1. The Junior Day on Saturday will be going through "Weather Watch," but it wouldn't be the first time weather has affected a big Junior Day. With so much happening, having The Run Down come out early just makes sense.
If a worse case situation happens and some players don't make the trip, it will mean that some key guys will just get pushed to come in the near future. [Editor's note: Junior Day has moved to Jan. 30]
For instance, NC State needs Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan High junior offensive lineman Sam Pendleton to come to campus soon. The reason Pendleton is getting singled out is that he’s on a fast-track to possibly commit this spring, with NC State likely trailing Michigan, Penn State and Clemson.
The bulk of the players could come in the future or be more spread out. The Spring Game, which hasn’t been announced, but likely a Saturday in April, will be another “big” opportunity. Even in good weather conditions, there has always been two lists, the players invited and the ones that actually come. Sprinkle in a snow storm and those decisions won’t formally get finalized until they wake up Saturday morning and assess the roads, especially for players driving from over an hour or more away.
Every junior in the Rivals.com top 20 has gotten invited.
In The Run Down on Dec. 31, 2021, I took a stab at who might be invited based on being future Division I players in the future, and came pretty close, especially in the wide-receiver-driven class of 2024.
Here is a look at who has been targeted, but it’s not a final, final list for Junior Day on Jan. 30.
Class of 2023:
QB Lex Thomas — Wake Forest Heritage (NC State commit)
QB Tad Hudson — Cornelius Hough (North Carolina commit)
QB Folger Boaz — Pilot Mountain East Surry (UNC baseball commit)
RB Daylan Smothers — Charlotte Chambers (NC State offer)
WR Noah Rogers – Rolesville High (NC State offer)
WR Kevin Concepcion – Charlotte Chambers (NC State offer)
WR Christian Hamilton – Harrisburg Hickory Ridge (NC State offer)
WR Chris Culliver – Maiden (NC State offer)
TE Javonte Vereen – Havelock (NC State offer)
TE Vance Bolyard – Greensboro Northern Guilford
OT Sullivan Absher – Belmont South Point (NC State offer)
OL/DL Jamaal Jarrett – Greensboro Grimsley (NC State offer)
OL Sam Pendleton – Pfafftown Reagan (NC State offer)
OT Connor Drake – Charlotte Providence Day
DE Tyler Thompson – Cary Panther Creek
DL Isaiah Shirley – Boone Watauga (NC State offer)
DT K.J. Sampson – New Bern (NC State offer)
DT Ki’Shawn Harvey – Knightdale
LB/DE Jaybron Harvey – Southern Durham
LB/DE Semaj Turner – Pfafftown Reagan
LB Ben Cutter – Denver East Lincoln
LB Rico Walker – Hickory (NC State offer)
LB Cahari Haynes – Lawndale Burns
CB Jamil Tucker – Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons
DB Chris Peal – Charlotte Providence Day (NC State offer)
ATH Que-Sean Brown – Kernersville East Forsyth
ATH Tamarcus Cooley – Knightdale
ATH Grant Tucker – Charlotte Christian
ATH Zack Myers – Arden Christ School (NC State offer)
Class of 2024:
QB Jadyn Davis – Charlotte Providence Day
RB Anthony Quinn – Fayetteville 71st
WR Jonathan Paylor – Burlington Cummings (NC State offer)
WR Micah Gilbert – Charlotte Christian
WR Terrell Anderson – Greensboro Grimsley
WR Alex Taylor – Greensboro Grimsley (NC State offer)
WR Jordan Shipp – Charlotte Providence Day
WR Trenton Cloud – Greensboro Northwest Guilford
TE Jack Larsen – Charlotte Catholic (NC State offer)
LB Cayden Jones – Arden Christ School (NC State offer)
S Brody Barnhardt – Charlotte Providence Day
Class of 2025:
ATH David Sanders Jr. – Charlotte Providence Day
CB Braxton Winston – Charlotte Providence Day
Potential prospects from outside the state:
Sumter (S.C.) High strongside defensive end Monteque Rhames, who is ranked No. 177 overall in the country by Rivals.com, and has NC State in his new top 10. He attended at least two NCSU games this past fall.
Sophomore star cornerback Asad Brown of Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith High, who is making a return trip. The Rivals.com four-star prospect has 26 offers.
