Coach Larry Fedora hasn't had a great amount of time to build his first football recruiting class at North Carolina, but he is making the most of the time he has left before national signing day Wednesday.
UNC added three commitments over the weekend, giving Fedora eight since he became the coach Dec. 9 and a total of 22.
Also, N.C. State reached into the junior college ranks for its latest commitment and now has a class of 23.
UNC's latest commitments are from defensive end Junior Gnonkonde (6-foot-5, 225 pounds) of Lakeland, Ga., and Lanier County High School; tight end/defensive end Monte Taylor (6-3, 235) of Springdale, Md., and Flowers High; and receiver Kendrick Singleton (6-3, 200) Glen Saint Mary, Fla., and Baker County High.
N.C. State added linebacker Robert Caldwell (6-3, 245) of Twentynine Palms, Calif., and the College of the Desert in Palm Desert, Calif.
Gnonkonde (pronounced Nuh-konday) was ranked as the No. 59 senior in Georgia in SuperPrep magazine's postseason rankings. He also had offers from Wake Forest, Syracuse, South Carolina, Central Florida and Louisiana Tech, and Florida's staff said it wanted him if it lost any commitments before signing day.
"Junior's strong and very quick," Coach Brent Miller of Lanier County said. "He has enough speed that he could run people down. He can make tackles all the way across the field."
Miller said that Gnonkonde had about 119 tackles as a senior. He averaged 19 tackles in the last three or four games and had one game of 22 tackles. He has 4.65-second speed over 40 yards. Gnonkonde is from West Africa and did not play football until he came to the United States as a 9th-grader.
"He really came here to play basketball, and he ended up staying," Miller said. "He saw football, and he liked it. He came out for football and tried it, and he was very good at it."
SuperPrep ranked Taylor No. 52 among seniors in the Mid-Atlantic area, and he also had a scholarship offer from Central Michigan.
Taylor caught 15 passes for 372 yards and scored six touchdowns as a senior and had 109 tackles and 12 sacks at defensive end. Coach Michael Mayo of Flowers did not return messages left at school Monday to discuss Taylor's decision.
Singleton had committed to Southern Mississippi when Fedora was the coach there. His coach, Ryan Sulkowski of Baker County, also did not return messages to discuss Singleton's switch.
* * * * *
Caldwell also considered an offer from Iowa. Defensive coordinator Ben Knapp of the College of the Desert said that Caldwell felt N.C. State was the best fit for him but that family considerations also were factors. Caldwell has a grandmother in the Raleigh area, his father is a sergeant major in the Marines, and his parents plan to retire in the Raleigh area.
Caldwell will have two seasons eligibility at N.C. State and also will have a redshirt season available. SuperPrep ranked him as the No. 42 junior-college player in the nation.
"He was the Ray Lewis of our defense," Knapp said. "He has the best upside of all of our recruits. He was just dominant for us this season."
Caldwell played in nine games last season and had 41 total tackles, 21 of them unassisted. He also had 6.5 tackles for losses, three sacks, a blocked kick and a forced fumble. Knapp said that Iowa wanted to move Caldwell to the defensive line because of his size, but that Caldwell wants to play linebacker in college.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement