NC State Head Coach, Tom O’Brien has been winning the respect of the media…and now it looks like he is garnering respect from the state’s top high school football players.
Coach O’Brien secured his third - and most important to date - verbal commitment of this year’s recruiting class this week when Shelby Crest linebacker, Dwayne Maddox declared his intention to join former Crest stars David Thompson, Chris Coleman, and Tim Ramseur as member’s of the Wolfpack family.
State also has verbal commitments from Pittsboro Northwood running back Tobias Palmer and Charlotte Independence tight end Mario Carter.
Maddox, a 6-foot-2, 220-pound (rising) senior is considered one of the top 20 linebackers in the country by most recruiting services and he claimed offers from programs like Alabama, South Carolina and North Carolina. You can read more about Maddox in this article at the N&O.
The former coaching staff left the shelves very lightly stocked with talent at the linebacker position, so Maddox’s commitment provides an extra boost to the Wolfpack’s future depth chart. Now Wolfpackers will start hoping for a ‘dream team’ of commitments at the position and you will see a lot of attention on Laurinburg’s (Scotland High School) Terrell Manning. Manning is considered one of the Top 100 players in the entire country and easily one of the ten best at his position. He continues to most often speak of five schools - Clemson, Florida, North Carolina, N.C. State and Virginia Tech.
There is growing ‘chatter’ within the world of high school recruiting that NC State is positioned very nicely with enough key targets for people to start speculating that the Wolfpack may construct a fantastic recruiting class. You can use the comments in this entry to talk football recruiting.
semper fi, do or die!!!!
what makes the grass grow?
BLOOD! BLOOD! BLOOD!
what do we do?
KILL! KILL! KILL!
way to go TOB
I love the positive buzz building around this program.
Brian Barnes, from Bunn, is going to be another very important prospect.
BTW, I believe Ryan Hamrick was also from Shelby.
I graduated from Scotland High!!! Go Fighting SCOTS!!!
hmmm, I wonder if there is anything I can do to help him lean towards NC State - legal of course. I’m happy to see the recent positive recruiting news coming about TOB - I’m looking forward to the upcoming football season and beyond.
Brandon Barnes, right Noah? His offer list is incredible(includes the Trojans).
The QB Glennon sounds extremely impressive based on Pack Pride’s camp reports and the comments from some of the other players that attended the camp. Sounds like we have a great chance to land him and he has offers from Miami, Michigan, Va Tech, UVa and many others.
Also sounds like TOB is very popular in the state of NC right now. It will be interesting to see if this class will be rated as high as Amato’s best classes.
^ It doesn’t have to be rated as high - just needs to give us the threshhold amount of talent we need to really compete at the highest level. It sounds like we are on track for that.
NC State’s formula in football will ALWAYS need to be “enough talent plus coaching” - we aren’t going to win by accumulating “overwhelming talent” like FSU. That model has been tried, and it failed.
Man, it has been sooo long since this feeling has surrounded our football program. The last time I personally remember this much optimism was CTC’s first year and a friend of mine told me after spring practice “some kid named Rivers” might get some playing time that year. What a year that was!
Way to go TOB. I will say again - DO NOT underestimate this quiet, unassuming man.
BJD95: The reason I brought up rating is that it appears this year’s class could be as talented as some in the past if everything goes our way.
One of key questions for this hire is can TOB upgrade his recruiting (over BC) at major state university and so far the very early indicators are yes.
Just have patience, it may take a little time. We will definitely improve but don’t expect a huge increase in Ws, our schedule has some tough tough away games.
IT’S DIVISION 1 FOOTBALL!!!
How about QB Jacob Charest? He is also being heavily recruited. Any sense about perceptions of him at camp or what schools he is leaning toward? Same question with Mattes, the OL from Concord.
Dwight Jones, one of UNC’s Butch MF Davis’s 2007 star recruits has failed to qualify and has enrolled in Hargrave Millitary academy. He was a 4 star and 16th ranked WR. Chatter says he scored in the 700’s on his SAT. I’m sure Butch MF Davis will try and get him qualifed for the 2008 class.
