Senior Preston Douglas verbally committed to South Carolina on June 12, but elected to keep NC State in the mix.
Douglas flipped to NC State on Thursday to give the Wolfpack a 1-2 punch at tight end with Cary (N.C.) High senior Gus Ritchey. The addition of Douglas gives NC State 18 verbal commitments and the class is ranked No. 42 in the country by Rivals.com.
NC State offered the talented 6-foot-3, 225-pounder on Jan. 26, and had hoped he would officially visit last June. The Gamecocks locked him up before that could happen.
Douglas has the ability to play tight end or outside linebacker, but the Wolfpack have zeroed in on his offensive skills. He has 16 catches for 255 yards and three touchdowns in six games this season, plus 11 tackles and three sacks on defense.
NC State coach Dave Doeren came to visit Douglas at his new school, which is The Benjamin School in North Palm Beach, Fla.
Douglas has family in the Kansas City, Mo., area and Doeren is also from there. Douglas’ father was a defensive end in college football and was invited to a pair of NFL camps.
Douglas has earned at least 23 scholarship offers, including from high-major programs NC State, South Carolina, Indiana, Maryland, Syracuse and Wake Forest. He also has offers from Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Bethune-Cookman, Delaware, East Carolina, Eastern Kentucky, Florida Atlantic, Florida International, Georgia Southern, Georgia State, James Madison, Liberty, Massachusetts, Old Dominion, South Florida and Western Kentucky.
Douglas was limited to six games his junior year because of a broken collarbone at his previous high school — Jupiter (Fla.) High. He made the most of his seven games with 23 catches for 405 receiving yards and eight touchdowns, plus 28 tackles, nine tackles for loss, one sacks and one interception, that he returned for a touchdown.
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