The Huddle: Favorite in-state Division II classes, NC's FBS schools seeing mixed results in 2025
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In the wake of the pandemic and resulting changes to the NCAA's transfer and eligibility policies, a common thing you've heard among football coaches is that high school prospects are being recruited at a level below where they would have in the past.
Of course, this is not true for every single player, but there are some notable guys who previously would've been Power 5 ending up at a Group of 5 school, some players who look like G5 players going FCS, and some prospects with FCS potential suddenly only getting Division II looks.
North Carolina's Division II colleges appear to be capitalizing on the new age of recruiting. A few of our D2 schools have put together nice 2024 recruiting classes of in-state players. I'm going to break down a few of my favorite classes in 1st Down below.
Additionally, I have some thoughts on the smaller FCS classes in 2nd Down. Finally, 3rd Down is going to look at the mixed early returns for in-state schools in the class of 2025 with recent news related to Isaiah Campbell, David Sanders, and JaDon Blair.
1st Down: Favorite In-State Division II Recruiting Classes
Catawba College in Salisbury crushed it with this group. Props to head coach Tyler Haines and recruiting coordinator Jake Vellucci. The Indians brought in a handful of guys that I long assumed would end up at a Division I program. Millbrook's longtime starting quarterback Mason Fortune threw for 10,420 yards and 106 touchdowns in his career. That just doesn't happen all the time. He doesn't have a perfect frame necessarily or the perfect athleticism, but at some point production is production, especially at the 4A level and in that conference he had to play in. Like come on, I've seen quarterbacks with way less production get offers out of this state. Catawba also has two other guys that I thought could be Division I talents: Alexander Evans, a safety, and Jymiek Sampson, a defensive tackle. Khor'on Miller, a linebacker/safety from North Rowan had 144 solo tackles as a senior. Catawba keeping this guy in Rowan County is a steal. Catawba did that same with athlete Mike Geter from Salisbury High. Geter was a very high-end safety for the Hornets and of course was behind the offensive attack as a quarterback. They also brought in a number of offensive lineman with good potential: Davion Clark from Porter Ridge, Brandon Hardy from Olympic, J'Mari Parker from Independence, Trei Rivers from Clayton, and Evan Stepp from Trinity. I like the flyers on secondary guys like Nigel Gay (East Forsyth), Cam Anderson (Crest), Jalen Thomas (Thomasville), and Deon McLaughlin/Jamarie Davis (Grimsley).
Barton College in Wilson, a newer Division II program, has a fascinating group coming in. What I like about what Barton is doing is it is trusting the high school production of players and has shown the willingness to roll the dice, or buy lottery tickets on some unique guys. One of those unique players is Ke’Vontae Lucas, who is a giant 6-foot-5 defensive back from Washington County. Bodies like that aren't walking around everywhere. You take a chance with someone like that and see what you can make him. Another one of those guys: 6-foot-7, 335-pound offensive lineman Daniel Galvin from Wallace-Rose Hill High. He's not a perfect player, but you can't not give that guy an opportunity. Getting quarterback Al Lee from Reidsville could be a home run. Lee is coming off one of the greatest heaters during a championship run that we've ever seen. Barton brought in a wildly producitve running back duo of Jackson Parrish (Southern Alamance) and Corbin Kerr (Wallace-Rose Hill). The Bulldogs have brought in some high-production linebackers that can hopefully quarterback their defense one day: Khiyale Washington from Mountain Island Charter, Conner Baker from Northern Nash, Gage Tremaine from Cleveland, and Todd Massey from A.L. Brown. Barton also brought in two wide receivers from the Triad that have loads of upside: Maleek Bryant from Rockingham County High and Jaylen Neal from Bartlett Yancey High.
Some other prospects that stand out as great fits for the Division II schools:
- Lenoir-Rhyne brought in the state's strongest arm in Dudley High quarterback Andrew Attmore. I can see Attmore having a breakout year or two for the Bears. I'm not sure why his recruiting was on the quiet end, to be frank.
- Offensive lineman Tristan Haddock (Bunker Hill), linebacker/tight end AJ Pardue (Starmount), and defensive back Kavin White (Lake Norman) also grab my attention for Lenoir-Rhyne.
- Pros to Livingstone College on bringing in Chancellor Bryant, a standout defensive back from Ardrey Kell High School.
- I think UNC-Pembroke got some steals in defensive back Tarron Green (North Brunswick), defensive back Fredrick Sellars (Grimsley), tight end Hunter Wyles (Wilkes Central), and linebacker Caiden Smith (Forest Hills).
- Wingate University cooked a little bit by bringing in an edge defender with Division I upside in Marcel Johnson (East Lincoln).
- I think Winston-Salem State could be rewarded by pursuing the production of running back Zay Jones (Scotland) and wide receiver Amir Hall (Southern Durham).
2nd Down: How North Carolina's FCS Schools Recruited 2024
Naturally, the FCS-level schools in North Carolina don't have as many recruits as the Division II ones do, but there are some interesting fits that I want to point out.
