NC State redshirt junior defensive end James Smith-Williams is more than a former high school teammate of James Madison senior running back Marcus Marshall.
Consider that when Smith-Williams celebrated his birthday this summer before preseason camp started, Marshall was with him in Charlotte. The two have even taken vacations together. And the relationship extends beyond those two.
“I’ve been over there for his sister's graduation party,” Smith-Williams noted. “She actually went to UNC. I spent countless days there over the summer. I’ve helped them mow their lawn. I’m a member of their family, and he’s in my family.”
For a while, it was thought that the two would end up at NC State together. The Wolfpack offered both over the summer before their senior years. Smith-Williams committed to the Pack in July, but Marshall was more patient, perhaps too much so.
NC State would land a trio of four-star running backs in that 2015 class — senior Reggie Gallaspy Jr., Nyheim Hines and Johnny Frasier. Hines turned pro after rushing for 1,112 yards last year and was drafted in the fourth round by the Indianapolis Colts. Frasier played one year for the Pack before apparently giving up the sport. Gallaspy will be NCSU’s primary back this fall.
Marshall thus went to Georgia Tech, where he rushed for 1,278 yards and eight touchdowns in 22 games, including nine starts, in two seasons before deciding to transfer to James Madison. Last year, Marshall rushed 143 times for 850 yards and 11 touchdowns in 14 games and four starts.
Now for the first time since high school, Marshall and Smith-Williams will play in the same game when JMU travels to NC State for a noon kickoff Saturday at Carter-Finley Stadium. In a typical week, Smith-Williams noted that he and Marshall are in “constant communication.”
This week?
“It’s a little bit less,” Smith-Williams admitted. “We’re dialing it in. We have to make sure nothing slips.”
Smith-Williams and Marshall are not the only acquaintances on the two teams. Wolfpack fifth-year senior receiver Stephen Louis and JMU fifth-year senior Jimmy Moorland are childhood friends.
“That’s my boy,” Louis said. “We went to middle school together. We were supposed to go to the same high school, but I ended up going somewhere else.”
Louis attended Palm Beach Lakes High in West Palm Beach, Fla. Moorland went to Royal Palm Beach (Fla.) High. The two did get to play each other once during their senior years, but they never lined up against each other because Louis played quarterback.
“I scored like four touchdowns against them,” Louis recalled. “They ended up getting the win [42-30], but I did well against their high school.”
The two kept in touch for a while when they were freshmen in college, but over time they have talked less.
“I’ll be happy to see him though,” Louis said.
Moorland and Louis may have more motivation than trying to do well against an old friend. Moorland had eight interceptions and 14 passes broken up last season and is an All-America candidate with potential NFL aspirations.
For Louis and his fellow touted receivers, JMU has two corners in Moorland and senior Rashad Robinson that will be one of the better corner tandems NCSU could face. Robinson had seven picks and nine passes broken up as a junior.
The battle between NC State’s receiving corps and the James Madison corners will be one to watch Saturday.
“Rashad and Jimmy are really good,” Louis said. “They play with great technique. The guys that they cover, they did a great job against them, so it’ll be a great challenge to open up the season, but we’re up for it.”
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