Updates
WR Jheranie Boyd commits to UNC

2009 Football Scholarship Offers:
Bold = Commit

QB
*** Everett Proctor (Jack Britt) Fayetteville, NC 6-2/200

RB
*** James Washington (Boone HS) Orlando, FL 6-0/180/4.40
*** Greg Pratt (Naples HS) Naples, FL 5-9/165/4.40
*** Rolandan Finch (St. Xavier HS) Louisville, KY 5-10/200/4.50
*** Travis Small (Cheraw HS) Cheraw, SC 5-10.5/184/4.50
*** Morgan Alexander (Cartersville HS) Cartersville, GA 5-10.5/160/4.47

FB
No offers

WR
*** Quintin Payton (T L Hanna HS) Anderson, SC 6-4/190
*** Bryan Underwood (Cleveland Heights HS) University Hts, OH 5-8.5/162/4.62
**** Justin Brown (Concord HS) Wilmington, DE 6-3.5/210/4.48
*** Kinsman Thomas (Marlboro County HS) Bennettsville, SC 6-3/210/4.59
*** Carvin Powell (Great Bridge HS) Chesapeake, VA 6-2.5/198/4.50
**** Jheranie Boyd (Ashbrook HS) Gastonia, NC 6-3/185/4.45 UNC

TE
** Anthony Talbert (Winton Woods HS) Cincinnati, OH 6-4/225
*** Asa Watson (Rock Hill HS) Rock Hill, SC 6-4/200

OT
***** Xavier Nixon (Jack Britt) Fayetteville, NC 6-6/285
***** Marcus Hall (Glenville HS) Cleveland, OH 6-5/293/5.35
**** Travis Bond (Bertie HS) Windsor, NC 6-6/330
*** Kadeem Custis (St. John Neumann HS) Philadelphia, PA 6-5/270/5.00
*** Andrew Tiller (Nassau) Garden City, NY 6-6/320/5.00
*** Duran Christophe (Woodstock HS) Woodstock, GA 6-5.5/257/5.59

OG
*** Denzelle Good (Gaffney Senior HS) Gaffney, SC 6-4/295
**** Quinton Washington (Timberland HS) Saint Stephen, SC 6-4/322
* Gus Handler (Barrington HS) Barrington, IL 6-3/265

C
No Offers

DT
*** Brian Slay (Stone Bridge HS) Ashburn, VA 6-3/275
*** Frankie Davis (East Ridge HS) Clermont, FL 6-3/270
*** Josh Elizondo (Naples HS) Naples, FL 6-2/280
*** Deion Roberson (Tucker HS) Tucker, GA 6-2/275
*** Tyson Chandler (North Plainfield HS) North Plainfield, NJ 6-6/315
*** Raynard Randolph (Gwynn Park HS) Brandywine, MD 6-3/295
*** Akeem Spence (Ft. Walton Beach HS) Fort Walton Beach, FL 6-1/290
* Conor O'Neal (Newsome HS) Lithia, FL 6-3/300

DE
*** Ricky Dowdy (High Point Central HS) High Point, NC 6-3/225
*** Sylvester Crawford (Victory Christian Center Sch.) Charlotte, NC 6-5/215
**** Duane Chisolm (Beaufort HS) Beaufort, SC 6-2/250
**** Jason Ankrah (Quince Orchard HS) Gaithersburg, MD 6-4/240/4.79
*** Julius Forte (Boca Ciega HS) Gulfport, FL 6-2/221/4.66
*** Izaan Cross (Flowery Branch HS) Flowery Branch, GA 6-4/250
*** Clinton Simpkins (Chancellor HS) Fredericksburg, VA 6-3/215/4.60
*** Bernardo Nunez (Hoboken HS) Hoboken, NJ 6-2/220/4.70
** Brian Jordan (Great Bridge HS) Chesapeake, VA 6-4/207
** Luke Sager (Niceville Senior HS) Niceville, FL 6-4/240
* Josh Jackson (Gainesville HS) Gainesville, GA 6-1/242/5.00

MLB
*** Ryan Cheek (Lancaster HS) Lancaster, OH 6-0.5/232/4.51
**** Hawatha Bell (David W Butler HS) Matthews, NC 6-0/225

