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Auburn Transfer Safety Donovan Kaufman is Taking an Official Visit to NC State this Weekend

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3 months ago

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Auburn Transfer Safety Donovan Kaufman (5’10″/204) confirmed with me that he is taking an Official Visit to NC State this weekend. Kaufman entered the Transfer Portal last week, on January 16th.

Rivals ranked Kaufman as a 4-Star prospect in the 2020 recruiting class. They ranked him as the #186 overall player nationally, the #11 Safety, and the #9 player in the state of Louisiana. Out of high school, Kaufman committed to Vanderbilt.

In his first season of college football, Kaufman played 2 games (started) for the Commodores as a True Freshman, collecting 15 tackles and a pass breakup in limited action.

In 2021, Kaufman transferred to Auburn, where he played in 13 games as a Freshman (2020 didn’t count against eligibility due to Covid), starting in 7 of them. In 414 snaps, Kaufman had 33 tackles, 2 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, 2 pass breakups and 3 forced fumbles.

In 2022, Kaufman was the returning starter at Safety, starting in the first 7 games, before suffering an injury that kept him out of the final 4 games. Still, he played in 459 snaps, which was a new career high. As a Sophomore, Kaufman recorded a career high 39 tackles, as well as 2 pass breakups and 1 forced fumble. His PFF grade was 72.1 that year, which is the best grade of his career.

This past season, Kaufman started in 4 of the 12 games he played in, recording 395 snaps. As a Junior, Kaufman had 37 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, 1 sack, 1 interception, 1 fumble recovery and 2 forced fumbles.

Kaufman has played 1,369 collegiate snaps in 34 career games, starting in 18.

NC State is returning both of their starting Safeties from 2023 in Devan Boykin and Sean Brown. Boykin is recovering from a torn ACL suffered in December, but I’m hopeful he will be full go by the start of the 2024 season. Robert Kennedy III started for the Wolfpack at Nickel this past year, and he has run out of eligibility leaving a hole there. I could see Boykin moving to Nickel. Either way, there will be a starting role open at Nickel, or one of the Safety positions if Boykin moved to Safety.

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Matthew is Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, and is in charge of business strategy. He is an NC State alum who majored in business. Matthew is also the lead pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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wolfpack74
wolfpack74
3 months ago

It appears that he has two years eligibility left, correct? He played 20 is has been removed from the record. He played 21 and 22, and red shirted 23. Getting SEC players is a good move to make as well as the Auburn linebacker.

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Football Recruiting

4-Star Safety Jontae Gilbert Has Locked in an Official Visit to NC State

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19 hours ago

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April 26, 2024

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4-Star 2025 Safety Jontae Gilbert (6’1″/180) confirmed with me that he has locked in an Official Visit to NC State for the weekend of September 27-29, and he plans for it to be his last Official Visit.

Back in July of 2022, Gilbert committed to Ohio St., but last July he decommitted from the Buckeyes.

Gilbert also has Official Visits scheduled for UCF, South Carolina and USC.

At one point, Gilbert was a 5-star prospect, but now he is a consensus 4-star prospect, and a consensus Top-275 player. Rivals ranks him as the #70 overall player nationally in the 2025 recruiting class, and the #8 player in the state of Georgia.

NC State offered Gilbert in April of last year.

Recently, he has taken unofficial visits to, or been visited by Louisville, Auburn, Tennessee, Georgia St., Oregon, Clemson, Texas and South Carolina.

While he doesn’t have an Official Visit set up with Georgia, the Bulldogs are obviously a big player in Gilbert’s recruitment.

Gilbert plays for Douglass High School in Atlanta, Georgia.

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Football Recruiting

3-Star LB Cameron White Has NC State Official Visit Set

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4 days ago

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April 23, 2024

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3-Star 2025 Linebacker Cameron White (6’1″/225) will be taking an Official Visit to NC State on June 19-21, according to a source.

NC State offered White back on March 1st.

While White hasn’t officially released a Top-8, he did say that the 8 schools that are standing out are NC State, Louisville, Tennessee, West Virginia, UCF, Syracuse, Georgia Tech and Utah.

This Spring, he has taken unofficial visits to Tennessee, UCF, Georgia Tech, Syracuse, Louisville, Miami. He’s expected to take an Official Visit to Louisville as well.

Rivals ranks White as the #37 Outside Linebacker nationally in the 2025 recruiting class, and the #79 player in the state of Florida.

This past year, White had 81 tackles, 13 tackles for loss and 5 sacks for Sumner (Riverview, FL).

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Football Recruiting

3-Star Edge Nik Alston Has Locked in an Official Visit to NC State

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5 days ago

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April 22, 2024

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According to a source, 2025 3-Star Edge Nik Alston (6’3″/260) has locked in an Official Visit to NC State for June 7-9.

Alston plays for Thompson High School in Birmingham, Alabama, and is ranked as the #40 overall player in the state in the 2025 class according to 247Sports.

Back on April 6th, Alston was in attendance for NC State’s 2024 Spring Game, and he walked away with an offer. He also holds offers from Minnesota, Washington, Liberty, Georgia Tech and Tulane.

He also has Official Visits scheduled for Washington, Minnesota, Liberty and Tulane. Honestly, some of the dates that I have found overlap at this point, but these were all reported at one time.

This past season, Alston had 37 tackles, 4 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries.

When I spoke with Alston in the past, he said NC State would be at the top of his list.

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Football Recruiting

3-Star CB Robert Jones III Includes NC State in His Top-10

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5 days ago

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April 21, 2024

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2025 3-Star Cornerback Robert Jones III (6’2″/170) recently revealed his Top-10 schools, and NC State made the cut along with Auburn, Kentucky, Miami, Louisville, Illinois, South Florida, UCF, Missouri and Florida.

ON3 ranks Jones III as the #59 overall player in the state of Florida in the 2025 recruiting class.

You can watch his highlights from the 2023 season here. He only played 7 games due to injury. Jones III had 9 pass breakups and 2 interceptions as a Junior.

Jones III has a commitment date set for May 28th, with an Official Visit to Illinois scheduled in June.

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