The recruiting trail burned up this week with a slew of offers from the state of Florida, which is unsurprising given the stronger emphasis that the Pack will place on the Sunshine State after bringing in receivers coach George McDonald.
There was a half-joking tweet this week from an Ohio State fan about NC State offering 90 percent of the players at always-powerful St. Thomas Aquinas High in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. To give some perspective of the St. Thomas Aquinas program, 15 players from the school signed scholarship papers in February, including an impressive 12 with power conference schools.
Two of them inked with Syracuse, McDonald’s former employer: offensive linemen Samuel Clausman and Colin Byrne. St. Thomas Aquinas’ former coach George Smith built the powerhouse program, and in a 2013 article by Syracuse.com profiling then newly-hired offensive coordinator McDonald, Smith referred to the college assistant as simply “G.”
The two met when McDonald was a 25-year old assistant at Bucknell and Smith was still in the program-building process.
"We sat down and talked and I just thought, 'God, this guy is really, really a good person,'" Smith told Syracuse.com. "We hit it off. I was just so impressed with him."
One of the offers from St. Thomas Aquinas was class of 2017 quarterback Jake Allen. The Pack joined Cincinnati, Colorado State, Rutgers, Wake Forest, Florida Atlantic and Samford on Allen’s early reported offer list. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder is just the third known signal caller in the 2017 class that remains uncommitted to pick up an offer from the Wolfpack.
We know that the Pack is very high on four-star Hunter Johnson from Brownsburg (Ind.) High, and Johnson made an unofficial visit to NC State in the spring. The 6-2, 190-pounder though, according to sources we have talked with, is going to be very hard to pull away from the Midwest. He has already visited Notre Dame twice since spring and appears destined for a third trip there over the summer.
The Pack offered Alex Faniel, a physically imposing 6-5, 225-pounder who has transferred to Glen Allen (Va.) High after playing in just four games as a sophomore due to a broken bone in his non-throwing hand. When we talked with Faniel in April, it was clear that NCSU and Virginia Tech have emerged ahead of Virginia. Those are his three early offers.
However, Faniel is noted more as a big-arm quarterback, and interestingly we have heard that going forward the Pack may place a bigger emphasis on dual-threat capabilities after the success Jacoby Brissett had in the offense late in the season when they started running him more. While athleticism is not a must, the ability to at least make some plays on your feet could be.
Todd Centeio of West Palm Beach (Fla.) Dwyer, incidentally Brissett’s alma mater, certainly fits that mold. He too picked up an early offer from NC State, but the 6-0, 195-pounder made a very early verbal commitment to Miami last December.
We did not get the vibe when we talked with him that offensive tackle Justin Witt from New Lenox (Ill.) Lincoln-Way West High was intending to commit to NC State on his visit this weekend, we did get the sense that the Pack was in a position to take a strong lead with a good trip. Witt then backed up that sentiment this morning with a tweet announcing he was on his way.
What is unusual about Witt’s trip is the extended nature of it. He arrived midday Friday and will not leave until Sunday - as of last weekend the trip was solely focused on NCSU, although he did not rule out a trip to Duke if he could make it work.
As for players we continue to be on decision watch for:
Tight end Garrett Walston from New Hanover High in Wilmington, N.C., appears to be waiting on his baseball season to end, and we have not heard anything that leads us to believe that defensive end Jimmie Taylor from Jacksonville (N.C.) Southwest Onslow is backing off his plans to announce by the end of the month. We are also watching linebacker LaRonde’ Liverpool from Virginia Beach (Va.) Landstown High.
(continued)
There was a half-joking tweet this week from an Ohio State fan about NC State offering 90 percent of the players at always-powerful St. Thomas Aquinas High in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. To give some perspective of the St. Thomas Aquinas program, 15 players from the school signed scholarship papers in February, including an impressive 12 with power conference schools.
Two of them inked with Syracuse, McDonald’s former employer: offensive linemen Samuel Clausman and Colin Byrne. St. Thomas Aquinas’ former coach George Smith built the powerhouse program, and in a 2013 article by Syracuse.com profiling then newly-hired offensive coordinator McDonald, Smith referred to the college assistant as simply “G.”
The two met when McDonald was a 25-year old assistant at Bucknell and Smith was still in the program-building process.
"We sat down and talked and I just thought, 'God, this guy is really, really a good person,'" Smith told Syracuse.com. "We hit it off. I was just so impressed with him."
***
One of the offers from St. Thomas Aquinas was class of 2017 quarterback Jake Allen. The Pack joined Cincinnati, Colorado State, Rutgers, Wake Forest, Florida Atlantic and Samford on Allen’s early reported offer list. The 6-foot-2, 195-pounder is just the third known signal caller in the 2017 class that remains uncommitted to pick up an offer from the Wolfpack.
We know that the Pack is very high on four-star Hunter Johnson from Brownsburg (Ind.) High, and Johnson made an unofficial visit to NC State in the spring. The 6-2, 190-pounder though, according to sources we have talked with, is going to be very hard to pull away from the Midwest. He has already visited Notre Dame twice since spring and appears destined for a third trip there over the summer.
The Pack offered Alex Faniel, a physically imposing 6-5, 225-pounder who has transferred to Glen Allen (Va.) High after playing in just four games as a sophomore due to a broken bone in his non-throwing hand. When we talked with Faniel in April, it was clear that NCSU and Virginia Tech have emerged ahead of Virginia. Those are his three early offers.
However, Faniel is noted more as a big-arm quarterback, and interestingly we have heard that going forward the Pack may place a bigger emphasis on dual-threat capabilities after the success Jacoby Brissett had in the offense late in the season when they started running him more. While athleticism is not a must, the ability to at least make some plays on your feet could be.
Todd Centeio of West Palm Beach (Fla.) Dwyer, incidentally Brissett’s alma mater, certainly fits that mold. He too picked up an early offer from NC State, but the 6-0, 195-pounder made a very early verbal commitment to Miami last December.
***
We did not get the vibe when we talked with him that offensive tackle Justin Witt from New Lenox (Ill.) Lincoln-Way West High was intending to commit to NC State on his visit this weekend, we did get the sense that the Pack was in a position to take a strong lead with a good trip. Witt then backed up that sentiment this morning with a tweet announcing he was on his way.
What is unusual about Witt’s trip is the extended nature of it. He arrived midday Friday and will not leave until Sunday - as of last weekend the trip was solely focused on NCSU, although he did not rule out a trip to Duke if he could make it work.
***
As for players we continue to be on decision watch for:
Tight end Garrett Walston from New Hanover High in Wilmington, N.C., appears to be waiting on his baseball season to end, and we have not heard anything that leads us to believe that defensive end Jimmie Taylor from Jacksonville (N.C.) Southwest Onslow is backing off his plans to announce by the end of the month. We are also watching linebacker LaRonde’ Liverpool from Virginia Beach (Va.) Landstown High.
(continued)
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