4-Star Forward Cole Cloer Signs his NLI to Play Basketball at NC State

4-Star 2026 Forward Cole Cloer (6’8″/195) has signed his National Letter of Intent to play basketball for NC State.

SIGNED! ✍️

Welcome to the Pack, @colecloerr! pic.twitter.com/6xjO4Y6hRz

— NC State Men’s Basketball (@PackMensBball) November 19, 2025

pic.twitter.com/ecxkzamtik

— NC State Men’s Basketball (@PackMensBball) November 19, 2025

ESPN ranks Cloer as the #25 overall player nationally in the 2026 recruiting class and the #10 Small Forward.

Cloer released his Top-5 schools on September 23rd, which included NC State, UCONN, Alabama, UNC and Florida. He verbally committed to run with the Wolfpack on October 4th.

Cloer is the 9th highest ranked high school prospect to commit to NC State in the recruiting database era.

From the Press Release

Cole Cloer (Hillsborough, N.C./IMG Academy (Fla.)
Consensus four-star recruit in the Class of 2026 … No. 25 overall recruit by ESPN … No. 27 overall recruit by 247Sports … Invited to participate in training camp for the 2025 USA Men’s U19 National Team … Playing senior season of high school at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla. … Named to 2025-26 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Boys High School Player of the Year Watch List … Played junior season at Caldwell Academy in Greensboro … Led Eagles to North Carolina Independent Schools Athletic Association 2A state title … Averaged 18.9 points, 7.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game … First-Team HighSchoolOTAll-State Boys Basketball Team selection … Played sophomore and freshman seasons at Orange High School in Hillsborough … Became fastest player to 1,000 career points in school history … Averaged 25.7 points per game as a sophomore … Led Orange to its first conference regular season championship since 2017 and its first conference tournament championship since 2016 … Scored 36 points in conference championship game and was named MVP of the tournament … Named Central Conference Men’s Basketball Player of the Year in the 2023-24 season … Second-Team HighSchoolOT All-State Boys Basketball Team selection … Averaged 20.1 points per game as a freshman … Named first-team All-District 6 by the NCHSBCA

Wade on Cloer: “Cole is an exciting pickup for us. It was a great recruitment and really excited that Cole is running with the Pack. He is a great, great player. He’s somebody that’s going to be able to step in and make an immediate impact for us. He can really shoot the ball. He’s got great height, he’s got great length and really shoots the ball at a high, high level. He’s somebody that does a really good job getting his shot off, has a quick trigger and every time he shoots it you think it is going in. He’s continued to expand his game, being able to beat guys off the bounce, does a great job getting on the offensive glass. He’s a plus-defender because of his length and athleticism and being able to switch. He’s really just a great fit for us all around. It’s a bonus that he’s right up the road and grew up an NC State fan, but we would have recruited him if he was anywhere in the country. We’re thrilled he’ll be with us and know he’s ready to go and help us from day one.”