NC State Athletics has announced that four new football players who will be eligible for the fall have enrolled for the new semester at NC State and will be eligible for spring practice.
Sam Jones, (6-7, 295, Fuquay Varina, NC), OL/DL “originally signed with NC State in the spring of 2008, but attended Hargrave Military Academy last semester. An all-conference performer at Fuquay-Varina High School, Jones played defensive end and offensive tackle.”
Jones has been projected as an offensive linemen for years…but one can only wonder if the program’s recent success of building talent on the offensive line and relative lack of young talent/depth at the defensive tackle position may play a role in Sam’s future position? I don’t know.
[Update] As a response to ^these comments DireWolf added the following in our comments section:
I’ve met Sam Jones twice through a friend that works with him and Sam has stated he will be playing left tackle. As we know these things change all the time, but this was about a month ago that he said this.
We couldn’t be more excited about Sam’s long anticipated arrival into the program! By all accounts Sam appears to be a great kid who loves NC State. If Sam plays with half the perserverence that has has shown during his journey to finally get into NC State he will finish his career as one of the best linemen this school has ever seen. The public will never know the full story of the frustrations, hurdles, and institutional incompetence that Sam had to overcome to become eligible to play in Raleigh. We are not going to dwell on this topic, but we discussed some of it at length in this key entry that may be of interest to you.
Nathan Mageo (6-3, 285, Pago Pago, American Samoa), DT “transfers from New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, New Mexico. He tallied 26 stops, including a dozen tackles for loss, during his sophomore campaign.”
As a junior college graduate playing a position where the Wolfpack clearly needed an immediate injection of depth and talent, Mageo has the best opportunity to make the most immediate impact of the four early enrollees as he looks to blunt the losses of Antoine Holmes and Keith Willis, Jr.
sets him apart is his technique and non-stop motor. On film, Mageo consistently keeps a good pad level and does a tremendous job of getting under the offensive linemen. He’s able to then use his strength to shed blockers which allows him to disrupt plays in the offensive backfield.
“Although Mageo moves fairly well, it’s at the point of attack where he’ll be most effective for NC State. He is able to occupy blockers and eat up space which should mesh well with defensive coordinator Mike Archer’s philosophy. Because the Pack will be so thin at defensive tackle next season, Mageo will likely be counted on for early contributions and he certainly appears to have the talent
Mageo is a native of American Samoa, so Wolfpack fans will immediately harken to memories of Ricky Logo – who played the same position for the Wolfpack from 1989-1992. Mageo impressed recruiters/coaches with his tenacity and technique. Similar to Logo, he is both strong and has the advantage of a low center of balance that helps him get under offensive linemen. He also had offers from Division One programs such as Kansas State, Hawaii and Baylor.
James Washington (6-0, 180, Orlando, FL), RB “rushed for 1,597 yards on 175 carries during his senior campaign at Boone High School, an average of over nine yards per carry. He also scored 17 touchdowns en route to leading his squad to the 6-A state semifinals. As a junior, he tallied over 1,700 yards.” Although not a speed burner with breakaway abilities, he is a prototypical Tom O’Brien back who has a tremendous natural instinct for the game and does all of the (not so) ‘little things’ like block, catch, and get the extra yards with some elusiveness.
Donald Coleman (6-0, 205, Detroit, MI), DB chose to come south instead of accepting scholarship offers to various Big Ten teams. He “spent his senior campaign as a safety and running back at The Hun School in Princeton, N.J. In eight games last season, he rushed for 803 yards and seven TDs, while forcing five fumbles and racking up 74 tackles on defense. Previously, he played linebacker at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s in Michigan.” Coleman is a hard hitter who has strong closing speed and will most likely redshirt at safety (especially if Javon Walker returns as expected from injury).
