1. It was always going to be interesting with all things NC State junior shooting guard commit Robert Dillingham. This week was no different.
The 6-foot-1, 160-pounder from Hickory, N.C., has had a lot of noise and rumors for the last year, so that is nothing new. It’s the nature of being a high-profile recruit in the social media age and people looking to get attention from his shine.
A well-placed source that tipped us off that NC State was going to get Dillingham to commit, while most others were calling for Kentucky, filled us in a little bit Thursday on what is happening with the Rivals.com five-star talent. He said Dillingham hasn’t made up his mind on anything and is going to be a little tight-lipped on if he can reclass to 2022. He’s been in high school for 2 1/2 years and there will always be questions about the academic credentials with Simi Valley (Calif.) Donda Academy, the school that Dillingham left Lincolnton (N.C.) Combine Academy for.
Donda Academy is a 60-student school that musician/fashion artist Kanye West has formed. What we have learned is that education consultant Beulah Mcloyd is pretty accomplished and from Chicago like West. Some thought she was connected to former President Barrack Obama, but that might be overstated.
Donda Academy Vice President and director of athletics Shayla Scott played at Pittsburgh and was an assistant coach LaSalle before going into the high school ranks. She understands what is need to move on to the college level academically.
What is also clear, Dillingham won’t have to make a final decision on anything until maybe late August. So the rumors will continue for several months. There could be numerous twists and turns between now and then, especially if G-League Ignite wants him.
What the rumor did do is change the narrative on coach Kevin Keatts and next year’s team. So in that sense, it’s a win for NC State because the negativity has been turned down a few notches.
Now for some fun news — Dillingham and the Donda Academy road show is expected to play Huntersville (N.C.) Vertical Academy on Monday. The details are still being worked out but our well-placed Dillingham source believes the game will be in Mooresville, N.C., and that junior guard Mikey Williams will make an appearance for this one.
Our source also believes Kanye West, LaMelo Ball and Charlotte native DaBaby could be in attendance. With the Nets playing the Hornets on Tuesday, star Kevin Durant might arrive a day early and catch the game. West just watched Donda Academy in his hometown of Chicago with Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball, LaMelo’s brother.
(Update: Like all things Donda, we'll see about Monday ... Vertical Academy pulled out).
Donda Academy has been all over in recent weeks — Chicago, Washington, D.C., area, Charlotte, Denver, Atlanta and Miami, among other cities.
Maybe more clarity will come from Dillingham directly Monday night.
2. Mother Nature will end up helping North Carolina on Saturday, but it could have been worse.
NC State had scheduled its first big Junior Day on Jan. 22, and long-time recruiting guru Tom Lemming was piggy-backing on the event prior it at Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons. There were a snow storm that was expected to come through the Triangle and NC State postponed the Junior Day until Jan. 30.
Lemming Day didn’t happen Jan. 30, but the Junior Day was still a success for the Wolfpack regardless. Some players couldn’t make the trip that had planned to attend Jan. 22, but that is to be expected.
Now, flash forward and Lemming Day is back in the area, but this time UNC convinced him to hold it at East Chapel Hill High for the second straight year Saturday morning. Now, that will help the Tar Heels, who were planing a Junior Day and a watch party for UNC at Duke basketball.
The top players in the state regardless of class usually get invited to Lemming Day, which is why colleges want to tag-team the situation. The early returns is that a solid amount of in-state players will be coming to Chapel Hill, but it isn’t an overwhelming amount. Some of the names being bandied about include Watauga (N.C.) Boone senior defensive end Isaiah Shirley, junior offensive lineman Sam Pendleton and junior defensive end Semaj Turner of Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan, junior defensive back Zack Myers and sophomore outside linebacker Cayden Jones of Arden (N.C.) Christ School, Havelock junior tight end Javonte Vereen, and Hickory (N.C.) High defensive end/outside linebacker Rico Walker.
Additionally, Charlotte (N.C.) Catholic sophomore tight end Jack Larsen, Burlington (N.C.) Cummings sophomore wide receiver Jonathan Paylor and Fayetteville (N.C.) Seventy-First sophomore running back Anthony Quinn Jr. are also expected to attend.
