Recruiting Update: February 7-18

Even though another Division 1 dead period is upon us, college coaches are still evaluating and there’s been plenty of movement on the recruiting front for several of the state’s best. We’re devoted mostly to scouting, but that doesn’t mean we can neglect the recruiting side of things. Here, we’ll provide a quick update of some of the recruiting going on in the state of North Carolina. <strong>The Senior Class isn’t done</strong> Signing Day for the majority of the 2022 class was last week, but we often forget that the first Wednesday in February is just the beginning of the signing period. Two of Weddington’s top offensive players moved forward in their recruiting, as quarterback <strong>Grady Brosterhous </strong>announced his commitment to Virginia to play for brand new quarterback coach and North Carolina native Taylor Lamb. Receiver <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="28679" first="Landyn" last="Backey"] </strong>received a late offer from the United States Air Force Academy but ultimately committed to Elon. This came a week after running back <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="28664" first="Kyle" last="Parsons"] </strong>officially signed with Wofford. Down the street, Marvin Ridge defensive tackle <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="37471" first="Devin" last="Reed"] </strong>committed to play at Charlotte. The senior had a strong year for the Mavericks, leading to several late offers. Shelby defensive back <strong>Nathan Hopper Jr. </strong>announced his signing with Averett University early Saturday morning. South Mecklenburg defender <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="119502" first="Panos" last="Burlos"] </strong>committed to Presbyterian. Leesville offensive tackle <strong>Cam Todd </strong>committed and signed with Lenoir Rhyne, joining fellow Tar Heel state offensive lineman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="141403" first="Samuel" last="Whitt"] </strong>with the Bears in what is a strong recruiting class. <strong>LaTron Jackson </strong>of North Mecklenburg committed Thursday to local Guilford College. <strong>Impact Juniors Seeing Recruitment Take Off</strong> Tight end <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="290616" first="Vance" last="Bolyard"]</strong> of Northern Guilford received a few early offers last fall, but has really seen his recruitment take off in the last few weeks with a string of offers from Power Five schools including in-state North Carolina and Duke. Fellow tight end <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="290617" first="Jayvontay" last="Conner"] </strong>of East Forsyth has received several new offers this month from teams like Duke, South Alabama and South Florida. Knightdale’s <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="290619" first="Micah" last="Sumpter"]</strong>, a 6-foot-5, 275-pound offensive lineman, received his first offer from Charlotte and promptly committed to the 49ers. Campbell offered offensive lineman <strong>Jack Crocker</strong> of Princeton, his second offer in as many weeks after a late January offer from East Carolina. Southern Durham defensive lineman <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="290897" first="Jaybron" last="Harvey"] </strong>has seen his recruitment boom with several big offers in the last week. South Carolina was the latest to offer Thursday afternoon. Providence Day linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="290896" first="Keyaan" last="Abdul-Rahim"] </strong>received his first offer, a Power Five offer from Boston College. <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="44977" first="Ben" last="Cutter"]</strong>, one of our top linebackers in the state, received a verbal offer from Old Dominion Thursday. <strong>Young Guys Also Receiving Love</strong> Though coaches cannot officially communicate with 2024 prospects until September first, several are dispensing offers through the official channels. Christ School class of 2024 linebacker <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="156074" first="Cayden" last="Jones"] </strong>has seen his recruitment take off in recent weeks and he hasn’t slowed down. After receiving a slew of offers early in the month, Jones has added offers from Syracuse and Virginia Tech in recent days. Charlotte Catholic tight end <strong>[player_tooltip player_id="115725" first="Jack" last="Larsen"] </strong>recently expanded his offer list with a verbal from in-state Wake Forest. The sophomore now holds offers from more than a dozen FBS schools and it doesn’t look like he’s anywhere close to slowing down.