With high school football beginning this past weekend, it is time for the class of 2018 to begin its senior year and for college football coaches to hit the road to finish up their recruiting class.
NC State currently has 17 players committed to the class of 2018, headlined by quarterback Devin Leary from New Jersey, running back Ricky Person from Wake Forest, and kicker Chris Dunn from Lexington, North Carolina. The class is ranked 36th nationally and seventh in the ACC according to 247Sports.com. Person is the highest-ranked player committed to the Pack, ranked 144th overall, the fifth-ranked running back in the country and the seventh-ranked player in the state of North Carolina.
As the class currently stands, head coach Dave Doeren will likely focus on the defensive side of the ball, particularly the defensive line and linebackers, to round out the recruiting class.
The main targets for the Pack are Alim McNeill, a defensive end from Sanderson High School in Raleigh, Jordan Davis, a defensive tackle from Mallard Creek in Charlotte and Jovaughn Gwyn, an offensive lineman from Harding University High School in Charlotte.
The Pack has not had more success at any one high school than Mallard Creek in the last few years. Senior all-purpose back Jaylen Samuels, redshirt sophomore defensive back Vernon Grier, redshirt freshman running back Will Eason and freshman defensive tackle Grant Gibson are all current Pack players from Mallard Creek.
McNeill is tentatively set to commit on Sept. 9. He has said NC State is his favorite but will visit Florida State and Virginia Tech, to go along with the Pack, before committing.
Davis has been very quiet about his recruiting process, therefore it will prove to be a tough battle for the Pack against schools like Miami, Florida and UNC-Chapel Hill.
Gwyn has seemingly been close to his decision for a couple months now. His final three includes the Pack, South Carolina and Duke.
Kahric Belle, an offensive lineman from Miami is a player the Pack would love to sign. He visited NC State this summer, but did not visit any other schools, which is a good sign for the Wolfpack.
Other targets include defensive lineman Joseph Boletepeli from Wake Forest, linebacker Keshon Artis from Virginia and linebacker Calvin Hart from Florida.
The linebacker position is a huge need for the Wolfpack, with four upperclassmen, including three seniors, on the current roster. Hart is open to NC State and Texas A&M, while Artis will be tough to pull out of his home state.
Defensive line is also a big need with four seniors starting this year in Bradley Chubb, B.J. Hill, Kentavius Street and Justin Jones, which is why so many defensive lineman are being targeted, despite having two committed thus far.
A best-case scenario includes signing McNeill, Gwyn, Davis and two linebackers, hopefully Artis and Hart. While this seems possible currently, things prove to be very fluid in the recruiting process. These players could pick other schools and new targets could emerge.
In total, State will likely take about five or six more players in this class, depending on what happens with certain players. This class is shaping up to be the best since Dave Doeren signed a national top-35 class in his first two full recruiting classes. If the Pack is able to finish the class off well, it could vault into the top 30 or 25 nationally.
