Here is a look at some of the best of the best, ranging from best playmaker to hardest hitter among the recruits in NC State football's 2021 recruiting class, which includes four transfers.

The highest-ranked prospect, according to Rivals.com, is four-star receiver Micah Crowell from East Forsyth High in Kernersville, N.C., but the headliner title belongs to three-star quarterback Aaron McLaughlin, a one-time Auburn commit from Denmark High in Alpharetta, Ga.

The 6-5, 220-pounder is a high-upside prospect with tremendous athleticism for his size, having been timed at 4.71 seconds in the 40-yard dash and recording a 36.4-inch vertical leap at a Nike Camp in 2020.

On the field, one opposing coach raved about McLaughlin this past year, during which he completed 107 of 184 passes for 1,505 yards and 21 touchdowns with seven picks while also rushing 131 times for 652 yards and six scores in nine games and helping Denmark earn its first-ever state playoffs appearance.

"Tonight, we played an incredible quarterback,” Cumming (Ga.) South Forsyth head coach Jeff Arnette told the Forsyth County News. “We just couldn't tackle him. … We've just got to find a way to bounce back, but I'm not going to take anything away from that QB. He's the difference in this game, that's for sure.

"I've been doing this 30 years, and he may be as good as I've seen. He's definitely one of the best, and I've played against a few guys that have been big-time in college and even played a little bit of pro. He's really good.”

Three-star receiver Julian Gray from Hopewell High in Huntersville, N.C., proclaimed himself to be a long-time Wolfpack fan, and he labeled his NC State scholarship that he received on a junior day in January as his dream offer.

Gray proved true to his word. On March 7, 2020, he was the first player in the class to commit to Dave Doeren’s program.

Only one player has joined the class after the December signing day, and he is already on campus. The Wolfpack moved quickly on Marshall transfer Derrek Pitts, who started his career at West Virginia before shining last fall for the Thundering Herd.

Pitts entered the transfer portal after having 42 tackles (including 18 solo and 1.5 sacks) and three pass breakups in nine games.

NC State did not have as much success in its base of Wake County, but its last high school pledge of the 2021 class was from a high-upside recruit in three-star safety Chase Hattley from Panther Creek High in the Raleigh suburb of Cary.

The 6-3, 205-pounder had nine interceptions as a junior and picked the Wolfpack over offers from Boston College, Florida State, Oklahoma, South Carolina and West Virginia.

According to Google Maps, It’s about a nine-hour drive for offensive lineman Anthony Belton, a native of Midway, Fla., who attended Georgia Military College in Milledgeville, Ga. Belton picked the Wolfpack after originally committing to TCU and also picking up offers from, among others, Kentucky, South Carolina, Syracuse and West Virginia.

There were a lot of good candidates, but we went with three-star linebacker Jordan Poole from West Stanly High in Oakboro, N.C., and for the evidence we suggest watching the first hit in his junior season highlights.

Take a look at three-star running back Demie Sumo’s numbers from his junior season at Willingboro (N.J.) High:

• 65 carries, 11 touchdowns

• 21 receptions, eight touchdowns

• Eight kickoff returns, one touchdown

• Two interceptions, one touchdown

• Two fumble recoveries, no touchdowns

All total, Sumo touched the football 98 times as a junior and scored 21 touchdowns. That's a ratio of a score every 4.7 touches.

We return to Hattley:

• As a junior, three of his seven catches went for touchdowns, and he averaged 23.0 yards per reception.

• Made nine interceptions as a junior after making two when he was a sophomore.

• Broke up nine more passes over the past two years (five as a junior and four as a sophomore).

• Returned a fumble for 20 yards his junior year.

• Averaged 17.3 yards on nine punt returns in his sophomore and junior years, and averaged 26.7 yards on 11 kickoff returns as a sophomore.

It’s a tough call between Florida State defensive line transfer Cory Durden and Fairmont State grad transfer and Division II All-American Chandler Zavala.

Pro Football Focus (PFF) had the 6-5, 315-pound Durden graded as the No. 5 interior defensive lineman nationally returning from 2019 after he had 39 tackles, including 6.5 for loss and five sacks. He added two quarterback hurries, two pass breakups and a forced fumble.

Considering Alim McNeill’s departure to the NFL, there is an opening for an instant impact like Durden up front.

The Pack, though, is losing its two-year starter at left guard in Joe Sculthorpe, and that happens to be where Zavala was a two-time all-conference and all-region selection. He was also offered by Virginia when he entered the transfer portal along with Charlotte, East Carolina, Toledo and Western Kentucky.

The 6-5, 325-pounder helped Fairmont State in 2018 have a 1,000-yard rusher for the first time in 11 years, and in 2019 they averaged 231.8 yards rushing per game and allowed only 19 sacks. Their 2020 fall season was canceled due to COVID-19.

