It’s time for another edition of The Wolfpacker’s The Run Down. What’s the latest going on in football and basketball recruiting? We have some thoughts on basketball recruiting and football recruiting.
It’s time for another edition of The Wolfpacker’s The Run Down.
What’s the latest going on in football and basketball recruiting? We have some thoughts on basketball recruiting and football recruiting.
1.NC State offered junior college prospect Yohandry Ortiz, who played at Miles Community College in Miles City, Mont., population 8,354.
The 6-foot-5 Ortiz averaged 24.0 points and 5.4 rebounds per game, and shot 46.4 percent from the field and 37.0 percent on three-pointers. He had a season-high 42 points in a 85-83 loss at North Dakota State College of Science on Feb. 3. He scored 30-plus points in five other games.
Ortiz is now going to South Plains College in Levelland, Texas, which is a more traditional power. Talented but troubled point guard Arterio Morris played for South Plains last year. Morris picked Texas, eventually transferred to Kansas and then was dismissed.
Ortiz grew up in Bajos Hainas, Dominican Republic, and moved to Naples, Fla., when he was around 13 years old. He went to Gulf Coast (Fla.) High, where he averaged 16.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in 2021-22. He spent a post-graduate year at Naples (Fla.) First Baptist Academy and played with Anthony Edwards traveling team on the adidas circuit.
I watched Casper C.C. of Wyoming play Miles C.C. on Nov. 22, 2024, at North Idaho C.C. Casper C.C. featured scoring wiz Abdul Bashir, who NC State will play this season at Auburn. The slender 6-7 Bashir had the ultimate green light in scoring 39 points on 8 of 15 three-point shooting in a 139-106 victory.
Ortiz scored in a variety of ways and more than held his own in going 10 of 24 form the field, 3 of 8 on three-pointers and. 11 of 12 at the free-throw line for 34 points. He didn’t rebound much or get assists, but he showed he was a quality athlete with a good frame and wingspan.
Ortiz is more athletic and lengthier than past NC State wing Devon Daniels, but they both know how to score. Colleges usually have a tough time evaluating junior college players, but Ortiz is legit on the wing.
Ortiz has offers from NC State, High Point, Weber State, Southern Utah, Arkansas State and Florida Atlantic, with interest from Ohio State, Oregon, Colorado, West Virginia, Auburn, Nebraska and others. Buckeyes assistant Joel Justus, formerly of NC State, is recruiting him for the Buckeyes.
Ortiz played at a juco camp in June with combo guard K.J. Perry of Citrus (Calif.) C.C., who NC State also offered. Perry has set up official visits this fall to August on 25-26, SMU on Sept. 4-5 and BYU on Sept. 11-12. There is chit-chat that Perry could graduate in December and enroll at a four-year school, which would take NC State out of the mix.
2. Five senior point guards have clearly emerged from the group as high-level elite prospects in the class of 2026.
NC State has offered three of them — Dylan Mingo of Long Island (N.Y.) Lutheran, Deron Rippey Jr. of Blairstown (N.J.) Blair Academy and Taylen Kenney of Atlanta (Ga.) Overtime Elite. If there is any chance to land Brandon McCoy, who might now be at Chatsworth (Calif.) Sierra Canyon, then he’ll surely have a Wolfpack offer, if he doesn’t already have one.
The fifth point guard, but not in that order is Jordan Smith of Chantilly (Va.) Paul VI.
The usual schools are chasing these high-end point guards, so there is a going to be a dominoes at some point.
Kenney has already eliminated NC State, so the Wolfpack will be closely watching what happens with Mingo and Rippey, with the latter officialy visiting NC State on Nov. 7-9.
Louisville feels good about Kenney, and Smith has Duke and Georgetown in avid pursuit. Arkansas, Kentucky, Syracuse, Louisville and Indiana are also in the mix.
Some believe Syracuse could be a sleeper in Rippey’s recruitment, but he’s going to officially visit so many different colleges.
Mingo and McCoy seem to be taking their time and haven’t set up a long list of official visits yet. McCoy has officially visited Duke, and has been linked to Arkansas, Alabama, UCLA, USC, Michigan and Kansas.
Mingo has officially visited Washington, and is looking at UConn, NC State, North Carolina, Alabama, Baylor, Virginia, Miami (Fla.) and Oklahoma.