^I’m sure they’ll find a major for him at Unc, probably the same one as Sheed, Mcginnis, and others.
Phil Steele’s CF preview says some good things about the Pack. Going to a bowl is one — except he has us playing USF in Charlotte which does not make any sense since they both play the first game of the season. A re-match would not seem to be that appealling. We are listed as #5 on the list of most improved teams. It looks like TOB is building a solid foundation for the future to go with the talent he has.
FYI — At the end of last year the NCAA changed its terminology in reference to Division IAA and 1A.
1A teams are now called FBS teams (Football Bowl Subdivision)
1AA teams are now called FCS (Football Championship Subdivision)
^We play Central Florida in the first game of the season, not USF.
Brandon Barnes…my fault.
And I think recruiting rankings do matter a little. People follow them more than they used to and when you can get a little buzz, a little credibility around you, it helps you when you are new and going into a high school or a neighborhood for the first time.
“1A teams are now called FBS teams (Football Bowl Subdivision)
1AA teams are now called FCS (Football Championship Subdivision)”
About par for the course for the NCAA…
How is our recruiting instate shaping up compared to UNC?
This could be a very, very special class. There’s a big buzz around the recruiting sites, and for very good reasons. Even UNC, who made a nice recruiting haul last year, is starting to question Butch’s recruiting tactics because they’re noticing State is making a pretty big sweep of the top players in the state. We should all be very giddy about this 2008 class, because it’s definitely one that if it shapes out accordingly, could be a program changer.
Thanks Rick. Relieves some angst about that first game but not all.
kool k,
what division it?
should we go play intermurals????
I think that Butch Davis is the type of coach that appeals to fans, boosters, and those in the media who to associate with big names.
I think that TOB is the type of coach that appeals to parents, long-term high school coaches, and media types who like to associate with academic minded coaches.
I noticed in the article tha Brandon Spikes ended up at Florida, although supposedly he was coming here. Where’s Paul Harvey when you need him to give us the rest of THAT story…
^^I think Butch Davis will be better than TOB at getting the blue chips, where the recruiting’s really seedy, but there’s no reason TOB can’t compete with Butch equally when it comes to good talent in NC.
Any insights about Mattes and Charest?
^^Maybe, but I don’t get the impression that TOB thinks he won’t get just as many blue chips as Unc.
I think many in our fan base(not you necessarily)have been conditioned to accept second best in comparison to Unc or Duke. “Oh, gee, we can’t really do what they can, but I hope we’re competitive” etc.
Thankfully, we now have two coaches in charge of our major programs that don’t believe that for one moment.
Hamrick was from Shelby but I think he went to Shelby High School, not Crest.
Outside of that one monster class he brought in (Mario Williams, Marcus Stone, etc.) Chuck’s recruiting rankings were pretty comparable to TOB’s I think.
WOW! That was painful.
I had withdrawals after last week!
I can see again!
I can see!
what the crap happened all weekend??? i thought there was some major news that i was missing out on cause the site crashed.
CJ Leslie…yipee. blah, blah, blah.
Dwight Jones is the player that Clempson declined for academic issues at signing time and Butch took him anyway. I’ve had the same thought, they’ll prep him at Hargrave for some phoney bologna major.
It’s amazing how the Tarholes are “spinning” this one too. Bashing Clempson while Carolina takes their academic rejects.
Welcome back from the dead!
Been checking all weekend to get the buzz on the CJ Leslie committment.
Sid’s in it for the long haul!!! A couple more freshmen, then let’s start on the 8th graders! LOL
Someone tell me about CJ Leslie…
He is top 10 in the country for his class and someone who can flat out can take it to the hole - around anybody, or over anybody. And when you get used to him doing that - he’ll drive you down and then pull up with the 10 ft. jumper leaving you dizzy and flat on your arse!
Oh yea. I forgot - He LOVES the Wolfpack.
I’m a little worried about this latest commitment, aren’t we getting a little overloaded in the “CJ” category?
CJ, CJ, JJ…that’s a lot of “J’s” floating around.
good to see you back SFN.
