The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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2015 FOOTBALL RECRUITING ISSUE ■ MARCH 2015 ■ 47 Brown, 6-3, 220 pounds, visited NCSU for junior day Jan. 31. The 6-3, 220-pounder is listed by Rivals.com as the No. 16 weak- side defensive end nationally and the No. 14 player in North Carolina. Taylor, 6-3, 230 pounds, was also at that junior day. He is rated the No. 25 weakside defensive end among juniors in the country and No. 22 in the state after making 71 tackles, including 15.5 sacks, as a junior. Duke, ECU, Florida, Tennessee, UNC and Wake Forest have also offered. A pair of out-of-state players that have visited are three-star Tomon Fox (6-3, 220 pounds) from Suwanee (Ga.) Collins Hill High and unrated Patrick Jones (6-5, 210 pounds) from Chesapeake (Va.) Grassfield High. Fox tripped to NCSU in January. He also has been tendered by Georgia Tech, Ken- tucky, Miami, Missouri, Penn State, Ten- nessee, UCLA, UNC, Wake Forest, West Virginia and Wisconsin among others. Ri- vals.com rates Fox as the No. 20 weakside defensive end in the country and the No. 25 prospect from Georgia. Jones was offered by NC State on junior day Feb. 21. Virginia had previously of- fered him. DEFENSIVE TACKLE NC State already has landed a verbal commitment from well-regarded Kobe Smith of Lawrenceville (Ga.) Archer High. The 6-3, 315-pounder continues to add of- fers, with Georgia Tech, North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest and West Virginia among others who have not given up him. Smith is rated by Rivals. com as the No. 28 defensive tackle in the country and the No. 54 player in Georgia. The only other defensive tackle NCSU would likely take is Dexter Lawrence, a five-star player at Wake Forest (N.C.) High. The 6-5, 290-pound Lawrence is listed by Rivals.com as the No. 3 defensive tackle in the nation, the top recruit in the state and the No. 13 player overall in the country. He has a who's who offer list but has un- officially visited NC State more than any other school. LINEBACKER Expect NC State to take a couple of line- backers in this class, and the Wolfpack has been active at the position. NCSU was one of the first major offers for Julian Okwara of Charlotte Ardrey Kell High. The 6-4, 210-pounder made 90 tackles, including 10 sacks, last year. Rivals.com rates Okwara as a four-star talent, the No. 179 prospect in the country, the No. 16 outside linebacker nationally and the No. 15 player in the state, although he will likely move up in the latter rankings when they are redone. Boston College, Duke, Louisville, Mich- igan, Notre Dame, Pitt, UNC, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest are among those on Okwara's lengthy offer list. His older brother Romeo Okwara is a senior on the Fighting Irish defensive line. Four-star Jaquan Yulee of Chesapeake (Va.) Indian River made it for NCSU's junior day Feb. 21. He is rated by Rivals. com as the No. 11 inside linebacker in the country and No. 8 player from Virginia. Alabama, Clemson, Florida, Florida State, Michigan, Notre Dame, UNC, Virginia and Virginia Tech are on Yulee's offer list. Two other three-stars that visited for that junior day were LaRonde Liverpool, a 6-3, 225-pounder from Virginia Beach (Va.) Landstown, and T.J. Brunson, a 6-0, 220-pounder from Columbia (S.C.) Rich- land Northeast. Virginia has also offered Liverpool, while South Carolina has ten- dered Brunson. On Feb. 20, NCSU hosted and offered Brock Miller, a 6-4, 210-pounder from Ft. Pierce (Fla.) John Carroll High. Miller has also been offered by Boise State, Kentucky and Wake Forest. CORNERBACK NC State landed one of its major pri- orities in the 2016 class in James Valdez, a 5-11, 190-pounder who transferred from Santee (S.C.) Lake Marion High to Or- angeburg (S.C.) Wilkinson High in De- cember. Valdez made 29 tackles, seven in- terceptions and 14 pass breakups last year. Rivals.com rates Valdez as the No. 23 corner in the country and the No. 7 player in South Carolina. He has also been offered by Michigan, North Carolina, South Caro- lina and Tennessee among others. One of the top targets still on the board is three-star Mark Gilbert, a 6-2, 170-pounder from Fayetteville (N.C.) Terry Sanford High. Gilbert, whose cousin is NFL star corner Darrelle Revis of the New England Patriots, is listed as the No. 53 cornerback in the country by Rivals.com. Boston College, Duke, Pittsburgh and Wake Forest have also offered Gilbert, who visited NC State for both the Jan. 31 and Feb. 21 junior days. Also to watch among in-state corners is three-star Tyric McCarter from New Bern (N.C.) High. The 6-0, 180-pounder shined for the 4-A state champs last year, catching 21 passes for 502 yards and eight scores, returning two kicks (one kickoff, one punt) to the end zone and running back one of his six interceptions for a score. NCSU is McCarter's lone major offer, and he visited Jan. 31. SAFETY NC State has already landed a pledge from three-star Tim Glass, a 6-0, 205-pound native of Danville, Va., playing at Liberty Christian Academy in Lynch- burg, Va. Glass, rated the No. 20 prospect in Virginia by Rivals.com, has also been offered by Virginia, Cincinnati and East Carolina. The focus turns toward Gilbert's team- mate at Terry Sanford High in Fayette- ville: three-star Isaiah Stallings. The 6-4, 200-pounder is ranked by Rivals.com as the No. 29 safety in the 2016 class and the No. 18 player in the state. He has also been offered by Boston College, Clemson, Duke, UNC and Wake Forest. Stallings, who had 46 tackles and four interceptions as a junior, visited NC State on Jan. 31. ■ ■ Class Of 2016 Commitments Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Hometown School Rivals Rating Harrison Gee OL 6-3 260 Burlington, N.C. Williams Three stars Tim Glass S 6-0 205 Danville, Va. Liberty Christian Academy No. 20 in Va. Dylan Parham QB 6-4 180 Raleigh SE Raleigh No. 34 in N.C. Joe Sculthorpe OL 6-2 280 Hampstead, N.C. Topsail No. 37 in N.C. Kobe Smith DT 6-3 315 Lawrenceville, Ga. Archer No. 28 DT in U.S. James Valdez CB 5-11 190 Orangeburg, S.C. Wilkinson No. 23 CB in U.S. Three-star cornerback Mark Gilbert of Fay- etteville (N.C.) Terry Sanford High is a cousin of NFL star Darrelle Revis. PHOTO BY RYAN TICE