Recruiting: N.C. State, UNC Host Top Prospects

The arrival of September not only signals the start of the college football season, but it also begins another important stage of the recruiting calendar.

The month of August was an NCAA-mandated “quiet period’’ during which the only in-person contact a coaching staff can have with a recruit is on the college campus. Because most college coaches are stuck on campus conducting preseason practice, the amount of serious recruiting done during August is minimal.

But some of the most vital information gathered on recruits happens in September, which is labeled an “evaluation period’’ by the NCAA.

During the evaluation period, coaches or other athletic department members can visit high school campuses to check on a recruit’s academics and scout him during games. They cannot, however, have any personal contact with the recruit on these visits.

Each coach or athletic department member can make only six of these visits overall and just one per school during the evaluation period that runs from Sept. 1 to Nov. 24.

So watch for the recruiting action to start heating up over the next three months after the August lull.

Wake Forest didn’t let the quiet period keep it from landing another offensive line prospect earlier this week in 6-foot-4, 316-pound Garrick Williams from Rock Bridge High School in Columbia, Mo.

The Deacons were the first school to offer Williams a scholarship, but others like Iowa, Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri were showing interest.

The Deacons have recruited Williams to play right tackle.

“He just enjoyed the coaching staff and the campus there, plus they seem to be a program on the rise,’’ Rock Bridge coach A.J. Ofodile said. “They are getting a player with great potential.’’

The Deacons are now up to eight commitments for the Class of 2008. Williams is the second offensive lineman on that list, joining Gabe Irby from Mount Airy, Ga.

Highly touted Fayetteville Terry Sanford tight end Dwayne Allen was one of the spectators last Saturday in Chapel Hill as UNC defeated James Madison. Allen is considering the Tar Heels and several other schools despite making a commitment to Georgia last December. ... Also in attendance at UNC was one of the nation’s top offensive line prospects, Aaron Douglas from Maryville, Tenn., who has committed to Tennessee. ... There were some pretty high-profile visitors in Raleigh on Saturday for the N.C. State-Central Florida game as well. Concord offensive lineman R.J. Mattes, Wilmington offensive lineman Nick Becton and defensive lineman Anthony Garner from Siler City were there on unofficial visits. ... Clemson has added a North Carolina prospect to its recruiting class in Shelby running back/receiver Larry Raper. The 5-10, 160-pounder is one of the state’s swiftest players. He ran 40-yard dashes of 4.24 and 4.31 seconds during a combine last summer in Charlotte.