Besides Louisville, Kenney is looking at Arkansas, Kansas, Texas, Oregon, Kentucky, Indiana and Miami (Fla.).
New Jersey native Ikenna Alozie of Dream City Christian in Scottsdale, Ariz., is more of a combo guard, but would be the guard that schools would go after after the dominoes start falling.
Five years ago, schools would have taken chances on the point guards outside the top 30, but the transfer portal has become the preferred choice for some programs at the position.
3. One of the by-products of the players that NC State is recruiting is that they’ll also be viewing their teammates during visits this fall.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see some of the talented teammates of Cole Cloer at Bradenton (Fla.) IMG Academy or senior wing Tarris Bouie and junior shooting guard King Gibson at Geneva (Ohio) SPIRE Academy get offered. IMG Academy could have the top player in the class of 2028 with 7-foot center Bamba Touray, who has NBA length and athleticism, but is raw offensively.
SPIRE Institute also has junior power forward Jaylan Mitchell, who is from Evansville, Ind. He was injured this past year, but helped Bradley Beal Elite 16s win the 16s Nike Peach Jam title a year, playing with senior Wolfpack target Niikka Muurinen.
Touray, center Erick Dampier Jr., power forward Bentley Lusakueno and wing Adan Diggs could be the front-runners for the No. 1 ranking nationally in 2028.
Junior forward C.J. Rosser has a loaded Southeastern Academy squad in Orlando, Fla,, with junior center Obinna Ekezie Jr., junior point guard Beckham Black and junior power forward Griffin Sparks on the roster.
Senior point guard target Dylan Mingo has a loaded Long Island (N.Y.) Lutheran squad, which also has junior forward Moussa Kamissoko, who does a little bit of everything on both ends of the floor. NC State has offered Kamissoko.
NC State general manager Andrew Slater is very in-tune with the high-powered private schools that routinely draw top players.
4. Two of the headliners expected at the CP3 Rising Stars Camp this weekend in Bermuda Run, N.C., could both end up being long-term NC State targets.
Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Prolific Prep has been dubbed the adidas All-Stars, and junior small forward Bruce Branch of Gilbert, Ariz., is the No. 1 overall player in the class of 2027, and has an NC State offer. Odds are good that other Prolific Prep players will also get offered by NC State, going back to the connections coach Will Wade and Slater have. Prolific Prep is coached by Brian Bernardi, who was considered for the Wolfpack staff and used to be the coach at The Burlington School in Burlington, N.C.
Who else does Bernardi have? Arguably the best prospect that Under Armour Association had and also the youngeston his team — freshman small forward Draydne McDaniel. He played with SOH Elite traveling team and was on the varsity as an eighth grader at Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Calvary Christian. I’ll know more after this weekend, but McDaniel looks eerily similar to No. 1-ranked class of 2025 prospect A.J. Dybantsa, who is going to BYU.
The class of 2028 headliner could be A.J. Williams, who helped the Georgia Stars 15s win the Nike Peach Jam title and he was part of the USA under-16 squad that won the gold medal.
Williams averaged 20.4 points and 5.8 rebounds per game, and shot 51.7 percent from the field and 34.1 percent on three-pointers (14 of 41) at Peach Jam with the Georgia Stars.
NC State has offered Williams, as have Vanderbilt, Louisville, Indiana, Cincinnati, Auburn, LSU, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Mississippi State and Memphis.
Williams has transferred to Eagle’s Landing Christian Academy in McDonough, Ga., and was ranked No. 1 overall by ESPN recruiting guru Paul Biancardi.
5. NC State hasn’t had quarterback stability the last few years, but sophomore C.J. Bailey can put to the test that players make a big improvement from the first year to the second year.
Bailey being a true sophomore in his second year at starter is unique. He went 196-of-302 passing for 2,413 yards, 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and he added 99 carries for 279 yards and five scores.
The Wolfpacker takes a look back at some returning starters dating back to Jamie Barnette, who started as a freshman in 1996 and became a four-year starter.
In-between Barnette and Bailey, the Wolfpack had Philip Rivers for four years, Jay Davis in some ways for two years, Daniel Evans for two years, Russell Wilson for three years and Mike Glennon for two years.
NC State coach Dave Doeren arrived in 2013 and has had Jacoby Brissett for two years, Ryan Finley for three years and Devin Leary had injuries interrupt his career, but played in 30 games.
