The Wolfpacker

March 2013 - Signing Day Edition

The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports

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2013 football recruiting issue New Reinforcements Head Coach Dave Doeren Signs His First Class With The Pack N By Jacey Zembal C State hopes history repeats when it comes to new head coach Dave Doeren���s first recruiting class. The transition class during a coaching change doesn���t always go smoothly. Doeren and his assistant coaches hit the ground running, though, and signed 25 recruits, including two transfers, one junior college signee and 22 prep players. NC State���s last coaching transition resulted in the recruiting handoff from Chuck Amato to Tom O���Brien with the class of 2007. Rivals.com ranked the group No. 49 in the country six years ago. While few could have imagined it in February 2007, the class featured players such as quarterback Russell Wilson, linebacker Audie Cole, defensive tackles Markus Kuhn and J.R. Sweezy, offensive tackle Jake Vermiglio, tight end George Bryan and wide receiver Owen Spencer. The Wolfpack hopes lightning strikes twice. Rivals ranked the class of 2013 in the same vicinity as in the last coaching transition ��� tied for No. 47 in the country. NCSU was 53rd in the Scout ratings, 60th in the 247Sports rankings and 66th in ESPN���s listings. Rivals.com ranked the Wolfpack���s haul eighth in the ACC, and that place would not change with the departure of Maryland and the additions of Pittsburgh, Louisville and Syracuse. The Wolfpack landed 18 threestar prospects, with five checking in with a Rivals rating of 5.7 on a 6.1 scale. Neither Florida quarterback transfer Jacoby Brissett nor West Virginia wide receiver transfer Travares Copeland are part of the Rivals.com rankings formula, but Brissett is enrolled and available for spring practice in March. He was ranked as a fourstar prospect, the No. 3 dual-threat quarterback nationally and the No. 75 player in the country in the Class of 2011, while Copeland was listed as a three-star recruit and the No. 28 wide receiver in the land in 2012. NC State landed nine prep players from North Carolina, nine from Florida (when including Brissett and Copeland), and three from Georgia. Mocksville (N.C.) Davie County High interior lineman Cole Blankenship joined New Bern (N.C.) High wide receiver Bra���Lon Cherry in graduating a semes- Offensive lineman Cole Blankenship (above), from Mocksville (N.C.) Davie County High, graduated early and enrolled at NC State this spring, as did New Bern (N.C.) High wideout Bra'Lon Cherry. photo by matt carter ter early and enrolling at NC State for the spring semester. Blankenship, Cherry and Brissett will be playing this spring, while Copeland is home for the semester in Port St. Lucie, Fla. ���We were able to meet a lot of needs, but you are never perfect in a class with a sixweek window like we had. I think we made a lot of strides,��� Doeren said. ���We wanted to build this class with winners. I know a lot of people on the outside looking in are concerned about rankings and stars. Those kinds of things matter to everybody on our staff, but we really like to recruit winners, guys that know how to win and have championship rings. We had 24 kids in the playoffs and six in state championships.��� Doeren and his new staff landed 14 players since getting hired Dec. 1, with running back Matt Dayes of Weston (Fla.) Cypress Bay High a recommitment. Eleven of the signees held steady following the firing of O���Brien, who is now at Virginia as an associate head coach and tights ends coach. Rivals.com recruiting analyst Mike Farrell said landing the 5-9, 190-pound Dayes again is a good start to the Doeren era, and he called the Brissett transfer a ���home run.��� Dayes led Cypress Bay to a 12-3 record and runner-up finish in Class 8A, which is the largest classification in Florida. He tallied 1,864 yards and 31 touchdowns on 237 rushing attempts his senior year. Dayes personifies Doeren���s philosophy of recruiting winners, and the Wolfpack had to stave off Vanderbilt and Central Florida to make it happen. ���They definitely like him and think that 26��� ������ the wolfpacker 26-27.Recruiting Lead.indd 26 2/26/13 1:04 PM

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