The NC A&T Aggies only brought in eight class of 2024 players from North Carolina, but I like the quality that they got in the quantity. A&T did a great job finding some big guys for the trenches. The Aggies went down and grabbed two offensive linemen from Robeson County, who were two of the best blockers in all of the Sandhills region. Those players are 6-foot-5, 312-pound Tim Hammonds from Red Springs and 6-foot-5, 340-pound Jodi Freeman from Purnell Swett High School. Clayton's Chris Kinsey, a defensive lineman, could be a one of those guys that you look back on and wonder how they didn't get to a higher level. NC A&T also prioritized defensive backs (Tre Mittman from Southern Durham High, Carter Powell from Reagan High, Jaylen Roseboro from East Lincoln High) and wide receivers (Michael Carlock-Williams from Jacksonville High and Corbin Wilson from Southwest Guilford High). I'm a fan of all of these guys.
NC Central has a fun class as well. Jaden Warren from Salisbury High School is a HSOT Second Team All-State selection who put up gaudy numbers: 60 tackles (4.6/game), 37.5 tackles for a loss, 20 sacks, three forced fumbles, and six fumble recoveries. He has pretty good size for the Eagles to build on at 6-foot-3, 220 pounds. Cardinal Gibbons coaches have raved about their linebacker Ryan Ziegler for years. NC Central added Ziegler, who produced on both sides of the ball for the Crusaders. Central also brought in some fun athletes in Joshua Truesdale from Palisades High, Jackson Gibbs from Marvin Ridge High, Kamari Houze from Kings Mountain High, among others.
Gardner-Webb grabbed two in-state quarterbacks with potential in Burns’ Ben Mauney and Western Alamance’s Evan Kuehnel. I love what Davidson College did at the edge/outside linebacker position, bringing in Jayden Ferguson from Millbrook High and Nakoma Scott from Lumberton High. These guys combined for almost 80 tackles for a loss and over 35 sacks over their high school careers. In speaking of edge rushers, Elon bringing in Hoggard's Malakahi West is such a big pickup. West is not the fasted pass rusher in the world, but his size (6'3, 240) and production over the last two years (61 tackles for a loss, 32.5 sacks) should have made an FBS school give him the opportunity. The Phoenix pairing West in the Edge room with Kahmari Brown (58 career TFLs, 18.5 sacks) is a steal. I also like Elon's adds at offensive line (Jake Clemmons, Scotland High) and defensive back (Ross Smith, Forest Hills & Jordan Glover, Southern Durham).
3rd Down: Trouble Brewing in 2025?
North Carolina's in-state FBS programs are having some mixed results with recruiting the in-state class of 2025 so far.
UNC and NC State made big early pickups last summer in East Forsyth High School quarterback Bryce Baker and Northwood High School tight end Gus Ritchey, respectively.
(By the way, I track these commitments for HSOT Insiders like you at the following links. If I'm every missing an addition, please reach out to me so I can make a correction. There's a lot of news to keep track of!)
Since those two early pledges for State and Carolina, none of North Carolina's colleges have picked up a verbal commit. In fact, one prominent player has already been lost.
Isaiah Campbell, a consensus 4-star prospect at Southern Durham High, committed to Clemson in January. Duke seemed to be the NC program that was after Campbell the hardest, but once Clemson took a lead in the Campbell camp, there was no overcoming that. Campbell was Second Team on HighSchoolOT's 2023 All-State Football Team after he compiled 124 tackles (10.0/game) 27 tackles for a loss, 16 sacks, 36 quarterback hits, one fumble recovery, and two forced fumbles. That's not a guy you like seeing leaving the state lines for college.
Within the last week, two big time rising seniors cut down their recruiting lists.
Offensive tackle David Sanders of Providence Day, seen as a consensus Top 7 prospect in the country, released his top six schools: Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, South Carolina, and Tennessee. This one is hard to get too torn up over. A player like Sanders is going to command the full attention of the very best college football programs in the country. And the reality is, none of those programs are in North Carolina right now.
On another note, Mount Tabor High School safety JaDon Blair announced his top ten schools the other day. Blair is ranked in the Top 200 nationally by On3, 247Sports, and ESPN. On3 has Blair the highest at the No. 43 overall prospect in the class of 2025.
The only school from North Carolina to make that list is Wake Forest University, which of course is right next to where Blair plays now. The other nine teams are: Florida State, Louisville, Maryland, Miami, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State, South Carolina, and Virginia Tech. This one I find more troubling because Blair never was seriously pursued by the likes of NC State and UNC. NC State eventually offered, but it was too late. Blair's father Ja'Warren played at East Carolina, so the Pirates naturally offered. Duke also made a verbal offer.
It seemed that our local schools were a little bit confused on Blair. He is a huge, 6-foot-4 safety. There aren't many of those. Sometimes I think schools worry about what is different about a prospect or how a prospect doesn't fit into the standard mold of a position, instead of focusing on the things that they add to the game. There should never be a case in which UNC does not offer an in-state player that is ranked as high as No. 43 in the country. You take the chance on a unique profile like that and figure it out and coach him into what works best for your system later.
In addition to the early loss of Campbell, the likely loss of Sanders, and the likely loss of Blair, the other player widely viewed as one of the five best prospects in North Carolina for 2025, Jordan Young from Monroe High, appears to be a likely get for Clemson. Young is predicted to Clemson at 100% on 247Sports and to Clemson at 29.5%, Florida State at 15.7%, and South Carolina at 9.1% on On3.
We are looking at the top four or five players in this state's 2025 class ending up in another part of the country in college.
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