SLB
*** Luke Kuechly (St. Xavier HS) Cincinnati, OH 6-3/205
*** LeRon Furr (Carver HS) Columbus, GA 6-3/213
*** Antwon Higgs (Pompano Beach HS Institute) Pompano Beach, FL 6-2/243/4.94

WLB
**** Jamil Merrell (Paul M. Hodgson Vocational Tec) Newark, DE 6-4/210/4.60
*** Robert Nelson (Stone Mountain HS) Stone Mountain, GA 6-0/205

S
**** Jonathan Meeks (Hargrave Military Academy) Chatham, VA 6-2/185
**** David Batts (El Camino) Torrance, CA 6-2/200/4.50
*** Hans Rice (Eufaula HS) Eufaula, AL 6-3/195/4.5
* Boogie McCray (Lake Taylor HS) Norfolk, VA 6-2/210
* Jarrell Harrison (CC of San Francisco) San Francisco, CA 6-2/210/4.55
* Brandan Bishop (Boca Raton HS) Boca Raton, FL 6-1/197/4.66

CB
*** Dean Haynes (Northwest Whitfield County HS) Tunnel Hill, GA 6-0/200
**** Terry Shankle (South Stanly HS) Norwood, NC 6-0/180
*** Dale Peterman (Ursuline HS) Youngstown, OH 5-11/176/4.67
*** Jairus Jones (Wharton HS) Tampa, FL 6-1/205/4.60
** Keith Reaser (Miami Killian HS) Miami, FL 5-10/-/4.44
** Rashard Smith (Dublin HS) Dublin, GA 5-10/175
**** Travis Hawkins (Quince Orchard HS) Gaithersburg, MD 5-11/185/4.42 Maryland

K,P
** Chris Ward (Starrs Mill HS) Fayetteville, GA 6-1/170


------------------------------------------STATISTICS------------------------------------------


Scholarships Count
16 Available for 2009
-12 2009 Commits
+3 Class of 2008 who didn't qualify (Palmer, Everett, Mangram)
+6 Transfer or Left Team (Jaradat, Locust, Golder, Burke, T. Barnes, Linney)
-------------------------------------
13 Scholarships Remaining

Recruiting Breakdown
OFFENSE
QB - 1
Backfield - 1
Receivers - 3
Linemen - 1
------------------
Total Offense - 6

DEFENSE
Linemen - 3
Linebackers - 1
Secondary - 1
------------------
Total Defense - 5

SPECIAL TEAMS
Kickers - 1

Geographical Diversity
Florida - 1
Georgia - 2
North Carolina - 3
South Carolina - 2
Ohio - 3
Virginia - 1

Star Count (highest of the two sites)
5* - 0
4* - 0
3* - 10
2* - 2
1* - 0
--------------------
Average Stars - 2.83

11/13/2008 2:26:08 PM

for those that want to know;

Terry Shankle is visiting us this weekend. listed as a 4* corner, #14 corner on rivals.com.

Supposedly choosing between us and unc, with maybe tenn. in the mix. UNC is his clear leader now though and is poised to commit there soon. Has stated that it would take a lot to change his mind from UNC.

11/13/2008 2:29:41 PM

i thought he hadn't scheduled a visit yet?

awesome if true

11/13/2008 2:35:20 PM

^according to rivals, he is visiting this weekend when we play wake.

He did state UNC was his clear leader in the article though and it would take a lot to change his mind.

It is premium on Rivals; I would post the whole article but that is looked down upon. I am pretty much telling you everything it says anyway.

11/13/2008 2:38:08 PM

Nice, Jonathan Meeks and Leon Mackey are visiting this weekend too

11/14/2008 6:35:48 PM

2010 DE prospect Prince Shembo out of Ardrey Kell HS in Charlotte (which is one of the newest schools in the area) picked up an offer from State recently.

Weakside defensive end
Charlotte (NC) Ardrey Kell
Ht: 6-foot-2
Wt: 213 lbs
Forty: 4.62 secs
GPA: 3.7


Schools Interested
NC State
Clemson
LSU
Miami
North Carolina
Virginia Tech
Wake Forest

11/14/2008 6:36:58 PM

Prince of the Gridiron
Ardrey Kell’s DE is making the grade both on the field & off

Ardrey Kell had a surprisingly successful season in 2007 by winning eight games and going into the post season for the first time in the school’s two year history. After getting off to a rough start in the team’s third season with a loss in their first game to Mallard Creek, the Ardrey Kell Knights appear to be on track with their victories against Olympic and West Meck. What is the reason for this quick turn around? That would be the impressive play of Ardrey Kell’s defense. After being blown out in the first game to a tune of 46-17, the Knights have not allowed their opponents to score more than 14 points in their last two games. One of the anchors of this Knights defense is defensive end Prince Shembo, who dominates his adversaries with his physical style of play.

