The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/470359
40 ■ THE WOLFPACKER ■ 2015 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE Jarius Morehead SAFETY Gibsonville (N.C.) Eastern Guilford High 6-1 • 185 pounds Measurables: At the Shrine Bowl Combine held at Eastern Alamance High in Mebane, N.C., ran the 40-yard dash in 4.56 seconds, had an 8-11 standing broad jump and did 13 reps at 185 pounds on the bench press. Stats: As a senior, playing primarily quarterback, rushed for 1,061 yards and 14 touchdowns, threw for 774 yards with 10 scores and two picks, and caught four passes for 74 yards and one touchdown … Defensively, added 103 tackles, six sacks and two interceptions, one of which he returned for a touchdown … As a junior, had 40 tackles, nine passes broken up and two interceptions on defense, while adding 289 receiving yards and two scores as a wide receiver on offense … As a sophomore, caught 30 passes for 516 yards and six touchdowns, and rushed 19 times for 64 yards and a score … Defensively, piled up 41 tackles, two interceptions and eight passes broken up. Ratings: Ranked by Rivals.com as a three-star prospect and the No. 31 player in North Carolina … Rated by Scout.com as a three-star recruit, the No. 111 safety in the country and the No. 33 prospect in North Carolina … Listed by 247Sports as a three-star talent, the No. 125 safety in the country and the No. 51 in his home state … Regarded by ESPN as a three-star recruit, the No. 108 wide receiver in country and the No. 24 prospect in North Carolina … Ranked No. 34 in the state by National Underclassmen … Rated as the No. 43 recruit in North Carolina by Athlete Vault … Listed by The Fayetteville Observer as the No. 41 player in the state. Honors/accomplishments: Picked to play in the Shrine Bowl of the Carolinas All-Star Game, where he started at safety and had a tackle, an interception and a pass broken up … Ranked by Rivals.com as the second-best player in the Shrine Bowl game for North Carolina … Named the Mid-State 3-A Conference Defensive Player of the Year as a senior … Selected to The Greensboro News and Record All-Area Team in 2014 … Tabbed second-team All-Gridiron by Carolina Gridiron … Also runs track with a personal best of 11.24 seconds in the 100-meter dash and 23.74 seconds in the 200-meter dash … Attended same high school as former NCSU football players Torry and Terrence Holt, women's basketball coach Kay Yow, women's basketball player Susan Yow and current athletics director Debbie Yow. Recruitment: Picked up offers from Clemson, East Carolina, North Carolina, Tennessee and Wake Forest, among others … Narrowed favorites to ECU, NC State and UNC before verbally committing to the Wolfpack June 14 … Friends with early enrollee at NC State and fellow Guilford county native Reggie Gallaspy of Southern Guilford High in Greensboro. Recruiter of record: Safeties coach and co-special teams coordinator Clayton White. Dave Doeren on Morehead: "Jarius played a lot of positions, he was definitely the center of their team. You would see him at quarterback, receiver, safety, playing man-to-man, playing zone — he's a very versatile athlete. He's even played outside linebacker." Scouting report: Versatile player who could line up at any of the safety positions (free, safety or nickel) in NC State's base 4-2-5 defense … Has natural play-making skills and instincts … Good but not great athlete. 2015 projection: The likely scenario for Morehead is finding the best safety position for him while redshirting. Riley Nicholson LINEBACKER Kissimmee (Fla.) Kissimmee High 6-0 • 222 pounds Measurables: At a Nike combine, ran the 20-yard shuttle in 4.38 seconds, reg- istered a 31.8-inch vertical leap and had a 36-foot power throw. Stats: As a senior, posted 132 tackles (70 solo), 17 stops for loss, a sack, nine passes defended and four forced fumbles … During junior season, recorded 100 stops (58 solo), 26 tackles for loss, two sacks, four passes defended, six forced fumbles and one fumble recovery … As a sophomore, tallied 56 tackles (16 solo), two stops for loss and one pass defended. Ratings: Tabbed as a three-star recruit by Rivals.com … Rated by Scout.com as a three-star