There are two announcements looming next week. First three-star linebacker Jayland Parker from Macon (Ga.) Westside High will pick a school July 1. We submitted a FutureCast prediction for Colorado this week.
Parker was scheduled to officially visit NC State in June, but two days before the trip he cancelled. The claim was that it was due to family reasons. Sources told us that if he delayed the decision the Pack would have accepted it and pushed for a fall visit. However with the commitment date still on that leads to a conclusion that Parker had already decided to pick another school, highly expected to be Colorado, and thus that might be more of the reason why he cancelled his State trip.
Then comes the more intriguing decision from three-star defensive back Joseph Johnson from Life Christian Academy in Richmond, Va. Some believe that the Pack is a long shot for Johnson, with Texas A&M in particular making a strong run and Penn State also in the mix. We however do believe that NC State has a chance with Johnson.
However, if Johnson goes elsewhere, our hunch is that would probably be it for the Pack with him and they would move on to other defensive backs on the board. As we have noted, there may be a spot regardless for three-star Joshua Pierre-Louis from Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) Benjamin School.
Another name to closely watch going forward is Arthur White from H.D. Woodson High in Washington, D.C. He camped with his more well-regarded teammate Sean Tucker, but a source told us during that camp date and subsequently an additional source confirmed in following days that White impressed more.
White brought more length of the two (6-foot-1 vs. 5-11) and showed the ball skills from his background of playing receiver. He’s flying under the radar at the moment with offers from Old Dominion and Toledo.
It should be noted that Tucker verbally committed to East Carolina over offers from Cincinnati, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin among others (which means ECU pulled off a huge recruiting coup or Tucker did not have committable offers from some of those Power Five programs).
There are probably other names on the defensive backfield board, as sources have told us that NC State feels fairly good about that position even if Johnson were to pick one of his other finalists.
After the Parker and Johnson decisions, things likely will die down a bit in recruiting for at least a few weeks. Unlike defensive back, NC State sources have indicated to us that they will have to re-evaluate things at linebacker and defensive end later this summer and into the fall, although from what we gather the Pack would like to keep lines of communications open with recent UNC three-star defensive end commit Sean Martin from Bluefield (W.V.) High.
There is a thought that Martin might have gotten caught up in the moment of his UNC official visit. As we reported before, NC State sources were not necessarily surprised with him picking UNC so much, as doing it so soon. During an unofficial visit on his way to UNC, Martin indicated he would finalize an official visit to NCSU in the fall, and it was known that Penn State was also a strong contender (he apparently cancelled a planned official visit there in June).
The only new front seven offer we know about this summer was Zuriah Fisher from Aliquippa (Pa.) High, who could play outside linebacker or defensive end, but Fisher has yet to mention the Pack in interviews since that offer earlier in the month.
NC State will be having its Alpha Wolf Showcase later in July.
Obviously one of the focal points of the 2021 recruiting class will be four-star running back Will Shipley from Weddington High in Matthews, N.C. Shipley’s deep family routes to NC State and his talent (recently made the Rivals100 for the 2021 class) have Shipley as a huge priority. It also adds to the importance in that NC State has strategically chosen not to take a running back in this class
We have spoken to a few sources about Shipley over the past few weeks. He’s no slam dunk to pick NC State, even though we think the Pack is in excellent position. He is especially intrigued by a few schools with high academic reputations in Stanford, Northwestern and Duke, and we would not be shocked if those were the top three schools at the moment NC State has to beat.
A wildcard would be an offer from Clemson. Shipley camped with the Tigers in an attempt to get an offer, which in itself is an indicator of serious interest on Shipley’s part.
Parker was scheduled to officially visit NC State in June, but two days before the trip he cancelled. The claim was that it was due to family reasons. Sources told us that if he delayed the decision the Pack would have accepted it and pushed for a fall visit. However with the commitment date still on that leads to a conclusion that Parker had already decided to pick another school, highly expected to be Colorado, and thus that might be more of the reason why he cancelled his State trip.
Then comes the more intriguing decision from three-star defensive back Joseph Johnson from Life Christian Academy in Richmond, Va. Some believe that the Pack is a long shot for Johnson, with Texas A&M in particular making a strong run and Penn State also in the mix. We however do believe that NC State has a chance with Johnson.
However, if Johnson goes elsewhere, our hunch is that would probably be it for the Pack with him and they would move on to other defensive backs on the board. As we have noted, there may be a spot regardless for three-star Joshua Pierre-Louis from Palm Beach Gardens (Fla.) Benjamin School.
Another name to closely watch going forward is Arthur White from H.D. Woodson High in Washington, D.C. He camped with his more well-regarded teammate Sean Tucker, but a source told us during that camp date and subsequently an additional source confirmed in following days that White impressed more.
White brought more length of the two (6-foot-1 vs. 5-11) and showed the ball skills from his background of playing receiver. He’s flying under the radar at the moment with offers from Old Dominion and Toledo.
It should be noted that Tucker verbally committed to East Carolina over offers from Cincinnati, Indiana, Virginia, West Virginia and Wisconsin among others (which means ECU pulled off a huge recruiting coup or Tucker did not have committable offers from some of those Power Five programs).
There are probably other names on the defensive backfield board, as sources have told us that NC State feels fairly good about that position even if Johnson were to pick one of his other finalists.
•••
After the Parker and Johnson decisions, things likely will die down a bit in recruiting for at least a few weeks. Unlike defensive back, NC State sources have indicated to us that they will have to re-evaluate things at linebacker and defensive end later this summer and into the fall, although from what we gather the Pack would like to keep lines of communications open with recent UNC three-star defensive end commit Sean Martin from Bluefield (W.V.) High.
There is a thought that Martin might have gotten caught up in the moment of his UNC official visit. As we reported before, NC State sources were not necessarily surprised with him picking UNC so much, as doing it so soon. During an unofficial visit on his way to UNC, Martin indicated he would finalize an official visit to NCSU in the fall, and it was known that Penn State was also a strong contender (he apparently cancelled a planned official visit there in June).
The only new front seven offer we know about this summer was Zuriah Fisher from Aliquippa (Pa.) High, who could play outside linebacker or defensive end, but Fisher has yet to mention the Pack in interviews since that offer earlier in the month.
NC State will be having its Alpha Wolf Showcase later in July.
•••
Obviously one of the focal points of the 2021 recruiting class will be four-star running back Will Shipley from Weddington High in Matthews, N.C. Shipley’s deep family routes to NC State and his talent (recently made the Rivals100 for the 2021 class) have Shipley as a huge priority. It also adds to the importance in that NC State has strategically chosen not to take a running back in this class
We have spoken to a few sources about Shipley over the past few weeks. He’s no slam dunk to pick NC State, even though we think the Pack is in excellent position. He is especially intrigued by a few schools with high academic reputations in Stanford, Northwestern and Duke, and we would not be shocked if those were the top three schools at the moment NC State has to beat.
A wildcard would be an offer from Clemson. Shipley camped with the Tigers in an attempt to get an offer, which in itself is an indicator of serious interest on Shipley’s part.
