Football Recruiting Update – April 3, 2020

NC State Football Recruiting Update – April 3, 2020:

Dead period has been extended until May 31, 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Dead period means no face to face contact with recruits by coaches, multimedia messaging and conversations can still occur between coaches and recruits.

The Spring Game, which would usually be a big opportunity for recruits, which was scheduled for April 4, has also been cancelled.

New Graphics:

There are lots of new recruiting graphics being floated around by the Football staff over the course of the Dead Period.

Here are some examples (from several of our Coaches’ Twitter pages):

Commits:

NC State has picked up commitments from two 3* Wide Receivers in the 2021 class so far. State continues to target a whole lot of speed and athleticism to increase the ability to vertically stretch the field on offense.

Julian Gray – 5’11”, 174. Attends Hopewell High School in Huntersville, NC. Prolific track athlete and fast in pads. Rated the #113 Wide Receiver and #37 player in North Carolina (3*) by 24/7 sports and Scout, the #28 player in NC (3*) on Rivals, and a NR 3* on ESPN.  Runs the 100 meter in 10.4 seconds and 200 meter in 21.84 seconds. Improved his 100 meter time by .3 seconds between his freshmen and sophomore season and improved it by .44 between his sophomore season and junior season. A 10.4 second 100 meter time roughly translates to a 4.35 40 yard time. Gray also had a 36.8″ vertical leap at The Opening Combine in April 2019 (To put that in perspective with someone of similar speed – Nyheim Hines had a 35.5″ vertical leap at the NFL Combine). Ran a 4.49 40 at the same combine.

Junior Stats:  4 carries for -8 yards, 44 catches for 890 yards and 7 Touchdowns, 6 Kickoff Returns for 101 yards (long of 28 yards).

Jakolbe Baldwin – 5’11”, 173. Attends Richmond County High School in Rockingham, NC.  Rated the #136 Wide Receiver in the Country and #46 player in North Carolina (3*) by 24/7 sports and Scout, the #41 player in NC (3*) on by Rivals, and a NR prospect on ESPN.  Runs a verified 4.7 40, but also runs track. He had a 37.8″ vertical leap at The Opening Combine in April 2019 (To put that in perspective, Kelvin Harmon’s was 32.5″ at his NFL pro day)

Junior Stats: 34 catches for 687 yards and 8 Touchdowns, two 2 point conversions.

2021 Spots Remaining and Importance:

The Wolfpack conservatively has 12-17 spots remaining in the 2021 class, given the seniors that will be departing the program and the usual attrition.

Here’s what I am thinking for our remaining spots:

1 QB

2 RB

1 WR

2 TE

2-3 OL (Mostly Tackles)

2-3 DL

2 LBs

1 Safety

2-3 Cornerbacks

Here’s the list of the top candidates for each position group:

QB – 4* Aaron McLaughlin (appears to the be the only target we are after at this point) – could evolve to other candidates by the time camp season comes around if McLaughlin doesn’t commit.

RB – 5* Will Shipley, 4* Kamarro Edmonds, 3* Trevion Cooley, 3* Eric McDaniels, NR Jaylen Wright

WR – 4* Micah Crowell, 3* Jacob Gill, 3* Breon Pass (Pass is a two sport athlete who wants to play Basketball in college also, State is one of three schools who have offered him both), 3* Dalton Stroman,

TE – 3* Miles Campbell, 3* Gunner Greenwald, 3* Bryson Nesbitt, 3* Charlie Browder, 3* Cedric Seabrough

OL – 3* Thornton Gentry, 3* Diego Pounds, 4* Yousef Mugharbil, 3* Colby Smith, 3* Tristan Bounds, 3* Andrew Canelas

DL – 4* Tyleik Williams, 4* Zhaire Patterson, 4* Jahvaree Ritzie, 3* Travali Price, 3* Tyrion Ingram-Dawkins, 3* Zyun Reeves, 3* Zeek Biggers

LB – 3* Jabril McNeill, 3* Jordan Poole, 3* Bryce Steele, 3* Ranieria Dillworth, 3* Jack Hollifield, 4* Chaz Chambliss

CB – 3* Mario Love, 3* Kevin Knowles, 3* Tyson Russell, 3* Matt Marshall, 3* Thailand Baldwin

S – 3* Bralyn Oliver, 3* Josh Moore, 3* Tyrin Taylor, 3* Caden Fordham

ATH – 3* Justin Shorter, 4* Kaemen Marley

Camps This Summer:

7 on 7 Team Camps will be June 13th and June 19th. HS prospect camps will be June 6, 12, 13, 19, and 20th (assuming the pandemic ban lifts).