A good article on Sid’s thoughts on the PG situation in the N&O today.
The Maddox commitment is huge for TOB - I’m hearing very good things about our recruiting picture thus far.
Football and BBall, knock on wood, we be lookin’ pretty good right now.
thank god you guys are back! SFN has been very missed in my little dorm room.
Lush my friend, I think you know what is coming:
IT’S DIVISION 1 FOOTBALL!!!
I’ve been reading up on Colorado in all the pre-season pubs and none of them even mention that catch phrase of all catch phrases.
Oh well, I am eagerly awaiting the release of NCAA 2008 to see what the EA boys think of the Pack
NandO had good articles on Yow and Lowe this morning, and they mention Leslie of Holly Springs. 6′9″ and growing!
Lowe said that Kentucky, Florida, and Umass are all on the upcoming OOC schedule. Then declined any details as to when we were playing them… QT has been working hard too it sounds like. ah the days of winning twenty games a season by beating up on red-headed step children is over.
Good thing, I was starting to get fat from all those cupcakes!
There is a lot of excitement regarding the potential for some commitments in football soon. We have a very impressive list of folks at our camp.
LETS take a look at the possible future line up of packersin lets say 2010.. shall we?
Marques Johnson? eligibility left?
Tracy Smith
Javi Gonzalez
Johnny Thomas
Juluis Mays
CJ Williams
CJ Leslie
Jordan Hamilton?
assuming JJ leaves (which we all think he will)
things are looking good
It’s nice to hear what the CJ says but he’s 16 and as the song goes: “It’s a long time from May to December…..”
I guess I’m conservative about counting chickens while they’re still not hatched. The future looks always looks bright but on paper and through rose colored glasses — but crazy things happen.
^debbie downer
Kentukey AND Forida? Lowe wants his name in cement here in Raleigh… and I WANT HIM TO HAVE IT THERE.
hes gonna push hard for a NC… I can feel it.
“Carolina Blue is just past tense for Carolina Blows!”
HAHAHAHAHA
I am sure you guys have all heard that before, but its a first for me -and it is awesome!
TOB just picked up another big commit - http://northcarolinastate.scout.com/2/654651.html
^wow. Turned down offers from the likes of Fla, Auburn and USC? Huge.
He and Terrell Manning are everyone’s top picks as the best players in the state of NC.
Guess we don’t have to worry about whether or not O’Brien can recruit.
BTW, I think Mr. O and I both talked about that very thing (can he recruit?) when he got hired. I think we both agreed that O’Brien would probably do fine and that his lower-ranked recruiting efforts at BC were most likely the result of being handcuffed by higher admission standards and the impossibility of recruiting kids to play football in Boston.
Boston is probably the greatest college town in America. And it’s a fantastic sports town. But they just don’t give a d*mn about college sports. That’s something the south and the midwest have the market on…
This has been the most exciting “off season” for a Wolfpack fan in a long while!
WOW, I GUESS BUTCH HASNT HAD TOO MUCH LUCK HARKENING HIS INDIAN ANCESTRY TO LAND RECRUITS. IF HE WAS REALLY AN AMERICAN INDIAN, SOME POSSIBLE INDIAN NAMES COULD BE runswiththugs….or bigletdown…..or jobhopper….. or willtakebetteroffersoonasitcomes………
lush youre good at nicknames, you were the mastermind behind “he totally Calibarned ‘em” got any names for butch?
beowolf - agreed, it’s hardly seemed like a ‘dead period’ at all. Sid & TOB have been keeping it lively.
Still waiting for the anticipated bad news, being a long time wolfpacker / pessimist. Could be the deal w/ Coach Harris & the police, could be the deportation hearing w/ Gavin, could be incoming freshman academics, or maybe there’s an alligator in the weeds we haven’t anticipated. But for now, the future looks so bright we’ve got to wear shades!
Dont sell butch davis short. he had the better class last year, although as previously mentioned one of his cornerstones is an NQ. it is hopeful to see TOB going after and getting the top players in NC. it’s long been a problem that much of the top 10 in NC goes elsewhere to bigger CF programs. it’s still happening with the 08 class (blanton to notre dame), but if TOB gets his share, they’ll be doing pretty good. TJ Graham is the son of Trevor Graham, the disgraced former track and field coach who lives in raleigh. the n&o had a story on him about a month ago.