Gray is a top-notch sprinter in track, for instance. Three-star defensive line prospect Zyun Reeves from East Forsyth High in Kernersville, N.C., is a pretty good basketball player.

But we went with the Seabrough twins, three-star tight ends Fredrick and Cedric at Swainsboro (Ga.) High, who both also shined on the hardwood.

They went 30-2 and won a state title this year. The Seabrough twins were a huge reason for that. In the title game, they defeated Therrell High. Therrell coach Eddie Johnson did not hide his concerns about facing the twins going into the finals.

“Those twins are monsters down low so hopefully we’ll have a good enough game plan to minimize them as much as possible," he said.

Fredrick was named second-team All-State by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution after the season.

Any conversation with three-star offensive lineman Lyndon Cooper from Carrollton (Ga.) High is always a pleasant experience. It’s easy to see why he was a very popular teammate at his high school.

We can’t say if he is soft-spoken, but during the recruiting process three-star receiver Jakolbe Baldwin from Richmond Senior High in Rockingham, N.C., was not one for interviews.

During the pandemic, three-star offensive lineman Thornton Gentry from Chapin (S.C.) High provided some good quarantine entertainment with his family doing dance videos. Unfortunately, they don’t appear to be available any longer.

Sumo, goes by the nickname “Slimey Shark.” He explained that he picked that moniker because everyone else was using “G.O.A.T.” (acronym for greatest of all time). Sumo wanted to be different.

"The animal is a beast in the ocean,” Sumo said. “It’s the king of the ocean. That’s why I picked the sharks. It’s different. It’s just me.”

Sumo was a refreshing interview, and any conversation with Cooper and Gentry felt like you were talking to someone older than a high schooler. Three-star corner Mario Love Jr. from Hough High in Cornelius, N.C., was also a good interview.

Baldwin is not a high-profile receiver like Crowell and doesn’t have the track speed of Gray, but he simply produces, especially in the big games.

If you ever have an opportunity to attend a Scotland-Richmond County game, do it. It is one of the best high school football events you will see in the state of North Carolina, along with Pisgah-Tuscola and Shelby-Crest, among others.

In 2019, Scotland went 12-3 overall and reached the semifinals of the 4-A state playoffs. One of its three losses came when Richmond shellacked the Scots 48-13, and Baldwin played one of his best games of the year. He caught four passes for 108 yards and two touchdowns.

When Charlotte's Myers Park High played at Richmond in the quarterfinals of the 4-AA state playoffs, Myers Park was undefeated and the top-ranked team in the state. Richmond would prevail in a 35-32 thriller, during which Baldwin caught six passes for 124 yards.

Baldwin's third-best game of the year came against Butler High from Matthews, N.C., a perennially good team from the Charlotte region. Baldwin had four receptions for 95 yards and a score in that contest.

This is clearly Gray. He has been timed as fast as 6.50 seconds in the 55-meter dash, 10.84 seconds in the 100 and 21.84 seconds in the 200. At the Nike Opening last year, Gray was laser-timed at 4.49 seconds in the 40-yard dash.

On the current Wolfpack team, only freshman receiver Chris Scott had faster 100 and 200 times, and only freshman wideout Anthony Smith had a better 55 mark.

Our guess is either Durden or Zavala, who have the benefit of being older and having previously been in a college strength and conditioning program.

Listed at 325 pounds on the official press release, it's a tie between Belton and Zavala

It's the 170-pound Love by a slight margin over Gray (175 pounds).

It's the 6-7 Reeves, by an inch over Belton.

Three-star defensive end Travali Price from Lincolnton (N.C.) North Lincoln High had his pick of schools, and even after committing to NC State, teams like Tennessee continued to pursue Price hard.

Reeves’ high school coach Todd Willert was convinced that without COVID-19, Reeves would have ended up with “40 or 50 offers.”

“His recruiting would have been out of the roof,” Willert added.

His junior year was his first at the varsity level. By the end of the 2019 season, Reeves began to dominate. He had 7.5 tackles for loss and six sacks over the final five weeks of the year. He finished the campaign with 13.5 TFLs and 7.5 sacks.

Three-star running back Caleb McDowell from Lee County High in Leesburg, Ga., was committed to NC State for a time in the spring before backing out and then choosing to sign with South Carolina. The Pack could have used his speed in the backfield and on special teams.

McDowell had a huge senior season and was named the state Offensive Player of the Year for the Class AAAAA level for his region by the coaches. He ran for about 1,350 yards and accounted for 32 touchdowns.

——

• Talk about it inside The Wolves' Den

• Subscribe to our podcast on iTunes

• Learn more about our print and digital publication, The Wolfpacker

• Follow us on Twitter: @TheWolfpacker

• Like us on Facebook