Several NC State targets are expected to not attend UNC’s Junior Day. Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley lineman Jamaal Jarrett will be at Tennessee and New Bern (N.C.) High defensive lineman Keith Sampson Jr. is headed to Florida State.
Good chance that junior wide receivers Noah Rogers of Rolesville (N.C.) High and Chris Culliver of Maiden (N.C.) High might be playing in a 7-on-7 event in Concord, N.C.
Wide receiver Kevin Concepcion of Charlotte Chambers High, and running back teammate Daylan Smothers, along with other teammates are checking out Florida State this weekend.
Some prospects will try and go to NC State, North Carolina and Duke this weekend.
3. Darion Rivers was a good example of NC State trusting its instincts in moving fast with him in getting his verbal commitment.
He didn’t have a Rivals.com profile prior to Jan. 30, didn’t have any other offers and six months ago, probably was hoping to land a low Division I or II basketball offer. But NC State offensive line coach John Garrison did his due diligence and found him at a school that isn’t known for having Division I football talent. The fact that Garrison was personally recruiting him was the sign that NC State wanted him at tackle, while others thought he could make a heck of a jumbo-sized defensive lineman. Garrison doesn’t have a recruiting area, he just goes after offensive lineman.
West Charlotte coach Sam Greiner does know talent and NC State landed former cornerback Malik Dunlap from Charlotte Harding High, and tried for four-star guard Jovaughn Gwynn (South Carolina) and four-star running back/linebacker Quavaris Crouch (Tennessee/Michigan State).
What usually happens when NC State is the first offer on a player is that the other regional colleges will then give a long look. In this case, Duke and Liberty followed soon after with offers, and South Carolina, Penn State, Maryland and Appalachian State showed interest. Rivers will continue to unofficially visit NC State in the coming months, starting with April 2. He’s only been to NCSU the one time, which was Junior Day on Jan. 30.
Rivers also hopes to gain about 15 pounds to get to 6-6 and 270 pounds for his senior year. He’ll not be playing with Team United traveling team this spring and summer, in his quest to gain weight and strength.
NC State currently has 14 scholarship offensive linemen for this season, with two of them seniors in tackle Bryson Speas and center Grant Gibson.
The 6-foot-1, 160-pounder from Hickory, N.C., has had a lot of noise and rumors for the last year, so that is nothing new. It’s the nature of being a high-profile recruit in the social media age and people looking to get attention from his shine.
A well-placed source that tipped us off that NC State was going to get Dillingham to commit, while most others were calling for Kentucky, filled us in a little bit Thursday on what is happening with the Rivals.com five-star talent. He said Dillingham hasn’t made up his mind on anything and is going to be a little tight-lipped on if he can reclass to 2022. He’s been in high school for 2 1/2 years and there will always be questions about the academic credentials with Simi Valley (Calif.) Donda Academy, the school that Dillingham left Lincolnton (N.C.) Combine Academy for.
Donda Academy is a 60-student school that musician/fashion artist Kanye West has formed. What we have learned is that education consultant Beulah Mcloyd is pretty accomplished and from Chicago like West. Some thought she was connected to former President Barrack Obama, but that might be overstated.
Donda Academy Vice President and director of athletics Shayla Scott played at Pittsburgh and was an assistant coach LaSalle before going into the high school ranks. She understands what is need to move on to the college level academically.
What is also clear, Dillingham won’t have to make a final decision on anything until maybe late August. So the rumors will continue for several months. There could be numerous twists and turns between now and then, especially if G-League Ignite wants him.
What the rumor did do is change the narrative on coach Kevin Keatts and next year’s team. So in that sense, it’s a win for NC State because the negativity has been turned down a few notches.
Now for some fun news — Dillingham and the Donda Academy road show is expected to play Huntersville (N.C.) Vertical Academy on Monday. The details are still being worked out but our well-placed Dillingham source believes the game will be in Mooresville, N.C., and that junior guard Mikey Williams will make an appearance for this one.
Our source also believes Kanye West, LaMelo Ball and Charlotte native DaBaby could be in attendance. With the Nets playing the Hornets on Tuesday, star Kevin Durant might arrive a day early and catch the game. West just watched Donda Academy in his hometown of Chicago with Bulls point guard Lonzo Ball, LaMelo’s brother.
