and a 99-yard touchdown, and had five punt returns for 122 yards and a 77-yard touchdown.
