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NC State Football Recruiting Update – November 29, 2018

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NC State Football Recruiting Update – November 30, 2018

 

Flipping The Recruiting Calendar:

The Football Recruiting Calendar has entered into a different phase now that the regular season has ended.

The new period is called the Contact Period.

Here’s the NCAA legislation revolving around this “Contact Period”:

November 25, 2018, through February 2, 2019

Six (6) in-person, off-campus contacts per prospective student-athlete shall be permitted during this time period with not more than one permitted in any one calendar week (Sunday through Saturday) or partial calendar week.

This basically means that our coaches can visit recruits at their homes or at their high schools to firm up commitments/flip some potential targets.

 

Latest Intel for Remaining Targets:

The last three targets known to be seriously on our board are QB Payton Thorne, ATH Zay Flowers, and WR Jaylen Erwin. I have broken down all three in previous recruiting updates or on the 2019 Football Recruiting Forum. We technically have room for all three, but don’t know that we will take all three.  Flowers and Erwin should be both officially visiting in December.  I think we are looking at Erwin and Flowers to both play slot receiver, with an outside possibility that Flowers could be a kick returner or even a nickel type player due to his versatility.

There’s an outside chance that we might also take another interior defensive player in this class, maybe a middle linebacker or an outside linebacker.  However, we have very limited options at each position (LB or DT) which we are seriously interested in left in this class, who are not committed elsewhere: 3* LB Kevon Glenn, 3* MLB Brian Ugwu, or we could look towards the JUCO ranks for 3* Kelvin Johnson (originally from Griffin, GA), 3* Luke Martin (Georgia Military College, originally from Dawsonville, GA), or 3* Steven Ogletree (originally from Plant City, FL – same high school as former Pack WR Antoine Thompson).

 

Updated Season Statistics for Remaining 2019 Commits in Playoffs:

RB Zonovan Knight – 7 carries for 51 yards vs. Eastern Alamance in a loss before leaving the game with an ankle sprain (same ankle which was injured earlier this season), Finished the season with 124 carries for 2,054 yards and 26 touchdowns, 3 receptions for 28 yards and a touchdown, 407 return yards and three special teams touchdowns.

 

RB Jamious Griffin – 38 carries for 238 yards and a touchdown in win over Dutchtown 28-14. Continuing to play this week against Warner Robins HS.

Cumulative season stats are 262 carries for 2,662 yards rushing and 37 touchdowns, and 10 receptions for 161 yards and two touchdowns.

 

LB Jaylon Scott – 3 tackles, 1 tackle for loss and a pass breakup in a 45-26 win over Ashe County HS. Continuing to play this week against North Lincoln. Cumulative season stats are 82 tackles, including 18 for loss and five sacks, four pass breakups, forced fumble, two blocked punts on defense and two receptions for 20 yards and a touchdown on offense.

 

C Dylan McMahon – 6 pancake blocks and 9 tackles on defense in a 35-14 win over Fellowship Christian HS. Continuing to play this week vs. Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy. Cumulative season stats are 41 knockdown blocks on offense and 77 tackles, including 10 for loss, four sacks, and a forced fumble on defense.

 

CB Jalen Frazier – 7 tackles, including two for loss and a sack and an interception in a 48-35 win over North Mecklenburg. Played last week and beat Mallard Creek 19-7 with no stats available. Continuing in the playoffs to play Vance HS this week.   Cumulative season stats are 54 tackles, including five tackles for loss and a sack, a pass breakup and two interceptions.

 

WR Keyon Lesane – Lost to Myers Park 33-8. Cumulative season stats are 40 carries for 316 yards and six touchdowns, 27 receptions for 451 yards and four scores, and 319 return yards with 1 touchdown.

 

TE Chris Toudle – 3 receptions for 33 yards in a 38-21 victory over Garner HS. Continuing in the playoffs to play Pinecrest HS this week. Cumulative season stats are 19 receptions for 286 yards and four touchdowns and 29 carries for 101 yards and 4 touchdowns.

 

S/NLB Jakeen Harris – 8 tackles and a pass breakup on defense in a 55-0 loss to Cedar Grove HS.  Cumulative season stats are 73 tackles, forced fumble, a fumble recovery, which he return for a score, a blocked field goal, five pass breakups and three interceptions on defense. 37 carries for 307 yards and 11 touchdowns and 10 catches for 181 yards and 2 touchdowns.

 

CB Shyheim Battle – No stats in a 30-0 loss to Terry Sanford HS.  Out for the rest of the season with a wrist injury. Cumulative season stats are 34 tackles, including one for loss, 3 interceptions, 3 pass breakups, 4 receptions for 59 yards,  and 5 kick returns for 175 yards in 7 games.

 

OT Triston Miller – Won State Championship (Private School Championship) on November 16th. Cumulative season stats are 38 knockdown blocks on offense and 13 tackles, including four for loss and three sacks on defense.

 

S Khalid Martin – 1 tackle and a blocked punt in a 42-6 win over Kernersville Glenn HS. Continuing state playoff run and perfect season against Greensboro Grimsley this week. Cumulative season stats are 72 tackles, with 2 tackles for losses, with 2 interceptions, 3 pass breakups, 2 fumble recoveries, a forced fumble and 3 blocked kicks, 3 kickoffs for a total of 130 yards with 1 touchdown, and 3 catches for 67 yards and a touchdown.

 

More Player Development Proof:

Just to add more proof to the fire that we have within our player development:

Out of the 9 players which received All-ACC honors (6 first team, 2 second team, 1 honorable mention), only 3 were 4-star players out of High School (Gallaspy, Harmon, and Pratt). Garrett Bradbury was a 2-star Tight End, Ryan Finley was a mid-range 3-star Quarterback, Jakobi Meyers was a 2-star Quarterback, Tyler Jones and Terrone Prescod were both 3-star Offensive Tackles, and Chris Dunn was a 3-star Kicker.

