According to coach Tom O’Brien, 26 players have signed letters of intent to play football for N.C. State. The class is ranked No. 20 nationally by ESPN.com, No. 29 by scout.com and No. 31 by rivals.com.
Half the class hails from North Carolina, and it includes four players that are already enrolled for the spring semester. The Wolfpack landed three of the top six players in the state, according to rivals.com, including No. 3 Terrell Manning, a linebacker from Laurinburg.
“We wanted to recruit this state and recruit it hard,” O’Brien said. “My coaches did a good job of going out and building those relationships. We are a state university, and this is our state.”
All-American quarterback Mike Glennon highlights the class and is ranked the No. 3 quarterback in the nation by both ESPN and the No. 3 pro-style quarterback by rivals.com.
Glennon, a 6-foot-6 Centreville, Va., product, is the brother of Virginia Tech quarterback Sean Glennon.
“It helps that he has an older brother that has played the position,” O’Brien said. “He’s a very talented individual. He’s tall and skinny, and he’s still growing, I think. His dad told me he thinks he’s 6-[foot]-7 now. He has a football IQ, from what we can tell. He’s been very successful at the high school level and in every all-star game he’s ever played in.”
Glennon was named MVP of the inaugural Under Armor All-American game and was selected to the Elite 11 quarterback camp. He was named the Gatorade and Associated Press player of the year in Virginia for his efforts at Westfield High School. In his senior season, he threw for more than 2,500 yards and made 32 touchdowns as he led his team to a 15-0 record and a Virginia 3A Division 6 Championship.
O’Brien said he is uncertain if Glennon will redshirt the 2008 season.
“He’s very talented and has a lot of potential,” he said. “I’m sure that he’s not sure what he wants to do — whether he wants to redshirt or play. If he’s the best guy for the job, then he’s going to play. He’s our kind of guy. It was very key for us to get an individual like him.”
State also filled one of its biggest needs with the signing of 10 offensive and defensive lineman. Three junior college transfers are included in the group, and O’Brien said he looks for them to make an immediate impact.
“We did not control the line of scrimmage last year on both sides of the ball,” he said. “We were concerned about that and the bad turnover ratio that led to all the defeats. Those were priorities for us. We look for the older, more mature players to play right away.”
The Pack landed a pair of athletes in No. 8 athlete Brandon Barnes and No. 28 athlete Tobais Palmer, according to ESPN.com. Both individuals played a number of positions in high school, including running back, cornerback and wide receiver.
They are both currently listed at the running back position, but O’Brien didn’t rule out the possibility of a switch.
“That’s what they think they are,” he said. “So they’ll start there, and we’ll go from there.”
Although State only signed one prospect at wide receiver — local product T.J. Graham of Raleigh’s Wakefield High School — it gained an additional weapon in a former player.
Redshirt Junior Geron James, who saw action in the 2005 and 2006 seasons and had two touchdown receptions in 10 games, will rejoin the team after missing the 2007 season.
“He has some things to work through academically to get himself into good standing,” O’Brien said. “He’s back in school, so we’ll see how he fits into the mix. In order to participate in spring, he has to meet some benchmarks.”
In total, 30 scholarships were added to the program on signing day. O’Brien offered scholarships to walk-on defensive linemen Keith Willis Jr. and Jamaine Clemmons, punter Bradley Pierson and wide receiver Koyal George.
State only returns 14 seniors for 2008, including six that are either walk-ons or transfers.
O’Brien is looking for several of the new players to make an immediate impact and improve upon last year’s 5-7 campaign.
“We were going to have to sign a football team this year,” he said. “We knew we were going to have to recruit every position. There are some holes to fill.”