The 6-foot-2, 210 pound junior had a breakout season in 2007 and is poised for greater success in 2008. Head Coach Marty Woolbright says of Shembo, “Prince does a lot of stuff for us, he’s been playing defensive end and playing some at linebacker for us late in the game and makes some big plays for us. He’s a fine athlete and plays hard every play.” Coach Woolbright was not alone in his beliefs on Shembo’s talent. As a sophomore, Shembo made the All-Observer team in 2007; a rare accomplishment. “It felt good, it took a lot of hard work with my coaches; working in the weight room, on my speed, and my technique,” he says of the feat. It is probably safe to say that the hard work Shembo is putting in is paying off; in 2007 he had 101 tackles and 13 sacks.

These stats have generated attention from several college programs across the country: Clemson, South Carolina, UNC, UCLA, Stanford, CAL, Oregon, Colorado, Georgia, Notre Dame, and Virginia just to name a few. Don’t expect Shembo to make his decision anytime soon. Being that he is still just a junior, one can be sure that more colleges will be expressing their interest as the season continues. As to what he is looking for in a college, Shembo has two criterias: 1) the team must have a good defense and 2) the school must be able to provide a good education. For not only does he excel on the field but does so in the classroom as well, earning him a 3.7 GPA.

Having garnered so much attention, one can assume that Shembo is walking out on the field each Friday night with a target on his back. While other players may languish over the loss of opportunities for big plays, Shembo has a refreshing point of view on his situation. “I’ve just got to come out and be a man. Everyone is trying to come after me, sometimes even two or three people which helps my teammates get to more plays.” While he understands the consequences of the recognition, don’t expect Shembo to take a backseat to his teammates or ease up on his opponents. In Ardrey Kell’s game against West Meck, Shembo had an interception and a crucial tackle on a Hawk running back that was just outside of the end zone.

Shembo is not one to rest on his laurels. His sophomore season is a thing of the past and his focus is now on improving upon what he has accomplished. This year getting to the playoffs and having 13 sacks this season is not enough. Shembo’s goal for the 2008 season is to “I just want to get a ring and I want to beat my old sack record.” The Knights have a tough road ahead with games against Butler, Independence, and East Meck, but perhaps Ardrey Kell and Shembo have another surprise in store this season.

11/14/2008 6:39:04 PM

Terry Shankle to hold a press conference on Monday the 24th to announce his college decision.

11/14/2008 6:48:40 PM

2010 WR Tai-ler Jones has an offer from State. Jones plays for Gainesville HS in Gainesville, GA. Jones has a nice offer list early on and interest from a lot of powerhouse programs. He'll probably be at least a 4* prospect based on his stats.

Quote :

"Jones is a legitimate vertical threat who can play both on the edge or in the slot. Needs to get stronger so that he can beat physical corners, but is a tireless worker and will improve. Demonstrates excellent body control and runs precise routes. Also shows elusiveness with the ball and can score from anywhere on the field. Has a chance to be one of the state's top WR in 2010."

- Burke Hayes


Wide Receiver
Gainesville (GA) Gainesville HS
Ht: 6-foot-0
Wt: 174 lbs
Forty: 4.46 secs
Vertical: 31 inches
Shuttle: 4.28 secs
GPA: 3.5

Schools Interested (known offers in italics)
Arkansas
Georgia Tech
Ole Miss
N.C. State
South Carolina
West Virginia
Alabama
Clemson
Florida
Georgia
Kentucky
LSU
Notre Dame
Vanderbilt
Virginia Tech

11/14/2008 6:54:12 PM

Scout shows that Leon Mackey and Jonathan Meeks was officially visiting us today. I hope it went well.

[Edited on November 14, 2008 at 7:11 PM. Reason : Meeks]

11/14/2008 7:08:48 PM

Quote :

"Terry Shankle to hold a press conference on Monday the 24th to announce his college decision."

