The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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78 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY JACEY ZEMBAL L ast November, the Wolfpack signed three players — wings Cody Martin and Caleb Martin of Mocksville, N.C., and power forward Abdul-Malik Abu of Boston — from the class of 2014, allowing it to get a great jump on the class of 2015. NC State head coach Mark Gottfried and his staff have offered nearly one-third of Rivals.com's top 75 juniors and have already had nine current targets on campus for unofficial visits. The following is a look at 20 prospects in the class of 2015 that NC State has offered or shown interest in. They are listed in their order in Rivals.com's rankings. 1. Malik Newman, Combo Guard Jackson (Miss.) Calloway H.S. Rivals.com's No. 1 player in the class of 2015 can score in a variety of ways. The Jackson Tigers traveling team standout has great range on his jumper and plays with complete confidence. NC State of- fered around June 15, but the 6-3, 180-pounder has been on the radar ever since he unofficially visited in May 2011 as an eighth-grader while in town for the Bob Gibbons Tournament of Cham- pions. His father, Horatio Webster, was a quality power forward at Mississippi State in the 1990s. 3. Ivan Rabb, Power Forward Oakland (Calif.) Bishop O'Dowd H.S. The athletic 6-9, 195-pounder was Ri- vals.com's No. 1-ranked player for most of his soph- omore year, but now checks in at No. 3. NC State of- fered in September 2012, and watched him with the Oakland Soldiers travel- ing team this past spring and summer. Rabb shows a nice touch on his half-hook post move in the lane. Gottfried coached Bishop O'Dowd head coach Lou Richie when they both were at UCLA. Rabb cut his list to NC State, North Carolina, Duke, Kentucky, Louisville, Georgetown, Kansas, Ohio State, Arizona, California, UCLA and USC in early February. 9. Elijah Thomas, Power Forward Lancaster (Texas) H.S. The 6-9, 250-pound Thomas is one of the best low-post scorers in the country. The Team Texas Elite traveling team standout is a couple inches shorter than his listed height, but he still knows his way around the basket and possesses a nice touch. Rivals.com's No. 9-ranked player in the class of 2015 has attended three high schools in the last two years, but has settled in at Lancaster. NC State offered around Thanksgiving of 2012, and he cur- rently includes the Wolfpack on a massive list of 24 colleges. 10. Carlton Bragg, Power Forward Cleveland Villa Angela St. Joseph H.S. The slender 6-8, 205-pound Bragg was offered by NC State in Sep- tember 2013, with assistant coach Orlando Early the point man. Bragg is bouncy and athletic, but also capa- ble of stretching the defense with his three-point shot. He has been offered by at least 22 colleges, with interest from Duke, North Carolina and Michigan. Bragg, who plays for the Ohio Basketball Club in the offseason, at- tends the same high school as former Ohio State and NBA great Clark Kellogg, who serves as a college basketball color analyst for CBS Sports. 12. Jaylen Brown, Small Forward Marietta (Ga.) Wheeler H.S. NC State offered the athletic and ag- gressive Brown during the latter stages of his sopho- more season. The 6-6, 200-pounder was able to showcase his slashing game at the HighSchoolOT.com Holiday Invitational at Ra- leigh Broughton this past December, and unofficially visited NC State while he was in town. Seventeen schools from across the country have offered him, including NCSU, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia Tech and Louisville (future member) from the ACC. Last offseason, he played with Game Elite, which was formerly Worldwide Renegades. Former NC State players J.J. Hickson, Rich- ard Howell, Lorenzo Brown and C.J. Leslie all played for the Renegades. 15. Chance Comanche, Center Los Angeles View Park Continuation H.S. The skilled 6-10, 195-pound post player unofficially visited NC State Dec. 6-8 for the Long Beach State game, which is also where his mother played women's basketball. The Wolfpack offered Coman- che in September after Gottfried evaluated him, joining 15 other colleges, including the majority of the Pac-12. The skilled offensive player and shot blocker played for the Elite Pros- pects traveling team last July. 30. Eric Davis, Combo Guard Saginaw (Mich.) Arthur Hill H.S. Some players are relatively recent NC State targets, but not the skilled Davis. The 6-3, 165-pounder has unof- ficially visited NC State three different times, with the most recent for the Mis- souri game Dec. 28. Davis was offered by NC State in January 2013, and also claims offers from Iowa, Iowa State, Michigan State, Ohio State and Prov- idence, plus interest from Michigan, Or- egon, Missouri and Cincinnati. He played for The Family 16s last spring and summer. 31. Brandon Ingram, Small Forward Kinston (N.C.) H.S. The skinny 6-7, 180-pounder is the lone in-state player that both NC State (March 2013) and UNC (late July 2013) have offered. Louisville, Minne- sota, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech and Clemson have also offered, and Kansas, Kentucky and Duke are showing interest. Assistant coach Rob Moxley has been the lead recruiter for the Wolfpack. Ingram, who took an official visit to North Carolina this January, played for former Kinston and UNC star Jerry Stackhouse on Stackhouse Elite last spring and summer. 33. P.J. Dozier, Combo Guard Columbia (S.C.) Spring Valley H.S. The 6-4, 180-pounder has missed his junior season after suffer- ing an ACL injury to his knee. Dozier comes from a long line of former South Carolina players. His fa- ther, Perry Sr., and uncle, Terry, are twin brothers who played for the Gamecocks in the 1980s, and his older sister is currently a player in ■ BASKETBALL RECRUITING NC State Is Set To Do Well In Class Of 2015 78,80-81.BKB Recruiting.indd 78 2/25/14 3:12 PM