The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
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72 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER N C State entered the spring evaluation period, which runs from April 15 to May 31, with four verbal commitments. That is only a small dent into the full class of 25 recruits that head coach Dave Doeren has said he intends to sign during the 2018 cycle. Here are 10 names to watch while the Pack heads into the crucial summer months in recruiting: TIGHT END MATT ALAIMO Montvale (N.J.) St. Joseph Regional The 6-5, 235-pound Alaimo would con- tinue a couple of developing recruiting pipelines for NC State. With the verbal commit- ment of three-star quar- terback Devin Leary from Timber Creek High in Sicklerville, N.J., the Pack is set to have at least five products from the New Jersey/New York region since 2015. Two of those five came from St. Joseph Regional: class of 2017 three-star sign- ees linebacker Louis Acceus and offensive lineman Joshua Fedd-Jackson. Alaimo is their former teammate, and he visited Ra- leigh March 24. The Wolfpack is in Alaimo's top four, along with Minnesota, Rutgers and Vir- ginia. He also has been offered by, among others, Arkansas, Duke, Louisville, Pitts- burgh, Syracuse, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and West Virginia. Rivals.com rates Alaimo as the No. 18 prospect in New Jersey and the No. 34 tight end nationally in the class of 2018. He caught 25 passes for 371 yards and a touchdown last season. DEFENSIVE END JOSEPH BOLETEPELI Raleigh Millbrook High Rivals.com, at least temporarily, has Bo- letepeli rated as a three-star talent and the No. 51 player in North Carolina. That state ranking, though, is sure to rise given the 6-4, 240-pounder's consider- able physical upside and growing offer list. A r k a n s a s , B o s t o n College, Georgia Tech, Maryland, Mi- ami, NC State, Rutgers and Syracuse have all tendered Boletepeli a scholarship. He camped at NC State last summer, attended a game in the fall and returned for a junior day in January. One thing that could play in NCSU's favor is being the hometown team. "But I have to see what's best for me and my education," he added, noting that he might want to major in business manage- ment or engineering. Boletepeli notched 82 tackles, including 17 for loss, as a junior. DEFENSIVE TACKLE ELIJIAH BROWN Charlotte Providence Day High Entering the evaluation period, Brown had offers from NC State, Louisville, Wake Forest and East Caro- lina, and he has admit- ted that the Wolfpack — among those programs — have caught his atten- tion. Part of that is due to the game-day atmo- sphere Brown took in at NCSU's Carter-Finley Stadium. "The last game I went to was against Florida State," he noted. "That game was just amazing. The fans were crazy. It was packed." Other schools continue to recruit Davis and could potentially join his offer list. Those include South Carolina, North Caro- lina, Virginia and Virginia Tech. Thus the 6-4, 270-pounder is being patient with his recruitment. "I don't want to rush anything," he ex- plained. "I just want to make sure I go where I could be happy and continue my football career." As a junior, Brown had 70 tackles, seven stops for loss, six sacks and a safety en route to all-conference honors for Provi- dence Day. Rivals.com rates him as the No. 42 prospect in the state's 2018 class. DEFENSIVE TACKLE JORDAN DAVIS Charlotte Mallard Creek High Few prospects in the state of North Carolina offer as much physical upside as the 6-6, 320-pound Davis. That is why Ri- vals.com rates him as the No. 11 player in North Carolina, and the No. 14 defensive tackle and the No. 240 overall prospect nationally. Davis has offers from Clemson, Georgia, Florida, Miami and Ole Miss among out- of-state schools, but it is believed that the two in-state options of NC State and North Carolina top his list. He has visited both on multiple occasions, including the Kay Yow Spring Football Game April 1 in Raleigh. NC State has a well established track record at Mallard Creek, having signed one player in each of the past four recruiting classes from the state powerhouse program that won the 4-AA state title from 2013-15. OFFENSIVE LINEMAN GABRIEL GONZALEZ Mebane (N.C.) Eastern Alamance High In the summer of 2016, Gonzalez showed impressive athleticism when camping at both the Nike Opening in Charlotte and NC State's summer camp. Checking in at 6-5 and 243 pounds at Nike, Gonzalez was laser-timed in the 40- yard dash at 5.15 seconds, clocked the shuttle at 4.83 seconds and registered a 29.9-inch vertical leap. Less than a year later, Gonzalez has started to fill out and is pushing 275 pounds while maintaining his athleticism. That led NC State to offer him a scholarship March 30. "Ever since I've been to their camp I knew that was a place I would definitely consider," Gonzalez said. "Even before my offer that was always a top school of mine. I wanted to get an offer from them." That was his first major conference ten- der, and he also has offers from Appala- chian State, East Carolina and Old Domin- ion, among others. OFFENSIVE LINEMAN JOVAUGHN GWYN Charlotte Harding University High NC State was the first school to offer Gwyn, a likely interior offensive lineman in college. The Pack, though, has had con- siderable company join them. Duke, Georgia Tech, South Carolina, Wake Forest and West Virginia are among the schools that have offered him, most of them in the spring. Other schools, including Clemson and North Carolina, have shown considerable interest. Gwyn reportedly averaged five pancake blocks per game as a junior. He finished third in the heavyweight division at the 4-A state wrestling championship this year and ■ FOOTBALL RECRUITING NC State's Class Of 2018 Wish List