1. This past weekend and this weekend are the start of the pattern we will often, and the pattern where NC State recruits the best.
NC State will try to get the junior prospects on campus, somehow, someway. Usually, the Tom Lemming Day recruiting event does the trick, which is this Saturday at Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons. However it is TBD on how many class of 2026 recruits will come due to a few things — they aren’t considering NC State or visiting other colleges. Sometimes, disorganization can enter the picture and that ends up the reason for a player to not make the trip.
The next step is to have the prospect come to a spring practice or spring game. That especially critical with a new offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, plus some new position coaches. We’ll call that phase two.
The third phase is setting up an official visit for June, and that is where the bulk of the recruiting class comes to fruition.
What sometimes happens is that NC State sees they aren’t doing a good job at certain positions coming out of phase two. That is where the scramble happens to get new players at those positions to visit in June. That is what happened on the defensive line and linebackers last year.
For instance, in-state outside linebacker Donovan Darden of Havelock (N.C.) High really wasn’t a major factor at this time last year. He became a “scramble” guy in late spring and officially visited in June. He eventually picked South Carolina over NC State, Illinois and Boston College, and On3.com is being super ambitious with him being ranked No. 52 in the country.
Darden is a great example where his junior film in his first year playing outside linebacker/defensive end is solid. However, his senior year film pops. He’d have fit better in D.J. Eliot’s new defensive school than Tony Gibson’s version of the 3-3-5.
The commits during the summer will determine how much NC State will need to flip commits next fall, or save scholarships for the transfer portal.
2. Sometimes trends or history repeats in football recruiting. The class of 2019 was fantastic on the defensive side of the ball in the state of North Carolina, and the Wolfpack took care of business and made it happen.
To review that class of 2019, NC State landed Clayton High defensive end Savion Jackson, Roxboro Person defensive tackle Joshua Harris, New London North Stanly defensive tackle C.J. Clark and Concord Cox Mill defensive end Terrell Dawkins in the trenches.
Wake Forest Heritage linebacker Drake Thomas and Shelby High outside linebacker Jaylon Scott were added.
Kernersville East Forsyth safety Khalid Martin and Rocky Mount cornerback Shyheim Battle were added to the secondary.
Not all of those players panned out with Harris transferring to Ole Miss and then North Carolina, Dawkins to South Carolina, Martin to North Carolina A&T and Clark spent his last year at Miami (Fla.).
Still, five of the players ended up being starters at NC State, and I’d consider that a good hit rate.
It’s early, but I pride myself on seeing trends before it becomes obvious, but I really like what NC State could do on the defensive side of the ball in the class of 2027. That class will be aided by having time to see the new changes in the Wolfpack defense and getting to know the new coaches.
Two defensive lineman have been offered from the state in Raleigh Millbrook defensive end Rashad Streets and big John Archer of Fayetteville Seventy-First. I’ve been able to watch both this past fall (plus Archer as a freshman), and they are legit at their positions, and Streets is a Wolfpack legacy.
NC State offered Millbrook linebacker Quinton Cypher on June, who could be the next Drake Thomas in many ways. His father went to NC State, and his older brother is at NCSU now, while his mother did her post-graduate work at Duke. Nothing has changed in that he is an absolute must-get, and others will follow him.
Lincolnton High sophomore outside linebacker Jalaythan Mayfield was offered Friday, and he plays fast, aggressive and downhill.
The secondary has a good amount of options already. NC State has offered Akedran Crumel of Clayton and Xavier Hasan of Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons at cornerbacks. Safety Marquis Bryant of Rolesville is going to be a national recruit.
The X-factors is that NC State has also offered “athletes” Davion Jones of West Charlotte and Lance Henderson of Southern Durham High, and they could be free safeties or wide receivers. Based on two viewings of Jones this year, and one last year, he’s the most under-valued sophomore in the state at this point, but that will likely change sooner rather than later.
NC State hasn’t offered Durham Jordan sophomore defensive end Xavier Perkins, but I think that could easily change down the road now that the Wolfpack are back in the business of offering edge ends again. Perkins had 46 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and six sacks this season.
