Letter of intent No. 4: Cannon Lewis
The fourth letter of intent comes from linebacker Cannon Lewis of Ona (W.Va.) Cabell Midland High.
Here is a full bio on Lewis.
Stats
• Senior year: He had 181 tackles (90 solo), four sacks, 18 tackles for loss, three fumble recoveries, one forced fumble and one defensive touchdown.
Ratings
• Rivals.com: Three stars and No. 3 overall in West Virginia.
• 247Sports: Three stars, No. 143 inside linebacker in the country, No. 5 overall in West Virginia.
• ESPN: Three stars, No. 59 inside linebacker in the country, No. 3 overall in West Virginia.
Ona (W.Va.) Cabell Midland coach Luke Salmons
Ona (W.Va.) Cabell Midland middle linebacker Cannon Lewis was the first commitment in NC State’s class of 2024.
Lewis verbally committed to NCSU on Oct. 24, 2022, following a series of home games he attended. He rewarded the Wolfpack’s confidence with a monster senior year this fall. He racked up an astonishing 181 tackles (90 solo), 18 tackles for loss and four sacks in helping Cabell Midland go 10-2 this season.
Coach Luke Salmons was impressed in how Lewis took his game to a new level in his last year for the Knights.
“He got bigger, stronger and faster, all the physical attributes,” Salmons said. “He probably put on 10 pounds of muscle. He was different in that area.”
Lewis also improved in how he led the squad and became more vocal.
“He became an elite leader,” Salmons said. “He was one of the best leaders I’ve had. He grew up a lot as far as leadership. He’s always worked at a high high level. You aren’t going to find a harder worker and he loves the game.”
Lewis had more of a spotlight this season with going to NC State and opposing teams game-planning around him more.
“He handled everything well because he’s always humble and put the team first,” Salmons said. “Every day, he has on something NC State on, whether a shirt or a hat. He doesn’t take anything for granted.”
Cabell Midland was able to defeat Huntington (W.Va.) High 31-21 on Oct. 20, which featured NC State senior offensive line signee Robby Martin. That proved to be a unique night for the two future NC State players.
NC State defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Tony Gibson was the point man on Lewis, and Gibson also hails from West Virginia.
“That’s a big rivalry game for us,” Salmons said. “At the end of the day, they’ll be teammates. When they played, the OL coach [Garett Tujague] and Coach Gibson were there. That was pretty cool seeing two kids playing each other. I thought that was cool.
“NC State coaches are some great guys. They are good guys that love football.”
— Jacey Zembal
Honors/Accomplishments
• Coach Salmons said Lewis earned first-team all-conference.
• Lewis was first-team Class AAA All-State Football Team as selected by the West Virginia Sports Writers Association.
Recruitment
Lewis has unofficially visited NC State three different times and camped last June for a fourth visit to Raleigh. He followed up with watching the Texas Tech at NC State game in the fall of 2022, and he verbally committed Oct. 24, 2022.
Lewis committed to NC State over offers from Marshall, Toledo and Eastern Kentucky.
Recruiter of Record
NC State defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Tony Gibson.
Quotable
“The attention to detail was definitely something I’d like to implement in preparing for our games. They take it to a whole different level of every detail and coverage and call. They have calls that they check out if the offense comes out in a certain thing. It was awesome to just sit and listen to it.” — Cannon Lewis
2023 Projection
Lewis will likely redshirt next fall.
Highlights
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