WOW! TOB is the MAN!
TOB is really impressing me thus far. It almost seems too good to be true right now. I just have to remind myself - it is football recruiting and things can change.
Great pulls for State.
Noah: I have never seen CJ Leslie play except for the videos at Packpride. He is 6′7″ with great handles. He was probably the tallest player on the court in those videos, but he was leading the break and going coast to coast after blocking shots or getting a rebound. If he can shoot the three, then he will be a big-time recruit. The 2010 class is loaded with maybe as many as three top 25 players.
It appears our basketball program is more attractive to top players than at anytime in the post-V era. Obviously it is still early, but Sidney Lowe and Larry Harris are a dangerous tandem on the recruiting trail. The kids love Sidney’s NBA background. Several other big-time players considering us in addition to Leslie.
As far as TOB, he was the perfect hire in terms of what our program needed at the time. We could potentially clean up the state of NC. While I have only followed NC State football recruiting since the early 90s, it appears we could have the best in-state recruiting class in the last 15 years.
If the QB Glennon and Terrell Manning commit this week, then any questions about TOB’s recruiting at NC State are answered. Good times at NC State right now!
Mr. O, I don’t think whether manning makes it public this week makes much difference.
Also, TVP brought up a great point. Most of TOB’s classes were rated similar to Chuck’s minus his one top 10 class. TOB did that without having 2-6 guys per year not qualify. He did it in a pro sports town at a school coming off a gambling scandal in an area of the country that doesn’t produce a great amount of top rated players. Not to mention with inferior facilities and inferior fan support.
As well as Chuck recruited(thanks Chuck for making NFL Sundays even greater, it is feasible that TOB might recruit at a higher level than Chuck.
Maybe not Chris, but it sure would be more fun if he did make it public!
I’m just jacked that someone from my HS was a good enough athlete to make it. Good luck Tobias Palmer…
I heard CJ Leslie’s AAU team is holding their practices at State’s practice gym.
“The 2010 class is loaded with maybe as many as three top 25 players.”
One would think that there would be 25 top-25 players. Or are you talking about just in North Carolina? Or in the SE?
I’m going off memory, so I might be scrambling a few things here…but the best in-state haul that I can ever recall was Sheridan’s second class. It was following the 4-7 season, but was coming off the 8-3-1 momentum. Carolina was getting ready to change coaches and Sheridan landed 12 of the top 25 players, including AB, the state’s top prospect. We landed Robert Hinton, Jessie Campbell, Ledel George and Scott Adell (top five) in that class as well. George and Hinton both had to prep for a year.
UNC landed eight of the top 25 that year…but two of those were Chuckie Burnette and Julius Reese (blew out his knee).
The second best in-state haul was probably Sheridan’s last. But this was on paper only. We had people like Montez Moye (never showed up) in it and Kyle Blalock (constantly injured) and Brandon Davis (overrated) in it. Meanwhile, Carolina had the class that would make up the core of their 21-3 years….Greg Ellis, Ebenezer Ekuban, K-mays, Brian Simmons, etc.
By the time Amato got here, the state was totally fractured. Old-school pipelines for ACC schools like Greensboro Page (two kids out of one high school ain’t a pipeline….when you get EVERY kid out of a HS….THAT is a pipeline) and Richmond County ended up getting redistricted or split up.Plus, everybody in the SE was dipping into the state, so it was harder to get a great in-state haul.
packbacker,
I like chief sitswhenhepees. I think that fits across the board for all tarholes.
nice, i like that one lush. and if youve noticed lush, players are calibarning their teams now. its not just the coaches. First Kobe Bryant and now Paul Pierce. Everybody’s biting your $hit
I’m still trying to figure out how TOB is doing this. He’s really on an incredible run right now.
There’s an interview with Coach O’Brien up on DG’s WRAL blog.
http://www.wral.com/sports/blogpost/1546709/