NC State coach Dave Doeren pleased with ‘balanced’ recruiting class

NC State coach Dave Doeren walked into the Chancellor’s Suite at Carter-Finley Stadium with a smile after he and his staff inked 24 players in the early signing period on Wednesday afternoon. 

The Pack signed 13 players on offense and 11 on defense to create a fairly equal class. Doeren was happy with how it turned out — especially with the playmakers the red and white was able to add.

“I feel like it’s a balanced class where we really identified needs and met needs,” Doeren said. “[We] got very, very explosive in some spots where we needed some help, particularly at receiver.” 

NC State’s top two signees were four-star wide receivers — Terrell Anderson and Jonathan Paylor — while the position had the most incoming freshmen with five total. 

The Pack was able to sign Anderson, even though Georgia made a run towards him late in the recruiting process. As NC State held off an SEC program for its prized recruit, the Pack ended up flipping North Carolina wide receiver commit Keenan Jackson on signing day to round out its class. 

Three-star wide receivers Jimmar Boston and Christian Zachary rounded out the Pack’s new additions to the position group. 

In addition to the highly-decorated group of wide receivers that the Wolfpack was able to add, it also signed four-star linebacker Elijah Groves, who was previously committed to Kentucky.

NC State also signed four defensive backs, three defensive linemen, five total linebackers, three offensive linemen, two running backs, one tight end and a quarterback. 

All but two of the Pack’s signees hailed from the high school ranks, while tight end Dante Daniels and linebacker Wyatt Wright will arrive in Raleigh from the junior college level. 

For Doeren, the importance of high school recruiting is still high for his program, which views itself as a developmental one, even though the transfer portal has changed the recruiting landscape. 

“The last three years, recruiting has changed a lot, probably more so than it has in the last 30,” Doeren said. “It still comes down to making a choice to where you can go develop as a player, as a person, as a student-athlete, where you feel like your best interests are there and you can compete, succeed and grow.”

All in all, NC State’s recruiting class featured 16 all-state selections, eight players of the year, eight captains and six state champions from the high school ranks. 

That decorated group of individuals led the Pack to hold its highest-rated recruiting class under Dave Doeren with a score of 88.22, according to On3 Industry Rankings. The Pack sits 31st nationally in the 2024 class, which is the fifth-best in the ACC. 

Doeren was delighted by that ranking. 

“I’m glad we’re getting more notoriety,” Doeren said. “We’ve finished in the top 20 four years in a row and it still feels like you’re under the radar every year. … I’m glad to see that people are actually paying attention. These kids have earned that recognition, this program has earned that recognition.”

Though the early signing period is over, NC State is still on the recruiting trail, especially on the junior college level, and likely the transfer portal to continue to build its roster for the 2024 campaign. 

But Doeren is focused on the team’s Pop-Tarts Bowl appearance at the end of December before getting ready to have his team back together for its offseason conditioning program in the new year with 18 of its 24 signees on campus early.

“[I] take great pride in continuing to build this program,” Doeren said. “Excited about the finish of this season, and the momentum that we’re going to have coming out of this season going into recruiting and into our offseason program that starts in January.”