(Update: Like all things Donda, we'll see about Monday ... Vertical Academy pulled out).
Donda Academy has been all over in recent weeks — Chicago, Washington, D.C., area, Charlotte, Denver, Atlanta and Miami, among other cities.
Maybe more clarity will come from Dillingham directly Monday night.
2. Mother Nature will end up helping North Carolina on Saturday, but it could have been worse.
NC State had scheduled its first big Junior Day on Jan. 22, and long-time recruiting guru Tom Lemming was piggy-backing on the event prior it at Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons. There were a snow storm that was expected to come through the Triangle and NC State postponed the Junior Day until Jan. 30.
Lemming Day didn’t happen Jan. 30, but the Junior Day was still a success for the Wolfpack regardless. Some players couldn’t make the trip that had planned to attend Jan. 22, but that is to be expected.
Now, flash forward and Lemming Day is back in the area, but this time UNC convinced him to hold it at East Chapel Hill High for the second straight year Saturday morning. Now, that will help the Tar Heels, who were planing a Junior Day and a watch party for UNC at Duke basketball.
The top players in the state regardless of class usually get invited to Lemming Day, which is why colleges want to tag-team the situation. The early returns is that a solid amount of in-state players will be coming to Chapel Hill, but it isn’t an overwhelming amount. Some of the names being bandied about include Watauga (N.C.) Boone senior defensive end Isaiah Shirley, junior offensive lineman Sam Pendleton and junior defensive end Semaj Turner of Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan, junior defensive back Zack Myers and sophomore outside linebacker Cayden Jones of Arden (N.C.) Christ School, Havelock junior tight end Javonte Vereen, and Hickory (N.C.) High defensive end/outside linebacker Rico Walker.
Additionally, Charlotte (N.C.) Catholic sophomore tight end Jack Larsen, Burlington (N.C.) Cummings sophomore wide receiver Jonathan Paylor and Fayetteville (N.C.) Seventy-First sophomore running back Anthony Quinn Jr. are also expected to attend.
Several NC State targets are expected to not attend UNC’s Junior Day. Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley lineman Jamaal Jarrett will be at Tennessee and New Bern (N.C.) High defensive lineman Keith Sampson Jr. is headed to Florida State.
Good chance that junior wide receivers Noah Rogers of Rolesville (N.C.) High and Chris Culliver of Maiden (N.C.) High might be playing in a 7-on-7 event in Concord, N.C.
Wide receiver Kevin Concepcion of Charlotte Chambers High, and running back teammate Daylan Smothers, along with other teammates are checking out Florida State this weekend.
Some prospects will try and go to NC State, North Carolina and Duke this weekend.
3. Darion Rivers was a good example of NC State trusting its instincts in moving fast with him in getting his verbal commitment.
He didn’t have a Rivals.com profile prior to Jan. 30, didn’t have any other offers and six months ago, probably was hoping to land a low Division I or II basketball offer. But NC State offensive line coach John Garrison did his due diligence and found him at a school that isn’t known for having Division I football talent. The fact that Garrison was personally recruiting him was the sign that NC State wanted him at tackle, while others thought he could make a heck of a jumbo-sized defensive lineman. Garrison doesn’t have a recruiting area, he just goes after offensive lineman.
West Charlotte coach Sam Greiner does know talent and NC State landed former cornerback Malik Dunlap from Charlotte Harding High, and tried for four-star guard Jovaughn Gwynn (South Carolina) and four-star running back/linebacker Quavaris Crouch (Tennessee/Michigan State).
What usually happens when NC State is the first offer on a player is that the other regional colleges will then give a long look. In this case, Duke and Liberty followed soon after with offers, and South Carolina, Penn State, Maryland and Appalachian State showed interest. Rivers will continue to unofficially visit NC State in the coming months, starting with April 2. He’s only been to NCSU the one time, which was Junior Day on Jan. 30.
Rivers also hopes to gain about 15 pounds to get to 6-6 and 270 pounds for his senior year. He’ll not be playing with Team United traveling team this spring and summer, in his quest to gain weight and strength.
NC State currently has 14 scholarship offensive linemen for this season, with two of them seniors in tackle Bryson Speas and center Grant Gibson.
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