Some players that might get added to this list or already have could be sophomore wide receiver Channing Goodwin of Charlotte Providence Day and freshman defensive end Gus Ritchey of Pittsboro Northwood, who both picked up Power Five Conference offers this month. I also believe in the upside of Waxhaw Cuthbertson sophomore receiver Keenan Jackson.
In terms of news coming out of the weekend, we’ve been lucky and have talked to nearly every player on the list that NC State has offered, except for a few. Some have trimmed their lists or starting to have their recruitment come into focus more such as Keith Sampson, Solomon Absher, Jamaal Jarrett, Christian Hamilton and Pendleton.
The biggest news is which of the players who doesn't have a scholarship offer receives one this weekend.
2. Expect more tight ends who end up like former wide receiver recruit Christopher Toudle of Wilmington (N.C.) Hoggard High.
Toudle was an interesting situation in high school. He was 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds at that time, was a quarterback at one point and and projected to play wide receiver in college. Rivals.com always pegged him as a future tight end because he just didn’t have enough speed to play wide receiver. I’m sure some people at NC State weren’t big fans of Rivals calling their wide receiver, a tight end, but that’s how it happens sometimes.
Then on top of all that, Toudle didn’t really have a quarterback to throw him the ball his senior year, and he caught just 21 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns, and he rushed 43 times for 156 yards and four scores in 11 games at Hoggard High.
Fast forward two years, and Toudle is 6-4 and 240 pounds, and he caught 19 passes for 190 yards and four touchdowns this season, getting injured toward the end of the season. He proved he could be a real weapon and is plenty fast enough for a tight end in trying to create mismatches.
NC State zeroed in on Havelock (N.C.) High junior tight end Javonte Vereen early this fall, and head coach Dave Doeren went to see him Wednesday, and tight ends and special teams coach Todd Goebbel went to see him play hoops that night.
NC State also offered this past week juniors CJ Jacobsen of Meridian (Idaho) Rocky Mountain High and Ben Marshall of Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Blackman. Both Jacobsen and Marshall fit the mold of tall, lanky players, who flex out as wide receivers in high school, and project as tight ends for college. Both are “under the radar” types, though Pac-12 programs are aware of Jacobsen.
If a worse case situation happens and some players don't make the trip, it will mean that some key guys will just get pushed to come in the near future. [Editor's note: Junior Day has moved to Jan. 30]
For instance, NC State needs Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan High junior offensive lineman Sam Pendleton to come to campus soon. The reason Pendleton is getting singled out is that he’s on a fast-track to possibly commit this spring, with NC State likely trailing Michigan, Penn State and Clemson.
The bulk of the players could come in the future or be more spread out. The Spring Game, which hasn’t been announced, but likely a Saturday in April, will be another “big” opportunity. Even in good weather conditions, there has always been two lists, the players invited and the ones that actually come. Sprinkle in a snow storm and those decisions won’t formally get finalized until they wake up Saturday morning and assess the roads, especially for players driving from over an hour or more away.
Every junior in the Rivals.com top 20 has gotten invited.
In The Run Down on Dec. 31, 2021, I took a stab at who might be invited based on being future Division I players in the future, and came pretty close, especially in the wide-receiver-driven class of 2024.
Here is a look at who has been targeted, but it’s not a final, final list for Junior Day on Jan. 30.
