The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://read.uberflip.com/i/1000643
JULY 2018 ■ 147 Les Merritt CPA-CFP NCSU Graduate Certified Public Accountant Certified Financial Planner Your CPA! les@lesmerrittcpa-cfp.com (919) 269-8553 1014 N. Arendell Avenue Zebulon, NC 27597 You worked your way through NCSU, one of America's great universities. Why then, would you take your professional or personal taxes to someone who graduated from Taxmart U? 2400 Reliance Ave, Apex, NC • 919.362.5959 Recruiter Of The Class The importance of running back Matthew Dayes should not be understated in erasing the memories of Dave Doeren's first-season 3-9 record with four (and counting) consecutive bowl games. And Dayes came very close to not being in Raleigh. Had the Vanderbilt coaches been available when Dayes tried to reach them with his plans to commit to the Commodores, he probably would have ended up in Nashville, Tenn. Instead, Dayes made a phone call to Wolfpack running backs coach Des Kitchings, the lone holdover from Tom O'Brien's staff. Kitchings' advice to Dayes to at least think about it led the runner to do some soul searching. He ultimately decided to stick with his NC State pledge, which he had made when O'Brien was the coach. Kitchings also played a significant role in signing Johnathan Alston, winning a heated recruiting battle with in-state rival UNC. The Final Grade: B- The 2013 class can be best described as solid but not great, and that's reflected in the records. Because of the lost class of 2012, this group had to play right away. Some in the 2013 class were central figures of the 2014-16 seasons in particular — in which NC State averaged 7.3 wins overall and three victories in league play. Only four players were still around when the 2017 team broke through with a top-25 finish in the polls. While the 2013 class did not play a large role in that success, it did help right the ship after a 3-9 start their first fall on campus. Smooth Transition After head coach Dave Doeren was hired in December 2012, he went to work on recruiting. He added 11 play- ers to the class and successfully re-recruited running back Matthew Dayes, who had quietly backed out on his pledge and at one point and intended to sign with Vanderbilt. Highlighting the 11 Doeren signed were future second- round NFL Draft choice Joshua Jones at safety and five players who would start games, notably wide receiver/ cornerback Johnathan Alston and safety/nickel Dravi - ous Wright. Seven players previously committed to NC State ended up elsewhere, but for the most part they were not signif- icant losses. Defensive backs Hassan Childs (South Flor- ida) and Chris Holmes (Duke) were dismissed from their respective teams. Wideout Kyrin Priester was kicked off two different teams — Clemson and Washington State. Wide receiver Jalen McDaniel started his career at Winston-Salem State before ending up at Saint Augus- tine's, where he caught just five passes last fall as a senior. Tight end Chris Burton bulked up into a career reserve defensive tackle at Cincinnati. The most productive player to end up elsewhere was cornerback Da'Wan Hunte at Purdue. He developed into a two-year starter with an interception and 13 passes broken up between 2016-17. The one that may have hurt the most was cornerback Marcus Edmond, who switched to Clemson. A career re - serve for the Tigers, he intercepted NC State quarterback Ryan Finley's overtime pass in the end zone to secure Clemson's 24-17 home win in 2016.