Wolfpacks perseverance pays off in landing Alston
Bunn (N.C.) High senior wide receiver Johnathan Alston had been considering NC State and North Carolina for months.
The Wolfpack's perseverance paid off Friday with a verbal commitment from Alston, who will get the chance to make it official next Wednesday on National Signing Day. Bunn coach Chris Miller informed The Wolfpacker this morning.
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Miller said that UNC and NC State both had the advantage of being close to home, but he clicked with NC State's coaches.
"The new coaching staff was a part of it," Miller said. "Coach [Des] Kitchings had been there from the start of NC State recruiting him. I think that was major. He had a good relationship with the coaches at Carolina as well.
"I think some of the new and different things that the Wolfpack are going to do, that played a part into it. I think he's excited about the opportunity to play. State is not overflowing with wide receivers, so he's got the opportunity to make an impact right away if he works hard and builds his body up."
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Alston recently made his official visit to NC State last weekend and came away impressed and called new coach Dave Doeren a "players' coach."
Doeren and wide receivers coach Frisman Jackson followed up with an in-home visit this week, and that was enough for Alston to pick the Wolfpack and cancel his official visit to UNC this weekend. NCSU running backs coach Desmond Kitchings has led the charge on recruiting Alston from the beginning.
"I wanted to have something to compare," said Alston in a previous interview with The Wolfpacker. "Coach Doeren was saying they are limited in wide receivers. They don't have a lot of receivers, so they are trying to get some."
Rivals.com rates Alston as a three-star recruit, the No. 70 athlete in the country and No. 25 prospect from the state of North Carolina in the 2013 class.