1. Cornelius (N.C.) Hough sophomore cornerback Samari Matthews edged out Reidsville (N.C.) High tight end Kendre’ Harrison for the No. 1 player in the state in the class of 2026. Matthews is ranked No. 16 nationally, and Harrison is No. 18, so essentially flip a coin or go on what position is the more important.
Matthews was nearly pre-ordained before he even played a game his freshman year for Hough. I watched his first game against Irmo (S.C.) Dutch Fork High and was impressed with his toughness, tackling and able to switch gears.
A nifty play call caught Matthews on a play-fake on fourth down and two, but he bounced back despite the fact that it was clear Tom Knotts was going after him.
I was going to see Matthews’ progress Thursday, but a mild case of shingles ended that dream yesterday, but Hough rolled over Huntersville (N.C.) North Mecklenburg 52-7. So, maybe I didn’t miss much.
I did see Harrison last Friday in a narrow loss to Mebane (N.C.) Eastern Alamance. I called him just a tight end on purpose because, at least for now, he sees himself as a tight end rather than a defensive end, and his playing time at the two positions reflect that.
At the end of the day, Harrison is always going to be a really big 6-6, 6-7 target. He has good hands, which comes from the eye-hand coordination of being a gifted rebounder.
Harrison couldn’t make it to the Notre Dame last week, but instead is going to the VMI game Saturday. I know, major difference, but at least hopefully no weather delays. Harrison will also likely spend time with the NCSU basketball coaches.
Watching South Garner (N.C.) High sophomore tackle Ekene Ogboko was a key priority going into the season. The buzz was loud for the gifted 6-6, 290-pounder from Durham, N.C., and his older brother is Georgia nose tackle commit Nnamdi Ogboko.
NC State offered Ogboko on June 7, 2023, and he’s now ranked No. 42 overall in the country. Watching him in a scrimmage and then a real game at Wake Forest (N.C.) High, he doesn’t make many mistakes.
Thomas Davis Jr. also has a high profile due to the great success of his father of the same name, who played at Georgia and the NFL, mostly with the Carolina Panthers.
The younger Davis flies around and it will be interesting to see how his body projects, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he ends up an outside linebacker like his father. NC State had him come through in mid-June with his Matthews Weddington High teammates. His cousins are defensive end Aiden Harris and outside linebacker Andrew Harris, so this might be a package deal that actually could stick.
Tackle Pierre Dean is the one sophomore still on my hit list of watching this season. I just have to pick the right game. He has great size, a great offer list, including NC State, and has an older brother that plays at Georgia in Jared Wilson.
I did see Jared Wilson in high school, who NC State had offered, but he bounced back and forth between UGA and North Carolina in his recruitment. Wilson was much heavier in high school at 345 pounds, but is now a 6-3, 310-pound reserve guard and a redshirt sophomore for the Bulldogs. Dean has more hype going than Wilson did.
2. NC State has offered several in-state sophomores who will be battling to get ranked in the future.
One, who I will watch tonight, is Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan High sophomore quarterback Jacob Smith.
Smith is verbally committed to NC State baseball, but his future is going to including playing quarterback and baseball. It makes sense for a sophomore to hang on to being committed to NCSU baseball because he could get hurt and not be able to play football anymore.
Smith and Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley sophomore quarterback Faizon Brandon have both been offered by the Wolfpack. With quarterbacks, it’s good to see how they manage an offense, what kind of decision maker they are, leadership and whether they have a feel for the pocket.
In Brandon’s case, he can run at 6-4 and he has a strong arm. He just needs more reps and experience in having a better feel in getting the ball out to his playmakers — NC State senior wide receiver commit Terrell Anderson and UNC senior wide receiver commit Alex Taylor.
NC State has also offered Brody Keefe of Charlotte Myers Park, right tackle Leo Delaney of Charlotte Providence Day, the Harris twins at Weddington and this past week wide receiver Aiden Smalls of Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons.
Keefe caught a touchdown grab against Charlotte Christian but was otherwise quiet when I watched him. Delaney proved rock solid at right tackle against Rock Hill (S.C.) Northwestern in his season opener. Aiden Harris looks like he’ll have the size that NC State prefers in its defensive end and brings good energy, and Andrew is athletic enough to play outside linebacker or even be a flex tight end.
I haven’t seen Smalls play football yet, but have watched him enough in hoops to know how gifted he is athletically and that he’s a fierce competitor. He’s the type of personality that if a teammate or himself turned the ball over, he’d sprint back on defense and do everything in his power to steal the ball right back to make up for the miscue.
3. NC State’s pursuit for an outside linebacker could end Monday.
Talking to Jonesboro (Ga.) Mundy’s Mill senior Joshua Ofor and he really loved his official visit to NC State last weekend. All signs are pointing toward the Wolfpack.
If he does pick the Wolfpack on Monday, that should develop some good positive mojo in recruiting. It should also dominate the news cycle for a while.
It also breaks the streak of the majority of NC State’s most recent commits (sans Jimmar Boston) of picking colleges at less than ideal team slots. Whether on a Friday evening or a Saturday, NC State’s commits could use some good public relations lessons at times.
But all that matters is the end result, and Ofor has NC State, East Carolina, Ole Miss and Tulane in his final grouping, with official visits to NC State and ECU.
