Recruiting: ECU Gets Commitment, Pack Chases Safety

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. — Leonard Paulk, a 5-foot-11, 180-pound cornerback from Richland Northeast High in Columbia, will become the third member of that clan to play major-college football next fall after recently making a commitment to East Carolina.

Paulk is the younger brother of South Carolina’s starting linebacker Rodney Paulk, who seven tackles in Saturday’s 21-15 win by the Gamecocks over North Carolina.

He’s also the cousin of former All-Southeastern Conference linebacker Tim Paulk. Tim Paulk starred at Florida in the early 1990s and was later drafted by the NFL’s Atlanta Falcons.

“That family has a long history with our program,’’ Richland East coach Jay Frye said. “I’ve coached both Rodney and Leonard and their very similar.

“Leonard is a little more athletic. Rodney is a little bigger and stronger. But Leonard is growing and getting bigger all the time. When he matures he’s going to be a big, strong kid.

“Leonard also has great instincts. He’s does a great job breaking on the football and he’s a good open-field tackler.’’

The Pirates were the only major program to offer Paulk, who made 75 tackles, five pass breakups and five fumble recoveries as a junior.

Through the first six games this season, Paulk had produced 54 tackles on defense and returned a kickoff 92 yards for a touchdown.

Paulk, who won’t turn 17 until November, is the seventh player committed to the Pirates but is the first out-of-state player to join the class.

All seven of the ECU commitments are from players who are projected to play running back, defensive back or wide receiver in college.

N.C. State is one of several teams in contention to receive an official visit from one of the nation’s premier safety prospects in Brandon Smith from New Brunswick, N.J.

Smith (6-2, 210) has already taken official visits to Michigan and Colorado, but hasn’t decided which of the more than 30 others schools which have offered him scholarships will get the other three visits.

The Wolfpack is in that mix along with Boston College, Connecticut, Iowa, Louisville, Maryland, Rutgers, Syracuse and Wisconsin.

Smith has expressed a desire to play early, which could be a factor in N.C. State’s favor. The Wolfpack will lose three of the top four safeties on their current depth chart in the next two years, including senior starter Miguel Scott.

Speaking of the Wolfpack, former N.C. State head coach Chuck Amato’s return to the state as a member of the Florida State coaching staff didn’t end with the Seminoles loss against Wake Forest last Thursday.

Amato, now executive head coach and linebackers coach for the Seminoles, stayed behind when the team returned home to Tallahassee, Fla., and rode down to Lumberton to watch Terry Sanford tight end Dwayne Allen play against the Pirates. Amato was joined by Florida State tight ends coach and recruiting coordinator John Lilly.

Allen, of course, is committed to Georgia, but is still looking around at other schools.

“That’s (Florida State) somebody he’s still looking at,’’ Terry Sanford coach Wayne Inman said. “That might be somewhere he considers taking an official visit.’’

Amato has already lured one of Inman’s former tight end pupils to Florida State.

Jonathan Hannah, who Inman coached as an assistant at South View High, is in Tallahassee working to become eligible to play for the Seminoles next season. Hannah originally signed with South Carolina, but decided to leave the program after his freshman year. He spent last season at Louisburg Junior College and was planning to transfer to N.C. State.

But when Amato was dismissed by the Wolfpack following the 2006 season, Hannah decided to follow him to Florida State.

NCAA rules require junior college transfers to complete requirements for an Associate of Arts degree before they are eligible at Football Bowl Subdivision programs. Hannah was short a math class of fulfilling those requirements, so the 6-4, 260-pounder is presently working toward regaining his eligibility for 2008, according to Inman.

“Coach Amato said he’d be their starting tight end if he had been eligible,’’ Inman said.

Meanwhile, Allen, the nation’s No. 5 tight end prospect according to Rivals.com, spent last Saturday watching North Carolina play South Carolina in Chapel Hill.