Barnette played in 10 games in 1996 and threw for 1,594 yards, nine touchdowns and six interceptions, plus four rushing scores. He improved in 1997 to go 171-of-302 passing for 2,378 yards, 19 touchdowns and 14 interceptions, plus three rushing scores.
Rivers had a near-story-book freshman year with 3,054 yards, 25 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, and he added two touchdowns on the ground. Rivers improved his completion percentage to 65.2, but he threw for 2,586 yards, 16 touchdowns and seven interceptions, plus two rushing scores.
Davis took over his junior year in 2004 and threw for 2,104 yards, 12 touchdowns and 15 interceptions, and rushed for a score. He started seven games in his senior campaign and had 1,267 passing yards, six touchdowns and eight interceptions.
Evans threw for 1,843 yards, six touchdowns and 11 interceptions his sophomore year in 2006. He improved in 2007, which was the first year of coach Tom O’Brien, and threw for 2,030 yards, 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions.
Wilson had the biggest jump from his first year as a starter to his second. He threw for 1,955 yards, 17 touchdowns and just one interception in 2008 as a redshirt freshman, plus rushed for four touchdowns. Wilson exploded in 2009 and threw for 3,027 yards, 31 touchdowns and 11 interceptions, plus four rushing scores.
Glennon proved ready as a junior in 2011 in taking over for Wilson, and threw for 3,054 yards, 31 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Glennon aired it out his senior year, going 330-of-564 passing for 4,031 yards, 31 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, and he rushed for two scores.
Brissett transferred in from Florida and sat out during 2013 season. He proved consistent in his two years starting for NC State. He threw for 2,606 yards, 23 touchdowns and five interceptions, and he rushed for 529 yards and three scores. Brissett came back and threw for 2,662 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions his senior year in 2015, and added 370 rushing yards and six scores.
Finley improved in each of his three years as his players around him improved. The Boise State transfer threw for 3,055 yards, 18 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 2016. He went 312-of-479 passing for 2,518 yards, 17 touchdowns and six interceptions his fourth year of college.
Leary is a unique case in that he played eight games in 2019 and threw for 1,219 yards, eight touchdowns and five interceptions. He got hurt in 2020 and was limited to four games. He roared back in 2021 and went 283-of-431 passing for 3,433 yards, 35 touchdowns and five interceptions.
6. Perhaps the player that might emerge the most with the doubleheader at Bank of America Stadium today in Charlotte still doesn’t have an offer.
Cornelius (N.C.) Hough plays Rock Hill (S.C.) South Pointe at 4 p.m., and Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley plays West Charlotte (N.C.) High at 8 p.m. tonight.
The star power will be on display, but some new names will start to emerge. Hough High has senior cornerback Samari Matthews (Texas), senior wide receiver Tyran Evans (Miami (Fla.)) and outside linebacker/safety L.J. Porter (East Carolina).
Sophomore running back JaMarion Morrison could be turned loose tonight for Hough. The 5-9, 205-pounder has been discussed since middle school in some circles. He had six carries for 73 yards and a touchdown in a 58-3 win over Charlotte Chambers, and that felt like the appetizer for what is to come this season if he gets turned loose.
Sophomore linebacker Ryan Peterson is the other player for Hough, who could be an unknown now, but blow up this season.
NC State has already offered West Charlotte High junior wide receiver/free safety Davion Jones, and South Pointe High junior defensive lineman Seth Tillman.
Jones caught 20 passes for 387 yards and four touchdowns, and had 68 tackles, two tackles for loss, 15 passes defended and an incredible seven interceptions. It won’t be easy to get Jones, who also is dynamic in the return game, but he’s the type of prospect NC State has to land in the future.
Tillman had 76 tackles, 15.5 sacks and 25.0 tackles for loss his sophomore year. He’s surrounded by talent with senior safety J’zavien Currence (South Carolina), and junior athlete Kaidin Watkins, who transferred in from Rock Hill High.
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Scheduling note — The Run Down will take a break next Friday due to the East Carolina at NC State game Thursday, but between coach Doeren’s press conference today, the two prep football games at Bank of America Stadium and the CP3 Rising Stars Camp, the scoop will keep flowing in this weekend.
Category: General Sports