Ofor fits that mode that NC State has been getting with Kelvon McBride and Kamal Bonner in the class of 2023, where he’s about 15 pounds away from being an impressive ACC outside linebacker with good speed, instincts and the right amount of being mean.
Matthews was nearly pre-ordained before he even played a game his freshman year for Hough. I watched his first game against Irmo (S.C.) Dutch Fork High and was impressed with his toughness, tackling and able to switch gears.
A nifty play call caught Matthews on a play-fake on fourth down and two, but he bounced back despite the fact that it was clear Tom Knotts was going after him.
I was going to see Matthews’ progress Thursday, but a mild case of shingles ended that dream yesterday, but Hough rolled over Huntersville (N.C.) North Mecklenburg 52-7. So, maybe I didn’t miss much.
I did see Harrison last Friday in a narrow loss to Mebane (N.C.) Eastern Alamance. I called him just a tight end on purpose because, at least for now, he sees himself as a tight end rather than a defensive end, and his playing time at the two positions reflect that.
At the end of the day, Harrison is always going to be a really big 6-6, 6-7 target. He has good hands, which comes from the eye-hand coordination of being a gifted rebounder.
Harrison couldn’t make it to the Notre Dame last week, but instead is going to the VMI game Saturday. I know, major difference, but at least hopefully no weather delays. Harrison will also likely spend time with the NCSU basketball coaches.
Watching South Garner (N.C.) High sophomore tackle Ekene Ogboko was a key priority going into the season. The buzz was loud for the gifted 6-6, 290-pounder from Durham, N.C., and his older brother is Georgia nose tackle commit Nnamdi Ogboko.
NC State offered Ogboko on June 7, 2023, and he’s now ranked No. 42 overall in the country. Watching him in a scrimmage and then a real game at Wake Forest (N.C.) High, he doesn’t make many mistakes.
Thomas Davis Jr. also has a high profile due to the great success of his father of the same name, who played at Georgia and the NFL, mostly with the Carolina Panthers.
The younger Davis flies around and it will be interesting to see how his body projects, but it wouldn’t be a surprise if he ends up an outside linebacker like his father. NC State had him come through in mid-June with his Matthews Weddington High teammates. His cousins are defensive end Aiden Harris and outside linebacker Andrew Harris, so this might be a package deal that actually could stick.
Tackle Pierre Dean is the one sophomore still on my hit list of watching this season. I just have to pick the right game. He has great size, a great offer list, including NC State, and has an older brother that plays at Georgia in Jared Wilson.
I did see Jared Wilson in high school, who NC State had offered, but he bounced back and forth between UGA and North Carolina in his recruitment. Wilson was much heavier in high school at 345 pounds, but is now a 6-3, 310-pound reserve guard and a redshirt sophomore for the Bulldogs. Dean has more hype going than Wilson did.
2. NC State has offered several in-state sophomores who will be battling to get ranked in the future.
One, who I will watch tonight, is Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan High sophomore quarterback Jacob Smith.
Smith is verbally committed to NC State baseball, but his future is going to including playing quarterback and baseball. It makes sense for a sophomore to hang on to being committed to NCSU baseball because he could get hurt and not be able to play football anymore.
Smith and Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley sophomore quarterback Faizon Brandon have both been offered by the Wolfpack. With quarterbacks, it’s good to see how they manage an offense, what kind of decision maker they are, leadership and whether they have a feel for the pocket.
In Brandon’s case, he can run at 6-4 and he has a strong arm. He just needs more reps and experience in having a better feel in getting the ball out to his playmakers — NC State senior wide receiver commit Terrell Anderson and UNC senior wide receiver commit Alex Taylor.
NC State has also offered Brody Keefe of Charlotte Myers Park, right tackle Leo Delaney of Charlotte Providence Day, the Harris twins at Weddington and this past week wide receiver Aiden Smalls of Raleigh Cardinal Gibbons.
Keefe caught a touchdown grab against Charlotte Christian but was otherwise quiet when I watched him. Delaney proved rock solid at right tackle against Rock Hill (S.C.) Northwestern in his season opener. Aiden Harris looks like he’ll have the size that NC State prefers in its defensive end and brings good energy, and Andrew is athletic enough to play outside linebacker or even be a flex tight end.
I haven’t seen Smalls play football yet, but have watched him enough in hoops to know how gifted he is athletically and that he’s a fierce competitor. He’s the type of personality that if a teammate or himself turned the ball over, he’d sprint back on defense and do everything in his power to steal the ball right back to make up for the miscue.
3. NC State’s pursuit for an outside linebacker could end Monday.
Talking to Jonesboro (Ga.) Mundy’s Mill senior Joshua Ofor and he really loved his official visit to NC State last weekend. All signs are pointing toward the Wolfpack.
If he does pick the Wolfpack on Monday, that should develop some good positive mojo in recruiting. It should also dominate the news cycle for a while.
It also breaks the streak of the majority of NC State’s most recent commits (sans Jimmar Boston) of picking colleges at less than ideal team slots. Whether on a Friday evening or a Saturday, NC State’s commits could use some good public relations lessons at times.
But all that matters is the end result, and Ofor has NC State, East Carolina, Ole Miss and Tulane in his final grouping, with official visits to NC State and ECU.
Ofor fits that mode that NC State has been getting with Kelvon McBride and Kamal Bonner in the class of 2023, where he’s about 15 pounds away from being an impressive ACC outside linebacker with good speed, instincts and the right amount of being mean.
