Published Jul 22, 2020
The Wolfpacker All-Decommit football team: Defense
Matt Carter  •  TheWolfpackCentral
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Earlier this week, we revealed the All-Decommit team on offense for NC State Wolfpack football.

That came after last week, when we did our All-Flip teams for NC State Wolfpack football on offense and defense. Now it's time to conclude the series with an All-Decommit team for the defense.

For this squad, we went with four defensive linemen, two linebackers and five defensive backs to get the best 11 on the field.

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Defensive Ends

Alexandre’s commitment to NC State in the 2017 class was a low-key addition, and there were no signs of trouble until right before Alexandre was supposed to enroll early. He arranged for an official visit to Pittsburgh, which was nearly canceled due to scheduling conflicts. Alexandre managed to make the trip on the last weekend before the dead period began in December. Pitt managed to flip Alexandre, who was just weeks away from when he was set to show up on campus in Raleigh.

Alexandre is now a prominent fixture on one of the best defensive lines in college football. He had 10.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks as a redshirt sophomore.

NC State thought it had a big-time steal in Zuniga. A late offer from Florida though would ultimately lead Zuniga to Gainesville.

It was a tough break for the Wolfpack. Zuniga was a four-year star at UF after originally redshirting, then piling up 33.0 tackles for loss and 18.5 sacks in his career. In April, Zuniga was drafted in the third round by the New York Jets.

Defensive Tackles

Niles was a unique recruiting story. Back when he was recruited, the Power Five were the BCS conferences. It was not often a player would commit to a BCS school and then flip to a non-BCS program without a mutual parting of the ways, but Niles was such a case. He decided he would instead sign with Central Florida.

He turned into an all-conference performer who had 148 career tackles, including 31.0 for loss and 17.5 sacks, while being voted a team captain. He was a fixture on the 2013 UCF team that went 12-1 and played in the Fiesta Bowl.

Niles was recently a grad assistant at Temple and is now the defensive line coach at Trinity Valley Community College, where ironically one of his players is recent NC State offer Rasheed Lyles.

NC State was the first of Smith’s three different verbal commitments, but even when he made his early pledge for the Wolfpack there was always a fear that it would be tough to keep him away from a SEC school if one came calling. When Kentucky turned up the heat, Smith flipped to the Wildcats. Then, when South Carolina began recruiting him, he changed his mind again.

Smith was a solid interior performer for the Gamecocks. He played as a true freshman before turning into a full-time contributor for the next three years and finished his career with 84 tackles, including 7.0 for loss and 2.0 sacks. He was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent in May, where he may compete with former NC State defensive tackle and Titans’ draft pick Larrell Murchison for a roster spot.

Linebackers

Hodge played like a four-star recruit during his senior season at Wake Forest (N.C.) High, but academic concerns led him to sign with Marshall rather than risk being a sign-and-place by the Wolfpack.

As some projected, Hodge has ended up being a defensive end, and he showed as a sophomore last year he is probably going to be a good one. Hodge had 41 tackles, including 8.5 for loss and 7.0 sacks, in 2019.

We placed him with the linebackers because Hodge is listed at 6-foot-2, 238 pounds on Marshall’s roster, and given how the other linebacker decommits turned out, the numbers worked better if we included him here. NC State recruited Hodge to be a linebacker.

Walls was a late flip to Illinois, lured by a promise from the Illini to play running back, while NC State originally recruited him to play linebacker. The Pack made a late effort to keep him by telling Walls he could try running back at first if he wanted, but Walls still made the flip.

He did not last long at running back, however, and played as a reserve for the Illini before taking a graduate transfer to UNLV in 2016. He finished his career with 44 career tackles, including 3.5 for loss and three sacks, and three forced fumbles.

Defensive Backs

Julian Battle, Class of 2001 from Los Angeles Valley C.C.

Battle is the lone member of the list that predates the Rivals.com database archives, doing so by one year, but he was an unusual signing day surprise in 2001.

His junior college teammates Shawn Price and Terrance Chapman, both defensive ends, were committed to NC State, but Battle was going to Tennessee. Then on signing day, Battle revealed he was joining Chapman and Price in Raleigh, only to change his mind hours later and instead go back to UT. (In another signing day drama, Chapman nearly flipped to Kansas State.)

There was no denying that Battle could play. The native of Royal Palm Beach, Fla., was a third-round draft pick in 2003 by the Kansas City Chiefs after two good seasons at Tennessee, during which he had three interceptions and returned a fumble for a touchdown.

When NC State landed Culliver's commitment, he was a complete unknown and the Pack was his lone major offer. Then, his stock exploded, and eventually he was elevated to five-star status as a receiver, even though everyone knew his future was on defense.

He had 156 tackles and three interceptions as a three-year starter for South Carolina. He became a third-round draft pick for the San Francisco 49ers and played four seasons in the NFL, making seven picks in that time and returning a fumble for a score. A major knee injury unfortunately has practically ended his career.

Ford was a bit of a weird recruitment. He committed to NC State, then flirted with taking a visit to Arkansas. A conversation with Pack coaches seemed to solidify his pledge, but then he ended up arriving in Arkansas for an official visit days later. Ultimately, Ford signed with the Razorbacks.

He had a nice career there, as well. Ford finished with 188 tackles, an interception and six pass breakups. He would receive a couple of NFL tryouts.

Hunte was one of those commitments that came from nowhere, and when there was a coaching change from Tom O’Brien to Dave Doeren, Hunte ended up slipping through the cracks during the transition and instead went to Purdue.

He ended up being a two-year starter for the Boilermakers and voted a team captain as a senior. He finished his career with 111 tackles, including 5.0 for loss and 2.5 sacks. He also had an interception and 13 pass breakups.

Technically, Whitley never committed, so it’s hard to label him a decommit.

However, Whitley surprised many when he picked Virginia Tech after everyone assumed he was an NC State lock. It turned out, as Whitley later retold it, he was a Pack lock.

In a story with Inside Hokie Sports, Whitley said he and his mom called NC State head coach Tom O’Brien and “were ready to commit to him.” However, Whitley had recently torn his ACL, and O’Brien told the Whitleys they needed to make sure he could run around like he did prior to the injury before they could commit to honoring his scholarship.

After that, the Whitleys called up Virginia Tech's coaches and set up a visit, which led to him picking the Hokies shortly after on ESPNU.

Whitley had a highly productive career in Blacksburg, becoming a two-year starter and piling up 189 tackles and four interceptions in his career. He received a cup of tea in the NFL and also played in Canada before getting into coaching. Whitley is now the safeties coach at James Madison.

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