Signing day is approaching for high school seniors and The NC State coaching staff has been hitting the road hard. The Pack has picked up three commitments in the past three days and will look to add about three more recruits plus make sure no commitments flip to other schools.
Two star wide receiver Vernon Grier from Charlotte, NC (Mallard Creek High School) committed to The Pack on Sunday. Grier is an under the radar type of receiver who was committed to Charleston Southern before picking State. Grier attends the same high school as sophomore fullback Jaylen Samuels as hopefully he can turn out the same way Samuels has. Grier will blue shirt and enroll at NC State in August just like sophomore linebacker Airius Moore who played a significant role for The Pack in the second part of the season.
Two star quarterback Jakobi Meyers from Lithonia, Georgia (Arabia Mountain High School) was next to pull the trigger yesterday when he flipped from Kent State. Meyers is another player who is not as highly rated as other prospects but has a great arm and can run when needed. Meyers was recently offered by Wake Forest and was being evaluated by Florida. Although Austin King decommitted from State and flipped to Indiana, Meyers has potential to be a solid dual threat quarterback in the future for NC State.
Freddie Simmons from Bethlehem, Pennsylvania (Bethlehem Catholic High School) is the latest commitment to turn on the red light. Simmons committed to The Pack this afternoon over Central Florida, California, Kansas, Purdue, Rutgers, Wake Forest and West Virginia. Simmons is a tall receiver which will help out State as it is always nice to have taller wide outs in the passing game. He took a official visit to State after Central Florida this past weekend as some recruiting analysts thought he was Central Florida bound before The Pack stepped up their efforts. Give credit to new wide receivers coach George McDonald for this commitment.
Kentucky commit Jason Strowbridge took a official visit to NC State as well this past weekend. He is a three defensive lineman from Deerfield Beach, Florida (Deerfield Beach High School). Strowbridge had a good visit as he has previously visited North Carolina and Kentucky with a upcoming visit to Central Florida this weekend. Strowbridge would be a big time pick up for The Pack but I think he sticks with Kentucky. Another defensive line recruit committed to an SEC school also visited this past weekend but his name can not be given out at this time.
Emmanuel Olenga a ECU commit who is a three star defensive end from Charlotte, NC (Olympic High School) will most likely be officially visiting NC State in the future. Olenga is a under the radar recruit who has the potential to be a solid defensive lineman in college. Keivonnis Davis from Miami, Florida (Miami Central High School) a two star defensive end might be visiting State soon also. Davis is currently committed to Syracuse but is being recruited by Coach George McDonald. As of right now I would assume The Pack is trying to get two more defensive line commitments. Evan Kelly, a Richmond transfer who was rumored to transfer to State will not be coming to Raleigh.
The main focus for NC State is still four star running back Johnny Frasier. Frasier is expected to officially visit NC State this weekend as he is still considered a very soft Florida State commit. This is a huge visit as NC State is hoping he will flip to The Pack and I think there is a good chance this happens. If Frasier does pull the trigger on the visit he would join Reggie Gallaspy and Nyheim Hines in the backfield although Hines will line up in the slot also. If Frasier does not commit on his visit he should announce shortly afterwards. If Frasier commits that would give The Pack four of the top ten players in North Carolina committed to NC State. This would be huge to show younger recruits that top in state talent want to stay at home and compete for a ACC Championship.
The player to keep an eye on who is committed to NC State at the moment is three star defensive tackle Jabari Zuniga. Zuniga officially visited Florida over the weekend and could potentially visit Arkansas this upcoming weekend. He might be one of the most under rated players in the country. It would hurt if he flipped to another school this late which would most likely be Florida. State is in need of defensive lineman and Zuniga fits this need. He is definitely a recruit to closely monitor in the next week.
Parting Shots: Rivals came out with their new final ratings as three NC State commits are in it. Nyheim Hines made the jump up to the 94th rated player in the country from 99. Darian Roseboro slipped from 40th to the 100th overall rated player in the country. Emanuel McGirt moved up to 196th overall rated player in the land plus Johnny Frasier fell to 215. Landing four players in The Top 250 would be huge for The Pack. More updates will be coming as signing day approaches for college football.
