NC State added to its commitment list when defensive tackle Jaylen Smith picked the Wolfpack Saturday afternoon.
Smith had 21 tackles, including two for loss and a sack, in seven games for Hertford County High in Ahoskie, N.C., after missing the early contests recovering from knee surgery. He also had an early offer from Wake Forest.
Here's a commitment analysis of Smith.
1. Continuation of in-state defensive linemen to Raleigh
NC State has landed some stellar in-state defensive linemen in the past couple of signing classes. In 2018 it added prized four-star Alim McNeill from Raleigh Sanderson and well-regarded and heavily recruited three-star defensive end Joseph Boletepeli from Heritage High in Wake Forest.
Then in 2019 the Pack struck gold with four-star defensive tackles Joshua Harris from Person High in Roxboro and C.J. Clark from North Stanly High in New London, while also getting defensive end Savion Jackson from Clayton High. Jackson is rated three stars by Rivals.com but is considered a four-star by most other services.
NC State also added three-star defensive end Terrell Dawkins, who boasted one of the more impressive reported offer lists in the state.
Smith becomes the seventh in-state defensive lineman to pick NC State in the past three classes. NC State takes pride in being a homegrown team, and no position is becoming a better example of that than defensive line.
