3-star OL Isaac Sowells Jr. continues to hear from Kentucky, but remains locked in with NC State

Louisville Male offensive lineman Isaac “Spike” Sowells Jr. has been committed to NC State since July and, by all accounts, remains fully locked in with the Wolfpack. But Kentucky offensive line coach Eric Wolford continues to put in work with the in-state talent.

Sowells chose NC State over both the Wildcats and South Carolina back in the summer. Considered a three-star recruit ranked No. 460 overall in the 2025 class, he was (and continues to be) a hot commodity on the trail. He’s arguably the best center prospect in the country and comes from an NFL family. Kentucky missed on him the first time around, but there’s still a long way to go until Signing Day in December.

“Kentucky and South Carolina, they still sometimes hit me up. South Carolina a little bit more,” Sowells told KSR on Friday after Male beat Frederick Douglass 31-28 in a Top 10 in-state showdown. “Coach Wolford always told me, he said once I committed ‘I’m not gonna lay off of you.’ So he’s still been trying to chip away, trying to get a flip out of me. But I feel — unless something changes at NC State, I’m locked in with them.”

Although the SEC schools keep poking around, Sowells is loyal to the coaches and fanbase at NC State that helped convince him the Wolfpack was the college for him in the first place. He’ll be in Raleigh this weekend to watch NC State (3-3) host Syracuse and then again in early November for the home game against Stanford.

“The communication and the family aspect,” Sowells, who added that head coach Dave Doeren jumped in a lake when learning of his commitment, said when asked why he chose the Wolfpack. “They made me feel like family throughout the process.”

Barring something unexpected, Sowells fully intends to join NC State for bowl game practice in mid-December before officially enrolling early in January.

Exacting revenge upon Frederick Douglass

Before Sowells was kind enough to talk recruiting for a few minutes, he and his Male Bulldogs had just wrapped up a massively important win over Frederick Douglass. It was revenge from last season when the Broncos knocked Male out of the Class 6A state tournament in the quarterfinals, 21-20.

Male led throughout the majority of the night but had to secure an onside kick in the final minute to lock up the victory. The Bulldogs are now 5-1 on the season and are ranked No. 4 overall in the state of Kentucky.

“It means a lot,” Sowells said of the big win. “Frederick Douglass beat us on the road last year, they came in our place and beat us. We went for (a two-point conversion) and didn’t get it. And that hurt. And we kinda kept that in our memory. We were like, next time we get a chance to play these guys we knew we had to come in and handle business.”

Lining up across from Sowells, who primarily plays offensive tackle for Male but also suits up on the defensive line, on the Frederick Douglass defense was four-star EDGE Cedric Works, who is committed to Kentucky. The two matched up regularly with both players getting the best of the other in moments. But the only victory that mattered was the one on the scoreboard — that win went to Sowells and his Bulldog teammates.

“He’s a tall, lanky guy,” Sowells said of Works. “So I knew he might try and beat me with some speed, with some long arms. I knew I had to play to my technique.”

Up next, Sowells and Male will head back home to take on Southern this Friday. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. EST.

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When you play a guy of that caliber, of course you’re gonna watch film on him.

dad teaches him as former OL

It’s going real great. I should be there next week when we play Syracuse.

fans showed him lots of love, coach jumped into a lake when he heard news of commitment

Dec. 16 will be there for bowl practice then early enroll

NC State vs. Stanford game visit, plans to do some vlogs to make him more appealing to fans as lineman