Here are a few of the storylines from signing day and moving forward:
• The defection of three-star offensive tackle Austin Blaske from Guyton (Ga.) South Effingham High left a bit of a scar on the staff, according to sources. Make no mistake, it was a tough and challenging few months, and Blaske’s defection might have cut a little deeper because of that. There was also a feeling that NC State bent over backwards for a lot of their commits, Blaske included, as appreciation for their loyalty.
But in recruiting, as impossible as it may sound, you cannot hold things personally for too long and you have to move on quickly. NC State’s top priority right now is to identify some new offensive line targets. Multiple sources have indicated to us that it may not necessarily be exclusive to high school prospects either.
NCSU was very interested in junior college lineman Tairiq Stewart, but he signed with West Virginia. Had NCSU had more warning of Blaske’s move, it probably could have begun putting the press on Stewart. Alas the biggest problem with Blaske’s defection is indeed the timing, which left NC State little recourse.
Some offensive linemen, among probably numerous others, that did not sign that NC State is likely to take a look at includes Leif Manuson, a Canadian from Mississauga, Ontario; Jose Gonzalez from Dover (Fla.) Strawberry Coast; Miller Merriweather-Lewis from Ocala (Fla.) Trinity Catholic; and Kahlil Benson from Southaven (Miss.) High.
Benson is a 6-foot-5, 290-pounder rated by Rivals.com as the No. 49 offensive tackle in the country. He was set to sign with Ole Miss, but announced on Dec. 12 that he was opening his recruitment back up. Merriweather-Lewis is a 6-foot-4, 310-pounder ranked the No. 43 offensive tackle nationally. At one point he was rated a four-star, and he was committed to South Florida before the coaching change.
Gonzalez is a massive 6-foot-9, 340-pounder who has led a very low-key recruitment (somewhat like already established NC State target Anthony Carter from Butler High in Matthews, N.C.). From what we can, conventional wisdom was that Minnesota led for Gonzalez at one point. He also reported offers from Power Five programs Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State and UCLA along with prominent mid-majors like Appalachian State, Central Florida, Colorado State, FAU, FIU, South Florida, Southern Miss and Tulane, among others.
Magnuson (6-foot-5, 260 pounds) made official visits to December to Indiana and Kansas, but had always planned to wait until February to sign. Syracuse and Boston College from the ACC offered him before the early signing day.
How close did NC State come to pulling off a surprise with three-star defensive tackle Henry Bryant from Delray Beach (Fla.) Atlantic High? Bryant was originally scheduled to visit NC State officially Dec. 6, but the date was pushed back a week so that his entire family could make the trip.
Louisville, according to sources, was caught unaware of the trip or NC State’s recruitment until news spilled out after his visit. At that point the Cardinals sprung into action to try to nail down his signature.
As of the night before signing day, Bryant was still considering both options. The NC State trip gave him a lot to think about. Sources have told us that Bryant and his family really were attracted to the idea of playing for defensive line coach Kevin Patrick. Patrick also had a good relationship with Bryant’s high school coach.
It also helped that NC State head coach Dave Doeren got personally involved with the recruitment and made an in-home visit, something that his counterpart at Louisville apparently did not do. As one source told us, NC State put “the full-court press” on.
There were concerns however about a couple of things, including the fact that NC State redshirted a pair of four-star defensive tackles in C.J. Clark and Joshua Harris.
Bryant had always been near the top of their defensive tackle board, and at one point the hope was for a Jaylen Smith/Bryant combination.
That changed however when Cary (N.C.) High’s Davin Vann started posting freakish numbers at combines. Vann quickly rose up NC State’s board, and because Smith had already committed in March, space was tight since the plan was to take only two defensive tackle commits.
If NC State would have had a do-over, it would have held off on Smith in March and tried for a Bryant/Vann combination, and it probably would have gotten it. Sources tell us that Bryant was planning a June official visit, eyeing the weekend of June 21, at which point if everything checked out he was going to commit. Vann committed June 7 to beat him to the spot.
