There has been an arc in the revolution of NC State football’s summer camp. Sure, it was important during Chuck Amato’s tenure, most notably unearthing a future Hall of Famer in Russell Wilson.

But it reached central casting role status under Tom O’Brien. His former recruiting coordinator, Jerry Petercuskie, was known to jokingly offer over/under lines at the beginning of each camp for how many new offers they were going to give out that day. Most scholarships tended to be given to under-the-radar prospects who would ultimately pick NC State.

That trend continued for a little while under current head coach Dave Doeren. Future Pack stars like do-it-all offensive weapon Jaylen Samuels, offensive lineman Tony Adams and defensive end James Smith-Williams, among others, were discovered that way. But as the recruiting process continually evolved, the impact of summer camps on the rising senior class began to diminish.

It was during one of the recent summers that we remembered one source telling us, camps are really just about visits now for the rising seniors. A chance to show prospects the facilities and watch the coaches in action.

This recruiting class is further showing there has been a new, bigger importance to camps emerging: identifying the underclassmen.