This past weekend 2017 Small Forward Charles O’Bannon (6’5″/190) took an unofficial visit to NC State. O’Bannon is a 5-star recruit according to ESPN, and they rank him as the #27 overall player in the 2017 class. I caught up with O’Bannon last night, and he said that the visit was great.
“It was a great experience and I had an amazing time. I got to Raleigh in the afternoon on Friday, then went over to the basketball facility. We walked into Coach Gottfried’s office and talked for a while, then he showed us around the facility. That night I was just hanging out with the players,” said O’Bannon Jr. “The next day the coaches showed us how the Packapalooza was set up, then we went to the academic office to show us where the players study and get tutored. Later that day, I also played pick up with the guys. After we went over to the Packapalooza, I hung out with the players again that night. We took an early flight home on Sunday morning.”
O’Bannon holds offers from NC State, Arizona, California, Kansas, Georgia Tech, Missouri, Oklahoma, Oregon, Texas, UCLA, Utah, Wake Forest and others. With all of these offers all across the country, why would O’Bannon fly all the way to the east coast to visit the Wolfpack?
“Coach Gottfried is a coach that sees a lot in me and feels that I can have a really big impact at NC State,” said O’Bannon Jr. “I really respect that about him and he asked me to come, so I told my parents, and we all agreed.
O’Bannon said that NC State is recruiting him “a lot harder” than any other school right now. He also said that it’s “definitely” easier for him to trust Coach Gottfried because his father, Charles O’Bannon, built trust with him a long time ago. Gottfried was an assistant coach at UCLA when O’Bannon helped lead the Bruins to a National Championship in 1995. O’Bannon knows what it’s like to be recruited and coached by Gottfried.
Junior said that the coaches and the players did a really good job making him feel comfortable and answering all of his questions.
“There wasn’t too much that we did not talk about. We mostly talked about how I would fit into the program and how the state of North Carolina is the best place to be when it comes to College Basketball,” said O’Bannon Jr. “The players did a good job also. They made me feel really comfortable being that far from home, where the people and everything around you is a lot different.”
O’Bannon Jr. has a lot of college suitors, but NC State has done a really good job making an impression on him. When asked about his level of interest in NC State, he responded with:
“Yes, I am very interested.” said O’Bannon Jr.