Letter of intent No. 3: Linebacker James Smith-Williams
Linebacker
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Raleigh Millbrook High
6-foot-4, 196 pounds
Measurables:
• At NC State's summer camp last June, clocked the 40-yard dash in 4.53 seconds and registered a 10-foot-3 standing broad jump.
Stats:
• Senior: Posted 146 tackles, including 36 for loss and 19 sacks.
• Junior: Recorded 70 tackles, including 10 for loss.
Ratings:
• Rivals.com: Two stars.
• Scout.com: Two stars, No. 46 in the state.
• 247Sports: Three stars, No. 110 outside linebacker in the country, No. 45 in the state.
• ESPN: Three stars, No 111 outside linebacker in the country, No. 48 in the state.
• National Underclassmen: No. 36 in the state.
• Athlete Vault: No. 46 in the state.
• Fayetteville Observer: No. 43 in the state.
Honors/accomplishments:
• Picked first-team All-State by Carolina Gridiron.
• Selected to the Raleigh News and Observer All-Metro team as a senior.
• Tied school record last fall for most sacks in a season and was fifth overall in the state last year in hits on the quarterback.
• Picked first-team Cap-Eight All-Conference as a senior.
• Named News and Observer's Scholar-Athlete of the Week in August.
• Graduated with an unweighted grade-point average of 3.9 (weighted GPA was 4.9) and scored 30 on his ACT.
• Member of National Honor Society and All-Academic Honor Roll and started the Athletic Service Club at Millbrook.
Recruitment:
• Picked up an offer from NC State after testing well at its summer camp.
• Was also offered by Boston College as a defensive end but previously had been offered by mid-majors and FCS schools like Appalachian State, James Madison, Wofford and a host of Ivy League schools
• Committed to NC State on July 22 over an Ivy League education at Columbia and enrolled early at NCSU.
Recruiter of record:
• Defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Dave Huxtable
Quotable:
"He is a great athlete with a tremendous work ethic. He has good speed, good size and he is continuing to get better. He works so hard. He is an outstanding leader for us." - Millbrook head coach Clarence Inscore to Raleigh News and Observer
Scouting report:
• Impressive athlete who runs well enough to be a safety and is explosive enough to play near the line.
• Was actually a receiver as a freshman, moved to varsity as a sophomore and played defensive end before transitioning to standup linebacker as a junior and returning to end last season.
• Projects as a linebacker in college and will need to get stronger and learn the nuances of the position.
2015 projection:
Smith-Williams checked in at 196 pounds when he enrolled at NC State, so he will need to obviously gain significant strength and grow into his lean frame. That will be priority number one, followed by learning how to play linebacker, specifically in the Pack's base 4-2-5 scheme. Thus Smith-Williams may be a good candidate to redshirt next fall.