3a. I promise I don’t have a crystal ball, but in The Run Down on Jan. 17, I picked out five younger players that could get offered, and four just did. I’ll start with the one that hasn’t, yet. Matthews (N.C.) Corvian Community School sophomore lineman Nate Kamba could get looks on both sides of the ball. His HUDL film showed a good chunk of how he did at left tackle, and he moves well. Corvian Community won the NCHSAA 1A state title, so he’s not facing many future Division I prospects, but he was offered by Ohio State, Virginia Tech, East Carolina and Troy thus far.
NC State offered the previously mentioned Streets, Rolesville wide receiver Anthony Roberts, Indian Land (S.C.) High wide receiver Sequel Patterson and Southeast Raleigh freshman lineman Grayson Williams. Streets and Roberts’ stories on the site, and Williams is coming out real soon, and he looks the part on the offensive line.
Patterson and Roberts are also accomplished in hoops, and Patterson helped Team Loaded VA 15s finish second at the adidas 3SSB championships in Rock Hill, S.C., when I watched him last July.
3b. I also went 5 of 6 on recommendations on whether NC State would be back in the business of offering thinner pass-rushing ends again. They are in business.
NC State offered the most highly-rated of the group in four-star Rodney Dunham of Charlotte Myers Park. He had come out with a top eight and South Carolina, Tennessee and some Notre Dame are the schools getting linked to him.
NC State also offered juniors Ebenezer Ewetade and Keysaun Eleazer, who are local prospects. Ewetade attends Southern Garner and Eleazer is that Southeast Raleigh.
NC State coach Dave Doeren went to see Jace McCallum of Harrisburg (N.C.) Hickory Ridge, and Charlotte West Mecklenburg outside linebacker Elijah Littlejohn will be unofficially visiting NC State on Saturday.
Rockingham (N.C.) Richmond Senior edge rusher Terande Spencer hasn’t been offered yet, but we’ll see. Perhaps he’ll get offered if other options eliminate NC State in the future, but he had 101 tackles, 36 tackles for loss, 17 sacs and two interceptions this season.
NC State will try to get the junior prospects on campus, somehow, someway. Usually, the Tom Lemming Day recruiting event does the trick, which is this Saturday at Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons. However it is TBD on how many class of 2026 recruits will come due to a few things — they aren’t considering NC State or visiting other colleges. Sometimes, disorganization can enter the picture and that ends up the reason for a player to not make the trip.
The next step is to have the prospect come to a spring practice or spring game. That especially critical with a new offensive coordinator and defensive coordinator, plus some new position coaches. We’ll call that phase two.
The third phase is setting up an official visit for June, and that is where the bulk of the recruiting class comes to fruition.
What sometimes happens is that NC State sees they aren’t doing a good job at certain positions coming out of phase two. That is where the scramble happens to get new players at those positions to visit in June. That is what happened on the defensive line and linebackers last year.
For instance, in-state outside linebacker Donovan Darden of Havelock (N.C.) High really wasn’t a major factor at this time last year. He became a “scramble” guy in late spring and officially visited in June. He eventually picked South Carolina over NC State, Illinois and Boston College, and On3.com is being super ambitious with him being ranked No. 52 in the country.
Darden is a great example where his junior film in his first year playing outside linebacker/defensive end is solid. However, his senior year film pops. He’d have fit better in D.J. Eliot’s new defensive school than Tony Gibson’s version of the 3-3-5.
The commits during the summer will determine how much NC State will need to flip commits next fall, or save scholarships for the transfer portal.
2. Sometimes trends or history repeats in football recruiting. The class of 2019 was fantastic on the defensive side of the ball in the state of North Carolina, and the Wolfpack took care of business and made it happen.
To review that class of 2019, NC State landed Clayton High defensive end Savion Jackson, Roxboro Person defensive tackle Joshua Harris, New London North Stanly defensive tackle C.J. Clark and Concord Cox Mill defensive end Terrell Dawkins in the trenches.
Wake Forest Heritage linebacker Drake Thomas and Shelby High outside linebacker Jaylon Scott were added.
