The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/125393
■ FOOTBALL recruiting Going On The Offensive By Matt Carter he recruiting pace has picked up significantly under the new Wolfpack coaching staff, and the number of prospects on the board has grown as a result. Here is a look at some of the top players on NC State's radar on the offensive side of the ball, broken down by position. All rankings are courtesy Rivals.com. T ■ Quarterbacks Four signal-callers have materialized as major targets for NC State. One of them is in-state prospect Johnathan Lloyd of Graham (N.C.) Southern Alamance. Lloyd (5-11, 175 pounds) visited NC State for the spring game. He is a four-star prospect and listed as the No. 21 athlete nationally in the 2014 class. Lloyd would prefer to play quarterback in college, and NCSU, Clemson, Duke and Indiana are offering that opportunity. Both Duke and NC State would also allow Lloyd to explore playing baseball in college. Lloyd threw for 1,448 yards and 14 touchdowns and ran for 1,215 yards and 19 more scores last season. He also had an interception on defense. Another four-star quarterback listing NC State is Brandon Dawkins, a 6-3, 205-pounder from Westlake Village (Calif.) Oaks Christian High. Dawkins is ranked as the No. 134 player and No. 6 dual-threat signal-caller in the class of 2014. He reports offers from NC State, Notre Dame and Utah, and he has expressed an interest in visiting Raleigh. Georgia, Oklahoma State and Southern Cal are also recruiting him. As a junior, Dawkins completed 174 of 283 passes for 2,135 yards and 17 touchdowns, and rushed for 486 yards and seven scores. The other two quarterbacks prominently listing NC State are Zack Darlington from Apopka (Fla.) High and Trace McSorley from Ashburn (Va.) Briar Woods High. The 6-1, 205-pound Darlington has offers from Arizona, Boston College, Minnesota, Nebraska, NC State, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. He took a visit to West Virginia in April. Darlington is rated by Rivals.com as a three-star player and the No. 14 dual-threat quarterback nationally. Darlington finished last season with nearly 2,500 total yards and 29 touchdowns, completing around 66 percent of his passes and rushing for more than 700 yards. He led Apopka to an 8-A state title, amassing 379 total yards and three touchdowns in the title game despite playing with a broken bone in his throwing wrist. Quarterback Johnathan Lloyd, a four-star prospect from Graham (N.C.) Southern Alamance High, visited NC State for the spring game. photo courtesy rivals.com McSorley (6-0, 185 pounds) has quarterbacked Briar Woods to three straight state titles. He has offers from Boston College, Connecticut, NC State, UNC, Purdue, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech, among others, but most of them are at safety or as an athlete. McSorley has said that NCSU and Boston College are recruiting him the hardest at quarterback. In his career, McSorley has completed 471 of 760 passes for 6,559 yards and 73 touchdowns, and rushed for 988 yards and 22 scores. He posted 30 tackles and six picks from his safety position last season. He is listed as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com. ■ Running Backs After signing three well-regarded tailbacks in the 2013 class, NC State has the luxury of being picky with the position in 2014. Thus far, two targets have visited the program — C.J. Fuller of Easley (S.C.) High and Derrell Scott of Havelock (N.C.) High. Fuller, a 5-11, 200-pound three-star prospect, is favoring Clemson over NC State. He ran 206 times for 2,088 yards and 19 touchdowns last season. The 5-10, 180-pound Scott is ranked as a four-star prospect, the No. 141 player nationally and the top all-purpose back in the country. He has rushed for 3,549 yards and 56 touchdowns combined the last two seasons, helping Havelock win back-to-back state titles. Scott's top four are South Carolina (his leader), Florida State, Ohio State and Notre Dame. ■ Wide Receivers NC State already has a verbal commitment from Bo Hines of Charlotte Christian, and the coaches will look to add a couple more pass catchers to the list before National Signing Day. Two in-state options are Jefferie Gibson of Gray's Creek High in Hope Mills and Trevion Thompson of Durham Hillside. Both visited for NC State's spring game. Thompson, a four-star prospect, is ranked as the No. 147 player in the country and No. 19 receiver nationally. Thompson also visited Clemson for its spring game and has indicated he will not narrow down his list until close to National Signing Day. The 6-2, 185-pounder has offers from Alabama, Cal, Clemson, Florida, NC State, Notre Dame, Ohio State, South Carolina, UNC and Virginia Tech, among others. Gibson has been a frequent visitor to NC State, coming for numerous games last fall and repeatedly for unofficial trips during the winter and spring. The 6-4, 190-pounder could also play safety in college. NC State is believed to lead Clemson and North Carolina for the three-star prospect. Rivals.com also ranks him as the No. 47 athlete in the country. Two high-profile prospects that have made visits to NCSU are Stanton Truitt of Monroe (Ga.) Area High and Jamil Kamara of Virginia Beach (Va.) Catholic. Truitt, who has more than 20 offers, visited NCSU in February for a junior day and was back April 2 for a spring practice. Truitt hopes to narrow down his list of schools to five or 10 before the summer. Thus far, he has noted that Tennessee will make the cut. The 5-10, 180-pound speedster is a track standout, who helped Monroe's 4x100 relay team win a state title. On the field, the option quarterback ran 139 times for 1,448 yards and threw for another 812 yards. Rivals.com rates Truitt as a three-star prospect and the No. 35 athlete in the country. Kamara posted on Twitter that nine schools have made the cut on his list: NC State, Tennessee, West Virginia, Virginia, LSU, Wisconsin, UNC, Vanderbilt and Miami. Kamara (6-1, 200 pounds) caught 42 passes for 818 yards and 12 touchdowns as a junior. He is listed by Rivals.com as the No. 106 prospect in the country and the No. 13 wide receiver. ■ Tight Ends Like at receiver, NC State has a commitment already at tight end in Garrett Bradbury, May 2013 ■ 67 67-69.FB Recruiting.indd 67 4/30/13 2:15 PM