Despite that, sources indicate that Patrick never lost touch with the Bryant family, which proved to them that NC State really liked him all along. There were some in the Bryant circle who probably preferred him to go to Raleigh, too.
Ultimately though the feeling was that Louisville’s new staff was off to a strong start, and some of their new facilities were impressive. Bryant also had a hard time making a late switch on the Cardinals even if NC State was probably the first choice of his in the summer.
Thus on the morning of signing day around 10 a.m., Bryant went ahead and signed with the Cardinals.
Despite the disappointment of the late loss of Blaske and not getting Bryant, NC State is pleased with where they ended up at the skill positions.
We have picked up a sense that the Pack in particular feels that they have picked up two real steals in receiver Anthony Smith from Huntingtown (Md.) High and defensive back Devan Boykin from Jamestown (N.C.) Ragsdale High.
Smith has the physical attributes that NC State has lacked for a while, perhaps since Owen Spencer: a lengthy receiver who can fly. If Smith had more than one full year of film, odds are good he would have had a high-level recruitment.
Boykin has a lot of the traits NC State is now looking for in a defensive back: athleticism, playmaking abilities and versatility. It helps that he is a coach’s son and has impressed NC State with his football IQ. There is a feeling that he literally could play any position in the defensive backfield.
NC State has room for five more spots in the class, but we at this point are not expecting all five to be used by high school signees. As we noted with the offensive line board, there is an expectation that the Pack is going to explore heavily the transfer market. Doeren even hinted that the Pack could save a spot or two and wait until well after the February signing day if need be.
In other words, NC State is going to be selective with the high school prospects and not take one just to fill a number.
That said, a cautionary tale about the transfer portal. You hear a lot about the vast number of players in it, but a fairly significant portion of those are walk-ons. Another good chunk are players nowhere near the caliber to be playing ACC football.
Thus don’t be fooled by hearing there is a couple thousand players in the portal. The actual pool that NC State can look at might be less than 10 percent of that, and that would be on the high end. Then there is the fact that other colleges will have a similar mindset to NC State.
That means just because you want to add a transfer doesn’t mean it’s always feasible.
• The defection of three-star offensive tackle Austin Blaske from Guyton (Ga.) South Effingham High left a bit of a scar on the staff, according to sources. Make no mistake, it was a tough and challenging few months, and Blaske’s defection might have cut a little deeper because of that. There was also a feeling that NC State bent over backwards for a lot of their commits, Blaske included, as appreciation for their loyalty.
But in recruiting, as impossible as it may sound, you cannot hold things personally for too long and you have to move on quickly. NC State’s top priority right now is to identify some new offensive line targets. Multiple sources have indicated to us that it may not necessarily be exclusive to high school prospects either.
NCSU was very interested in junior college lineman Tairiq Stewart, but he signed with West Virginia. Had NCSU had more warning of Blaske’s move, it probably could have begun putting the press on Stewart. Alas the biggest problem with Blaske’s defection is indeed the timing, which left NC State little recourse.
Some offensive linemen, among probably numerous others, that did not sign that NC State is likely to take a look at includes Leif Manuson, a Canadian from Mississauga, Ontario; Jose Gonzalez from Dover (Fla.) Strawberry Coast; Miller Merriweather-Lewis from Ocala (Fla.) Trinity Catholic; and Kahlil Benson from Southaven (Miss.) High.
Benson is a 6-foot-5, 290-pounder rated by Rivals.com as the No. 49 offensive tackle in the country. He was set to sign with Ole Miss, but announced on Dec. 12 that he was opening his recruitment back up. Merriweather-Lewis is a 6-foot-4, 310-pounder ranked the No. 43 offensive tackle nationally. At one point he was rated a four-star, and he was committed to South Florida before the coaching change.
Gonzalez is a massive 6-foot-9, 340-pounder who has led a very low-key recruitment (somewhat like already established NC State target Anthony Carter from Butler High in Matthews, N.C.). From what we can, conventional wisdom was that Minnesota led for Gonzalez at one point. He also reported offers from Power Five programs Illinois, Indiana, Iowa State and UCLA along with prominent mid-majors like Appalachian State, Central Florida, Colorado State, FAU, FIU, South Florida, Southern Miss and Tulane, among others.
