Last Saturday, three-star guard Breon Pass from Reidsville (N.C.) High made the unsurprising decision to verbally commit to NC State.
We’ve mentioned this story before, but in case subscribers forgot, Pass was offered by the Wolfpack on a fateful Saturday afternoon. While NC State’s football team was beating Virginia 35-21 on Sept. 29, 2018, during halftime head coach Kevin Keatts offered a trio of then-sophomore in-state guards in Pass, Terquavion Smith from Farmville (N.C.) Central and Cam Hayes from Greensboro (N.C.) Day School.
Hayes would reclassify back into his original 2020 class and signed with NC State. He will be wearing No. 3 this winter for the Wolfpack. Smith was the first of the three to commit to NC State. Pass’ recruitment played out a bit more interestingly than the other two.
It was not always clear where Pass stood with NC State, to be blunt. His basketball recruitment did not originally take off, and his exploits on the football field made it seem that his prospects were better in that sport. We were told a couple weeks ago that as recently as last spring, prior to Pass making the decision to go with hoops only in college, those around the NC State basketball staff felt that Pass was (don’t shoot the messenger here) going to pick UNC football.
This summer was the turning point for Pass and NC State. He reputedly shined in several events that were watched virtually by the Wolfpack staff, perhaps reassuring the staff about pursuing him. Keatts always have a preference for point guards, and recently he has loaded up on “combo” guard types like Pass, Hayes and freshman Shakeel Moore along with now eligible Nebraska transfer Thomas Allen and senior Braxton Beverly.
Thus NC State appears willing to sacrifice some height in the backcourt for ballhandling and shooting.
NC State had a small in with Pass through assistant coach James Johnson. Pass’ father, the late Curtis Pass, played a season at Old Dominion when Johnson was an assistant coach there. Pass is also very close to the aforementioned Hayes and Smith.
In the state prep scene, Pass is one of the more popular figures among the athletes. Pass being at NC State has the potential to pay dividends, especially if he succeeds on the court.
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In football recruiting, junior college safety Chad Brown from Fresno (Calif.) City College will announce his decision Sunday. We did confirm over the weekend that NC State would take a commitment from Brown, as one source noted the Wolfpack really is high on Brown. There was originally some question if NC State would after signing safety Rakeim Ashford from a junior college over the summer.
At that point, however, NC State had no feeling for what Brown was going to decide, and typically that is not a positive sign. Schools in the driver’s seat tend to know it. We have not heard anything further this week in our attempts to gain further information that would lead us to believe that a red light is coming Sunday from Brown, but nevertheless we will be monitoring his decision.
In the for what it’s worth category, we understand from our friends at UCFSports.com that Central Florida feels good about its chances. If that does happen, it would be the fourth player headed to UCF that NC State offered/recruited, joining offensive lineman Ethan Mort and tight ends Charlie Browderand Nathan Boerboom.
Otherwise, we think the two prospects who may have decisions looming are three-star safety Chase Hattley from Panther Creek High in Cary, N.C., and three-star defensive lineman Devin Lee from McDonough (Ga.) OLA.
Hattley appears to be NC State’s best chance for a commitment. Interestingly, three-star Pack corner commit Mario Love Jr. from Hough High in Cornelius, N.C., tweeted Thursday night, “Big news coming ...”, and Love has been one of NC State’s most visible recruiters in the class. We have maintained that South Carolina would be NC State’s tough competition with Hattley given the personal connections he has there, but the sooner the better, potentially, for NC State since the Gamecocks only recently joined the fray.
Lee is believed to be leaning more towards SEC options Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Mississippi State over ACC options Duke, NC State and Virginia.
We’ve mentioned this story before, but in case subscribers forgot, Pass was offered by the Wolfpack on a fateful Saturday afternoon. While NC State’s football team was beating Virginia 35-21 on Sept. 29, 2018, during halftime head coach Kevin Keatts offered a trio of then-sophomore in-state guards in Pass, Terquavion Smith from Farmville (N.C.) Central and Cam Hayes from Greensboro (N.C.) Day School.
Hayes would reclassify back into his original 2020 class and signed with NC State. He will be wearing No. 3 this winter for the Wolfpack. Smith was the first of the three to commit to NC State. Pass’ recruitment played out a bit more interestingly than the other two.
It was not always clear where Pass stood with NC State, to be blunt. His basketball recruitment did not originally take off, and his exploits on the football field made it seem that his prospects were better in that sport. We were told a couple weeks ago that as recently as last spring, prior to Pass making the decision to go with hoops only in college, those around the NC State basketball staff felt that Pass was (don’t shoot the messenger here) going to pick UNC football.
This summer was the turning point for Pass and NC State. He reputedly shined in several events that were watched virtually by the Wolfpack staff, perhaps reassuring the staff about pursuing him. Keatts always have a preference for point guards, and recently he has loaded up on “combo” guard types like Pass, Hayes and freshman Shakeel Moore along with now eligible Nebraska transfer Thomas Allen and senior Braxton Beverly.
Thus NC State appears willing to sacrifice some height in the backcourt for ballhandling and shooting.
NC State had a small in with Pass through assistant coach James Johnson. Pass’ father, the late Curtis Pass, played a season at Old Dominion when Johnson was an assistant coach there. Pass is also very close to the aforementioned Hayes and Smith.
In the state prep scene, Pass is one of the more popular figures among the athletes. Pass being at NC State has the potential to pay dividends, especially if he succeeds on the court.
•••
In football recruiting, junior college safety Chad Brown from Fresno (Calif.) City College will announce his decision Sunday. We did confirm over the weekend that NC State would take a commitment from Brown, as one source noted the Wolfpack really is high on Brown. There was originally some question if NC State would after signing safety Rakeim Ashford from a junior college over the summer.
At that point, however, NC State had no feeling for what Brown was going to decide, and typically that is not a positive sign. Schools in the driver’s seat tend to know it. We have not heard anything further this week in our attempts to gain further information that would lead us to believe that a red light is coming Sunday from Brown, but nevertheless we will be monitoring his decision.
In the for what it’s worth category, we understand from our friends at UCFSports.com that Central Florida feels good about its chances. If that does happen, it would be the fourth player headed to UCF that NC State offered/recruited, joining offensive lineman Ethan Mort and tight ends Charlie Browderand Nathan Boerboom.
Otherwise, we think the two prospects who may have decisions looming are three-star safety Chase Hattley from Panther Creek High in Cary, N.C., and three-star defensive lineman Devin Lee from McDonough (Ga.) OLA.
Hattley appears to be NC State’s best chance for a commitment. Interestingly, three-star Pack corner commit Mario Love Jr. from Hough High in Cornelius, N.C., tweeted Thursday night, “Big news coming ...”, and Love has been one of NC State’s most visible recruiters in the class. We have maintained that South Carolina would be NC State’s tough competition with Hattley given the personal connections he has there, but the sooner the better, potentially, for NC State since the Gamecocks only recently joined the fray.
Lee is believed to be leaning more towards SEC options Vanderbilt, Ole Miss and Mississippi State over ACC options Duke, NC State and Virginia.