[sarcasm]Oh my, I wonder who he's going to pick?[/sarcasm]

11/14/2008 7:09:11 PM

Recap of official visitors for each week (commits in italics)

09/23/2008 - 09/29/2008
Julius Forte
Anthony Talbert
James Washington

10/07/2008 - 10/13/2008
Jheranie Boyd (committed to UNC)
Hans Rice

11/11/2008 - 11/17/2008
Travis Bond
Leon Mackey
Jonathan Meeks

11/25/2008 - 12/01/2008
Antwon Higgs
Larry Raper (former CU commit)
Morgan Alexander
Jarrell Harrison

01/06/2009 - 01/12/2009
Duane Chisolm (wow I didn't think we'd get an OV from this guy)

01/13/2009 - 01/19/2009
Deion Roberson

11/14/2008 7:21:30 PM

^^Looking at Shankle's profile, how is a CB that runs a near 4.7 40 and an even slower shuttle time ranked anywhere near the top?

I know speed doesn't account for everything, but damn. We had LB's on my high school team much faster than this.

11/15/2008 12:11:01 AM

^he runs a 4.43, according to Rivals. He's also a 4 star recruit according to them. I tend to trust Rivals more for football recruiting. Scout is more reliable for basketball recruiting.

11/15/2008 1:04:22 AM

Shankle also led the state last year in interceptions with 18.

11/15/2008 7:59:04 AM

^yea, his offer list is impressive. He can't be that bad of a player.

11/15/2008 8:49:27 AM

leon mackey is a flat out stud

11/15/2008 9:09:14 AM

I tend to think Shankle's INTs are a little inflated. He plays in a crappy 1A conference and I can almost guarantee that none of the qbs in that league are even Div-2 material, much less Div-1. Still impressive numbers i guess. just saying.

11/15/2008 9:30:57 AM

WOW, Devonte Holloman to South Carolina! He's is going to be absolutely hated in that state.

11/16/2008 3:13:05 PM

were there 3 recruits at the game yesterday? I thought I saw 3 kids on a visit.

11/16/2008 4:07:41 PM

^there were alot more than just 3 recruits there yesterday. There were some big names there as well, including a 5* WR on an unofficial visit

11/16/2008 4:24:38 PM

Hopefully after watching Owen Spencer drop his 4th pass, that unnamed 5* receiver was thinking "damn, i'd be a king here."

11/16/2008 6:11:17 PM

^ Hell, after watching that crap, I was thinking "I'd be king here." Haha.

[Edited on November 16, 2008 at 6:40 PM. Reason : bold]

11/16/2008 6:40:08 PM

Who was the 5* WR?

11/16/2008 6:59:22 PM

Anybody know which recruits were at the game this weekend? On the front of Pack Pride, it looks like Leon Mackey was in attendance. Who else?

11/17/2008 1:41:07 PM

The 5* WR was Kendall Kelly.

A ton of 2010 recruits there, looks like we're setting up for a big-time class next year.

11/17/2008 1:57:45 PM

does anyone know if we're giving Larry Raper a serious look or vice-versa? i see that UNC tops his list, but if they offer him, do they have space for the other 10000 seniors from north carolina?

11/17/2008 2:23:51 PM

^^Do we have any idea why he was at the game? No recruiting sites that I know have him looking at us or WFU at this point.

11/17/2008 2:26:36 PM

Quote :

"Anybody know which recruits were at the game this weekend? On the front of Pack Pride, it looks like Leon Mackey was in attendance. Who else? "

main ones of interest (huge list at the game by the way):

Commits: Sam Jones, Rickey Dowdy, Ryan Cheek, Brian Slay
OFFICIAL VISITS: Leon Mackey, Johnathan Meeks, Luke Sager
2010 Prospects of note: Rob Crisp, T.C. Creecy, Terrell Hartsfield, Dylan Thompson, Josh Snead

one 2011 prospect visited: Nigel King

11/17/2008 2:36:10 PM

isn't crisp at every home game? iirc, his parents have season tickets

11/17/2008 2:38:03 PM

I think he's been to a lot of home games. Not sure about his parents but I think you might be right. He's also friends with Steve Williams and James Henderson from Pack Pride on Facebook. I think someone also mentioned that his screenname has something to do with the Pack.