Class of 2023:
QB Lex Thomas — Wake Forest Heritage (NC State commit)
QB Tad Hudson — Cornelius Hough (North Carolina commit)
QB Folger Boaz — Pilot Mountain East Surry (UNC baseball commit)
RB Daylan Smothers — Charlotte Chambers (NC State offer)
WR Noah Rogers – Rolesville High (NC State offer)
WR Kevin Concepcion – Charlotte Chambers (NC State offer)
WR Christian Hamilton – Harrisburg Hickory Ridge (NC State offer)
WR Chris Culliver – Maiden (NC State offer)
TE Javonte Vereen – Havelock (NC State offer)
TE Vance Bolyard – Greensboro Northern Guilford
OT Sullivan Absher – Belmont South Point (NC State offer)
OL/DL Jamaal Jarrett – Greensboro Grimsley (NC State offer)
OL Sam Pendleton – Pfafftown Reagan (NC State offer)
OT Connor Drake – Charlotte Providence Day
DE Tyler Thompson – Cary Panther Creek
DL Isaiah Shirley – Boone Watauga (NC State offer)
DT K.J. Sampson – New Bern (NC State offer)
DT Ki’Shawn Harvey – Knightdale
LB/DE Jaybron Harvey – Southern Durham
LB/DE Semaj Turner – Pfafftown Reagan
LB Ben Cutter – Denver East Lincoln
LB Rico Walker – Hickory (NC State offer)
LB Cahari Haynes – Lawndale Burns
CB Jamil Tucker – Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons
DB Chris Peal – Charlotte Providence Day (NC State offer)
ATH Que-Sean Brown – Kernersville East Forsyth
ATH Tamarcus Cooley – Knightdale
ATH Grant Tucker – Charlotte Christian
ATH Zack Myers – Arden Christ School (NC State offer)
Class of 2024:
QB Jadyn Davis – Charlotte Providence Day
RB Anthony Quinn – Fayetteville 71st
WR Jonathan Paylor – Burlington Cummings (NC State offer)
WR Micah Gilbert – Charlotte Christian
WR Terrell Anderson – Greensboro Grimsley
WR Alex Taylor – Greensboro Grimsley (NC State offer)
WR Jordan Shipp – Charlotte Providence Day
WR Trenton Cloud – Greensboro Northwest Guilford
TE Jack Larsen – Charlotte Catholic (NC State offer)
LB Cayden Jones – Arden Christ School (NC State offer)
S Brody Barnhardt – Charlotte Providence Day
Class of 2025:
ATH David Sanders Jr. – Charlotte Providence Day
CB Braxton Winston – Charlotte Providence Day
Potential prospects from outside the state:
Sumter (S.C.) High strongside defensive end Monteque Rhames, who is ranked No. 177 overall in the country by Rivals.com, and has NC State in his new top 10. He attended at least two NCSU games this past fall.
Sophomore star cornerback Asad Brown of Chesapeake (Va.) Oscar Smith High, who is making a return trip. The Rivals.com four-star prospect has 26 offers.
Some players that might get added to this list or already have could be sophomore wide receiver Channing Goodwin of Charlotte Providence Day and freshman defensive end Gus Ritchey of Pittsboro Northwood, who both picked up Power Five Conference offers this month. I also believe in the upside of Waxhaw Cuthbertson sophomore receiver Keenan Jackson.
In terms of news coming out of the weekend, we’ve been lucky and have talked to nearly every player on the list that NC State has offered, except for a few. Some have trimmed their lists or starting to have their recruitment come into focus more such as Keith Sampson, Solomon Absher, Jamaal Jarrett, Christian Hamilton and Pendleton.
The biggest news is which of the players who doesn't have a scholarship offer receives one this weekend.
2. Expect more tight ends who end up like former wide receiver recruit Christopher Toudle of Wilmington (N.C.) Hoggard High.
Toudle was an interesting situation in high school. He was 6-foot-3 and 215 pounds at that time, was a quarterback at one point and and projected to play wide receiver in college. Rivals.com always pegged him as a future tight end because he just didn’t have enough speed to play wide receiver. I’m sure some people at NC State weren’t big fans of Rivals calling their wide receiver, a tight end, but that’s how it happens sometimes.
Then on top of all that, Toudle didn’t really have a quarterback to throw him the ball his senior year, and he caught just 21 passes for 315 yards and three touchdowns, and he rushed 43 times for 156 yards and four scores in 11 games at Hoggard High.
Fast forward two years, and Toudle is 6-4 and 240 pounds, and he caught 19 passes for 190 yards and four touchdowns this season, getting injured toward the end of the season. He proved he could be a real weapon and is plenty fast enough for a tight end in trying to create mismatches.
NC State zeroed in on Havelock (N.C.) High junior tight end Javonte Vereen early this fall, and head coach Dave Doeren went to see him Wednesday, and tight ends and special teams coach Todd Goebbel went to see him play hoops that night.
NC State also offered this past week juniors CJ Jacobsen of Meridian (Idaho) Rocky Mountain High and Ben Marshall of Murfreesboro (Tenn.) Blackman. Both Jacobsen and Marshall fit the mold of tall, lanky players, who flex out as wide receivers in high school, and project as tight ends for college. Both are “under the radar” types, though Pac-12 programs are aware of Jacobsen.
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