Recruiting: State lands an OL, Duke lands pair from in-state

Denzelle Good didn’t wait very long to decide where he wanted to play college football.

Less than 24 hours after receiving an official scholarship offer from N.C. State, the 6-foot-6, 326-pound offensive lineman gave an oral commitment to the Wolfpack on Thursday.

“I kind of felt it (offer) was coming, but I didn’t know when,’’ Good said. “I knew N.C. State was where I wanted to go. I was just waiting on the offer.’’

Good, who plays at Gaffney High School in South Carolina, chose the Wolfpack over offers from Maryland and Virginia as well as Football Championship Subdivision member South Carolina State.

The commitment is the seventh known one for the Wolfpack and the first from an offensive line prospect.

Good is entering his fourth season as a starter at Gaffney where he has followed in the footsteps of his older brother, Richard. Richard played tight end for Gaffney in 2005 and 2006.

The Wolfpack has recruited Denzelle to play offensive tackle.

“My strength is that I’m a pretty good pass-blocker,’’ Good said. “I can run-block, too, but I like to pass-block better. And, of course, I’m pretty big, so I can drive people off the line.’’

Desmond Scott of Durham’s Hillside High School last week became one of the first prospects this year to change his mind, but he certainly won’t be the last.

Scott became part of a national trend last Thursday when he backed off a previous oral commitment to play for Rutgers in 2009 so he could instead play for the Duke Blue Devils.

The change-of-heart was a major recruiting coup for Duke. Scott is ranked the nation’s No. 4 all-purpose running back prospect and has been given a four-star rating by Rivals.com. The latter ties Columbus, Ga., defensive tackle John Drew for highest among Duke’s 13 known commitments.

The 5-foot-9, 185-pounder joins Hillside teammate Corey Gattis in the Blue Devil recruiting class. Gattis, a prep quarterback, committed to Duke in June.

There seems to be a growing number of players each year who commit to one school, then uncommit to chose another. Estimates put the number at more than 300 who had a change of heart last year.

Scott isn’t even the first one in the current Duke class to alter his original decision. Drew had committed to Georgia Tech before switching to Duke in June.

Scott wasn’t the only in-state pickup for the Blue Devils this week.

Speedy defensive back-receiver Zach Greene from Leesville Road High in Raleigh also picked Duke over offers from N.C. State, South Carolina and Western Carolina.

The Wolfpack had seemed to be Greene’s favorite school through most of the recruiting process, but in the end he liked the idea of helping build a winner in Durham.

Greene caught 45 passes for 704 yards and eight touchdowns as a junior at Leesville Road. He also produced 50 tackles and three interception on defense and returned two kickoffs for touchdowns.

Dwight Jones, the gifted wide receiver from Burlington, has decided to get his college career started at Valdosta State.

Jones, who originally signed with North Carolina two years ago, failed to qualify academically and had been searching for an NCAA Division II program to attend.

He made visits to the campuses at UNC Pembroke and Fayetteville State over the last two weeks, but finally settled on Valdosta.

“I really didn’t know much about any of the Division II schools,’’ Jones said. “When I went down there, I just really liked the coaches and the players.

“Everybody at all the schools were great to me, but I just felt like Valdosta was the best place for me.’’

Jones said it’s a relief to finally have his situation settled.

“There was a lot of stress in trying to work my situation out with North Carolina,’’ Jones said. “That didn’t work out like it was supposed to, but I’m happy to know I’ve got a school to attend and play for. It’s a big relief.’’