Magnuson (6-foot-5, 260 pounds) made official visits to December to Indiana and Kansas, but had always planned to wait until February to sign. Syracuse and Boston College from the ACC offered him before the early signing day.
•••
How close did NC State come to pulling off a surprise with three-star defensive tackle Henry Bryant from Delray Beach (Fla.) Atlantic High? Bryant was originally scheduled to visit NC State officially Dec. 6, but the date was pushed back a week so that his entire family could make the trip.
Louisville, according to sources, was caught unaware of the trip or NC State’s recruitment until news spilled out after his visit. At that point the Cardinals sprung into action to try to nail down his signature.
As of the night before signing day, Bryant was still considering both options. The NC State trip gave him a lot to think about. Sources have told us that Bryant and his family really were attracted to the idea of playing for defensive line coach Kevin Patrick. Patrick also had a good relationship with Bryant’s high school coach.
It also helped that NC State head coach Dave Doeren got personally involved with the recruitment and made an in-home visit, something that his counterpart at Louisville apparently did not do. As one source told us, NC State put “the full-court press” on.
There were concerns however about a couple of things, including the fact that NC State redshirted a pair of four-star defensive tackles in C.J. Clark and Joshua Harris.
Bryant had always been near the top of their defensive tackle board, and at one point the hope was for a Jaylen Smith/Bryant combination.
That changed however when Cary (N.C.) High’s Davin Vann started posting freakish numbers at combines. Vann quickly rose up NC State’s board, and because Smith had already committed in March, space was tight since the plan was to take only two defensive tackle commits.
If NC State would have had a do-over, it would have held off on Smith in March and tried for a Bryant/Vann combination, and it probably would have gotten it. Sources tell us that Bryant was planning a June official visit, eyeing the weekend of June 21, at which point if everything checked out he was going to commit. Vann committed June 7 to beat him to the spot.
Despite that, sources indicate that Patrick never lost touch with the Bryant family, which proved to them that NC State really liked him all along. There were some in the Bryant circle who probably preferred him to go to Raleigh, too.
Ultimately though the feeling was that Louisville’s new staff was off to a strong start, and some of their new facilities were impressive. Bryant also had a hard time making a late switch on the Cardinals even if NC State was probably the first choice of his in the summer.
Thus on the morning of signing day around 10 a.m., Bryant went ahead and signed with the Cardinals.
•••
Despite the disappointment of the late loss of Blaske and not getting Bryant, NC State is pleased with where they ended up at the skill positions.
We have picked up a sense that the Pack in particular feels that they have picked up two real steals in receiver Anthony Smith from Huntingtown (Md.) High and defensive back Devan Boykin from Jamestown (N.C.) Ragsdale High.
Smith has the physical attributes that NC State has lacked for a while, perhaps since Owen Spencer: a lengthy receiver who can fly. If Smith had more than one full year of film, odds are good he would have had a high-level recruitment.
Boykin has a lot of the traits NC State is now looking for in a defensive back: athleticism, playmaking abilities and versatility. It helps that he is a coach’s son and has impressed NC State with his football IQ. There is a feeling that he literally could play any position in the defensive backfield.
•••
NC State has room for five more spots in the class, but we at this point are not expecting all five to be used by high school signees. As we noted with the offensive line board, there is an expectation that the Pack is going to explore heavily the transfer market. Doeren even hinted that the Pack could save a spot or two and wait until well after the February signing day if need be.
In other words, NC State is going to be selective with the high school prospects and not take one just to fill a number.
That said, a cautionary tale about the transfer portal. You hear a lot about the vast number of players in it, but a fairly significant portion of those are walk-ons. Another good chunk are players nowhere near the caliber to be playing ACC football.
Thus don’t be fooled by hearing there is a couple thousand players in the portal. The actual pool that NC State can look at might be less than 10 percent of that, and that would be on the high end. Then there is the fact that other colleges will have a similar mindset to NC State.
That means just because you want to add a transfer doesn’t mean it’s always feasible.