Kernersville East Forsyth safety Khalid Martin and Rocky Mount cornerback Shyheim Battle were added to the secondary.
Not all of those players panned out with Harris transferring to Ole Miss and then North Carolina, Dawkins to South Carolina, Martin to North Carolina A&T and Clark spent his last year at Miami (Fla.).
Still, five of the players ended up being starters at NC State, and I’d consider that a good hit rate.
It’s early, but I pride myself on seeing trends before it becomes obvious, but I really like what NC State could do on the defensive side of the ball in the class of 2027. That class will be aided by having time to see the new changes in the Wolfpack defense and getting to know the new coaches.
Two defensive lineman have been offered from the state in Raleigh Millbrook defensive end Rashad Streets and big John Archer of Fayetteville Seventy-First. I’ve been able to watch both this past fall (plus Archer as a freshman), and they are legit at their positions, and Streets is a Wolfpack legacy.
NC State offered Millbrook linebacker Quinton Cypher on June, who could be the next Drake Thomas in many ways. His father went to NC State, and his older brother is at NCSU now, while his mother did her post-graduate work at Duke. Nothing has changed in that he is an absolute must-get, and others will follow him.
Lincolnton High sophomore outside linebacker Jalaythan Mayfield was offered Friday, and he plays fast, aggressive and downhill.
The secondary has a good amount of options already. NC State has offered Akedran Crumel of Clayton and Xavier Hasan of Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons at cornerbacks. Safety Marquis Bryant of Rolesville is going to be a national recruit.
The X-factors is that NC State has also offered “athletes” Davion Jones of West Charlotte and Lance Henderson of Southern Durham High, and they could be free safeties or wide receivers. Based on two viewings of Jones this year, and one last year, he’s the most under-valued sophomore in the state at this point, but that will likely change sooner rather than later.
NC State hasn’t offered Durham Jordan sophomore defensive end Xavier Perkins, but I think that could easily change down the road now that the Wolfpack are back in the business of offering edge ends again. Perkins had 46 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and six sacks this season.
3a. I promise I don’t have a crystal ball, but in The Run Down on Jan. 17, I picked out five younger players that could get offered, and four just did. I’ll start with the one that hasn’t, yet. Matthews (N.C.) Corvian Community School sophomore lineman Nate Kamba could get looks on both sides of the ball. His HUDL film showed a good chunk of how he did at left tackle, and he moves well. Corvian Community won the NCHSAA 1A state title, so he’s not facing many future Division I prospects, but he was offered by Ohio State, Virginia Tech, East Carolina and Troy thus far.
NC State offered the previously mentioned Streets, Rolesville wide receiver Anthony Roberts, Indian Land (S.C.) High wide receiver Sequel Patterson and Southeast Raleigh freshman lineman Grayson Williams. Streets and Roberts’ stories on the site, and Williams is coming out real soon, and he looks the part on the offensive line.
Patterson and Roberts are also accomplished in hoops, and Patterson helped Team Loaded VA 15s finish second at the adidas 3SSB championships in Rock Hill, S.C., when I watched him last July.
3b. I also went 5 of 6 on recommendations on whether NC State would be back in the business of offering thinner pass-rushing ends again. They are in business.
NC State offered the most highly-rated of the group in four-star Rodney Dunham of Charlotte Myers Park. He had come out with a top eight and South Carolina, Tennessee and some Notre Dame are the schools getting linked to him.
NC State also offered juniors Ebenezer Ewetade and Keysaun Eleazer, who are local prospects. Ewetade attends Southern Garner and Eleazer is that Southeast Raleigh.
NC State coach Dave Doeren went to see Jace McCallum of Harrisburg (N.C.) Hickory Ridge, and Charlotte West Mecklenburg outside linebacker Elijah Littlejohn will be unofficially visiting NC State on Saturday.
Rockingham (N.C.) Richmond Senior edge rusher Terande Spencer hasn’t been offered yet, but we’ll see. Perhaps he’ll get offered if other options eliminate NC State in the future, but he had 101 tackles, 36 tackles for loss, 17 sacs and two interceptions this season.
