Three-star athlete Daejuan Thompson from Whiteville (N.C.) High had just completed a tour of the dorms at NC State when he arrived back at the Murphy Center.

On his way out of head coach Dave Doeren’s office at that time was four-star linebacker Torren Wright from A.L. Brown High in Kannapolis, N.C. Thompson and Wright had met each other before at an Under Armour All-American camp. With them was NC State’s Director of Player Personnel Merci Falaise.

“What do you have to wait for?” Falaise asked Thompson.

“Yeah, what are you waiting for,” Wright agreed.

Unbeknownst to Thompson, Wright had just committed to Doeren. Wondering if something was up, Thompson would ask NC State defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Tony Gibson, “Did Torren commit?”

“Yep,” Gibson answered.

By that point, Gibson had already put into Thompson’s mind the idea of committing to NC State himself if he knew that was where he wanted to go to college.