Did some detective work, his sn starts with ncsuballer

[Edited on November 17, 2008 at 3:19 PM. Reason : k]

11/17/2008 3:13:48 PM

It's not uncommon for someone to grow up a huge supporter of one school and then choose another school or even a rival school.

11/17/2008 3:56:25 PM

^^stalker work

11/17/2008 4:04:35 PM

It's been a lonely month and a half without a commit. I was disappointed that we only had 12 commits so far but then I looked at last year's list and we only had 14 at this point. I guess the other high school kids wait until their seasons are done before deciding and JuCo kids look like they wait towards signing day.

11/17/2008 4:29:23 PM

Rivals has confirmed that we have a commitment from Jarvis Byrd. I have packpride and they said they're working on the same story.

11/17/2008 4:57:55 PM

my post worked!

11/17/2008 5:02:53 PM

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncf/recruiting/tracker/player?recruitId=60027&season=2009


Sounds pretty solid and typical of an O'Brien recruit who will need a redshirt, but should be a contributer down the line.

11/17/2008 5:09:04 PM

Iowa State and Rutgers were interested and may have offered Byrd. I know those are huge schools, but they are BCS schools that showed interest. Also Rivals has him as a 3* prospect and the #55 CB nationally, which is good. Some guys are good, but just go under the radar. At least he had a good many offers even if they weren't BCS schools. He looks good on his highlight vid on his ESPN profile. I think Byrd is a fine pickup for us.

11/17/2008 9:08:36 PM

Quote :

"Some guys are good, but just go under the radar."

like about half of the starters in divison one football. not to say that a 3* guy that is #55 nationally at his position is completely unnoticed but still a lot of guys ahead of him. They are just SO MANY football players it is almost impossible to notice every guy with talent.

11/18/2008 12:04:10 AM

Did we make the top 2 for Raper?

[Edited on November 18, 2008 at 10:31 AM. Reason : er, top, not final]

11/18/2008 10:30:44 AM

nope.

11/18/2008 10:31:17 AM

11/18/2008 10:32:16 AM

S David Batts commits to Nevada

There's a thread on Packpride saying Josh Elizondo is quitting football. Anyone know what's up with that?

11/18/2008 2:00:32 PM

Sounded like he was being pushed by others to play and his heart wasn't in the game anymore. Also made it sound like there was a lot of drama surrounding the team and he seemed to not enjoy playing there anymore. So he stopped going to practice because he hated it and eventually got kicked off the team. So now he's going to be a Motorcycle Mechanic instead.

11/18/2008 2:15:43 PM

James Washington was recently upgraded on Scout from a 2* to a 3* player and from like the #134 RB to the #80th best RB nationally. Washington chose State after considering offers from Cincinnati, Rutgers, South Florida, and Memphis. Link to his senior year highlights below.

http://www.athletevault.com/Videos/JamesWashington2AV.wmv

[Edited on November 18, 2008 at 4:51 PM. Reason : ]

11/18/2008 4:50:51 PM

^Cool.

As an aside, what position do you peeps think Brandon Barnes will play? Any inside info?

11/18/2008 5:06:08 PM

^RB. He supposedly looks REALLY good at RB. Then again, that could be because hes running behind those hosses that we're redshirting

11/18/2008 5:24:22 PM

^interesting, we've got a ton of excellent running backs right now with Baker and Eugene returning as well as Underwood who looked solid in the minutes he's played

11/18/2008 5:49:52 PM

^Baker may not play football again.



[Edited on November 18, 2008 at 6:05 PM. Reason : and Eugene would be a Sr and Underwood a Jr]

11/18/2008 6:04:46 PM

Who do you guys really want to land? I think Duran Christophe would be a huge get. We'll probably miss out on Xavier Nixon and Travis Bond. Christophe at 6'6" 265 looks like he has a similar body to Nixon. He's got some schools recruiting him too (Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Louisville, N.C. State, South Carolina, Tulane, Vanderbilt, UCF, East Carolina, Middle Tennessee, UAB).

I'd also like to land Asa Watson. I think we need to take two TEs in this class b/c we will use a fair amount of two TE sets in the future. One of the commentators during the Duke game was saying that if you are a high school TE and being recruited by NC State, then you should seriously

11/18/2008 6:14:04 PM