NC State Watching 4-Star 2019 Power Forward Chandler Lawson

When NC State offered (September 11th) 2019 Power Forward Chandler Lawson (6’8″/205), the Wolfpack was still in hot pursuit of 5-Star Small Forward Wendell Moore and 4-Star Small Forward Patrick Williams. Since then, Moore committed to Duke, and Williams committed to Florida State.

At this point, Lawson is the last man standing. I’m not saying that other targets won’t emerge in the 2019 recruiting class, but at this point Lawson is who NC State is prioritizing to take that final scholarship.

Last week, NC State was up at Oak Hill Academy watching Lawson, as well as Cam Thomas who took his official visit to NC State this weekend.

Pitt’s Jeff Capel along with assistants from Virginia, NC State, Illinois, Dayton & Wake Forest were in today for the Oak Hill/Hargrave scrimmage for the likes of Cam Thomas, Chandler Lawson, and Kofi Cockburn

— Corey Evans (@coreyevans_10) October 19, 2018

Lawson was set to play his Senior Season at Oak Hill Academy up in Virginia, which is Keatts old stomping grounds, but yesterday news broke that he will be heading back home to Memphis to play for his father at Woodale High School.

Chandler Lawson has reportedly returned to Memphis, where he is expected to attend Woodale high school & play for his father Coach Keelon Lawson. Chandler is fresh off of this past weekend’s official visit to the University of Oregon. https://t.co/5rcGcHv6mG

— DeliberationSports (@DeliberationSp1) October 23, 2018

Lawson spent the past three seasons with Memphis East High School, where he won 3 state championships under the tutelage of Penny Hardaway, who is now the head coach of Memphis.

ESPN ranks him as the #58 overall player in the 2019 recruiting class, and the #2 player in the state of Virginia. 247Sports ranks him as the #14 Power Forward in 2019.

At this point, my gut tells me NC State is late to the party. Lawson has already taken official visits to Ole Miss, Kansas, Georgia Tech and Oregon, and only has one remaining. The only chance NC State has is to land Lawson’s final official visit.

If NC State can’t pull a come-from-behind haul of Lawson, another 2019 prospect could obviously emerge, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see NC State pick up another graduate transfer late in the process.