prospect and the No. 63 middle linebacker in the country … Ranked by 247Sports as a three-star talent, the No. 68 outside linebacker in the country and the No. 125 player in Florida … Listed by ESPN as a three-star prospect, the No. 25 inside linebacker in the country and the No. 119 recruit in the Sunshine State … Ranked by The Orlando Sentinel as the No. 6 prospect in Central Florida and the No. 50 overall player in Florida … Regarded as the No. 77 player in the state by National Underclassmen. Honors/accomplishments: Named the Central Florida Defensive Player of the Year by The Orlando Sentinel … Selected to the 7-A As - sociated Press all-state first team as both a junior and senior … Helped team reach the 7-A state title game as a senior. Recruitment: Picked up offers from Georgia Tech, Iowa State, Min- nesota, Purdue, Syracuse, UCF, Wake Forest and West Virginia, among others … Narrowed list to three finalists — Central Florida, NC State and West Virginia — before committing to the Pack July 18 … Enrolled early. Recruiter of record: Linebackers coach and defensive coordinator Dave Huxtable. Dave Doeren on Nicholson: "He's tough, quick, competitive, has great feet, good instincts and vision … Riley will have the chance to be an early contributor for us if he can stay healthy and continue doing what he's doing; he's a worker." Scouting report: Noted for being a hard-hitter, as evidenced by his 10 forced fumbles over the past two seasons … Reputed to be a good tackler … Good instincts for a linebacker. 2015 projection: The Pack loses two of the four players that played the position last season. That presents an opportunity for Nicholson to sneak his way onto the depth chart, although he will have to contend against some returning veterans for those spots. Emmanuel Olenga DEFENSIVE END Charlotte Olympic High • 6-4 • 241 pounds Measurables: At the Shrine Bowl Combine held at Charlotte's Rocky River High, ran the 20-yard dash in 2.88 seconds and the shuttle in 4.64 seconds, had a 9-2 stand- ing broad jump and did 21 reps at 185 pounds on the bench press. Stats: As a senior, compiled 105 tackles, 16.5 sacks and five forced fumbles. Ratings: Listed by Rivals.com as a three-star prospect … Ranked by Scout.com as a three-star recruit, the No. 83 defensive end in the country and the No. 27 player in North Carolina … Rated by 247Sports as a three-star talent, the No. 34 strongside defensive end in the country and the No. 17 prospect in North Carolina … Regarded by The Fayetteville Observer as the No. 50 player in the state. Honors/accomplishments: Named to The Charlotte Observer All-Area team … Selected first-team All-So-Meck 8 4-A Conference … Cousin Prince Shembo, who plays linebacker in the NFL for the Atlanta Falcons after competing collegiately at Notre Dame, introduced Olenga to football when he was 8 years old … Originally from the African nation of Congo and moved to the United States at the age of 6. Recruitment: Picked up an offer from Tennessee in the spring but did not com - mit fast enough for the Vols, who gave his spot away to another prospect … Picked East Carolina over offers from Illinois and Indiana in December, but then added new tenders from NC State, Nebraska and Wake Forest in January … Switched his pledge to NC State Jan. 24. Recruiter of record: Tight ends/fullbacks coach and special teams coordinator Eddie Faulkner. Quotable: "Ability-wise, he's green right now because he hasn't played a lot in high school. But once he learns to play the game and gets into a strong weight-training program, it's unlimited as to what he'll be able to do. I see this young man as a future pro."— Olympic head coach Keith Wilkes to Bonesville.net. Dave Doeren on Olenga: "I'm excited about his upside, I think the guy's extremely raw but is a really good athlete. He plays basketball, and it's a very neat family." Scouting report: Raw prospect who bounced around in high school before set - tling down with a big senior season at Olympic … Grades out very high athletically … Has a lot of upside and potential. 2015 projection: Olenga is a sleeper in this class. The safe bet is that Olenga will redshirt, but he may end up being too good not to play.