 

A Flashback to the 2015 Class:

The 2015 class are true seniors this season and will be playing their last game of eligibility this week.

Early Departures for NFL: 4-star RB Nyheim Hines

Left The Program: 4-star RB Johnny Frasier, 3-star WR Freddie Simmons, 3-star WR Brian Sessoms (achilles tear), 3-star LB Riley Nicholson (concussions), 3-star DE Emmanuel Olenga (Transfer), 3-star OL TJ McCoy (family reasons, finishing his career at Florida now).

Out of 22, seven did not finish their eligibility at State and add one more player who we just had for 2 years because he was a JUCO OL (Daris Workman).

Add that the 2014 class, which would be redshirt seniors this year, and 9 out of the 31 in that class did not stay in the program. This equates to 17 players in two classes (adding one for 4-star OT Will Richardson who went to the NFL a year early).

Another interesting statistic – Out of the 17 players who did not finish all four years at State from the 2014 and 2015 recruiting classes – 3 offensive linemen, 2 wide receivers, 4 cornerbacks, 3 running backs, 2 linebackers, 1 defensive end, 1 defensive tackle, and 1 tight end. 

Therefore, it is a easy to understand assumption that our current defensive secondary might have some difficulties due to lack of depth/experience from recruiting and from schematic reasons (which I will not go into on here).

 

Potential Early Enrollees:

Latest rumors have the following 2019 kids signing at the December Signing Day and enrolling at State early:

4* RB Zonovan Knight, 4* RB Jamious Griffin, 4* S Khalid Martin, 3* OG Timothy McKay, 4* DE Savion Jackson, 4* DT CJ Clark, 4* DT Josh Harris, 4* CB Shyheim Battle, 3* CB Jalen Frazier, 4* JUCO QB Bailey Hockman.

 

Latest Predictions:

The latest projections on 24/7 sports have 3* QB Payton Thorne committing to State in the next few days.

I think he will definitely commit to us sometime before December 3rd.

Thorne officially visited State on November 8th.

Good story about Thorne being the Chicago Sun-Times Player of the Year.

He was also the Naperville Sun’s Player of the Year.

A side note, we offered his top receiver, Cade McDonald, a preferred walk-on spot on November 18th.

McDonald had 91 catches for 1,397 yards and 18 touchdowns his senior season.

 

National Signing Day (Early):

The early National Signing Day is set for Wednesday, December 19, 2018.

The regular National Signing Day is set for Wednesday, February 6, 2019.

Look for most of our current recruits to sign in December.

Last year, we only had two commits sign after December (JUCO DT Val Martin and CB Taiyon Palmer).

 

Early 2020 Prospects to Keep An Eye On:

3* WR Mushin Muhammad (Visiting State this weekend)

3* ATH Trenton Simpson

4* OT Mitchell Mayes

4* WR Joshua Downs (a legacy recruit)

3* DE Myles Murphy

4* WR Porter Rooks

3* OT Jimmy Christ

3* OG Seth Williams

3* OLB Mohamad Kaba

4* DE Jacobe Cowan

3* RB Ahmani Marshall

3* OT Seth McLaughlin

3* SDE Quentin Williams

 

2002 NC State Graduate, School Administrator, Lifelong Pack Fan (Since my uncle graduated from State in 1937), Husband, Father, Workout Aficionado, Reader, Thinker, Recruiting Analyst in my spare time...

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Football Recruiting

WR Gabe Daniels Locks In Official Visit to NC State

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2025 Wide Receiver Gabe Daniels (6’2″/180) has locked in his Official Visit to NC State.

Earlier this month, Daniels took an unofficial visit to NC State, and broke down his experience for me.

Currently, Daniels is an unranked recruit, but he does hold offers from NC State, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest, Kansas, Western Michigan, Liberty, Coastal Carolina, App St., Syracuse and others.

Daniels had 31 receptions, 700 all purpose yards and 5 touchdowns for the Greater Atlanta Christian School (Norcross, GA) last season.

Recently, Daniels ran a 10.64 in the 100 meter dash in Track.

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4-Star RB Kentrell Rinehart is Visiting NC State Today

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4-Star 2025 Running Back Kentrell Rinehart (6’2”/205) is taking an unofficial visit to NC State today.

Back on February 10th, Rinehart revealed his Top-5 schools, and he included NC State, along with Syracuse, Indiana, Kentucky and Minnesota.

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3-Star OT Brady Sakowitz Visited NC State Yesterday

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While NC State hasn’t offered Sakowitz yet, he does hold offers from Maryland, Duke, Virginia Tech, Miami, West Virginia, Pitt and Marshall.

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4-Star WR Davion Brown Took an Unofficial Visit to NC State Today

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4-Star 2026 Wide Receiver Davion Brown (6’1″/200) took an unofficial visit to NC State today.

ON3, 247Sports and Rivals all rank Brown as a Top-250 prospect. ON3 and 247Sports both rank him in the Top-100, with 247Sports ranking him as the #16 overall player nationally in the 2026 recruiting class, the #3 Wide Receiver and the #1 player in the state of Virginia.

NC State offered Brown on January 18th, and he also holds offers from Penn St., Virginia Tech, UVA, Duke, South Carolina, Boston College, Maryland, Pitt, UNC, FSU, Miami, Tennessee, Louisville, Michigan, SMU and others.

This past season, Brown had 34 receptions for 578 yards and 5 touchdowns for Trinity Episcopal in Richmond, Virginia. He also rushed the ball for 366 yards and 3 touchdowns. Those stats are already impressive for a Sophomore, but they would have been even better if he didn’t miss 4 games due to injury.

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