2nd football recruit leaves UNC for NC State

Football Recruiting46

The Larry Fedora era at UNC-CH seems to be starting with a bang!! Just a couple of days after a player who had verbally committed to ECU switched over to UNC, Fedora has experienced his second recruiting defection to NC State.

Sanderson High football defensive end Desmond Owino has switched his college choice from the University of North Carolina to N.C. State.

“Desmond had some questions after the coaching change at North Carolina,” said Sanderson football coach Tony Lewis. “He said he wanted to look at some other options and visited N.C. State.

“He decided that’s where he wants to go to school. There is nothing negative about Carolina, he just decided he liked State better.”

The fast 6-foot-5, 235-pound Owino had never played football before last fall. He came to the United States last spring from Kenya, where is played rugby. Sanderson coach Tony Lewis encouraged Owino to play football last season.

Owino quickly caught the attention of college coaches throughout the southeastern United States. The recruiting process was new to him and he said it was overwhelming at times.

As a reminder, highly rated offensive lineman, Bryce Kennedy switched his commitment from UNC to NC State on the day of the Wolfpack’s Belk Bowl victory over Louisville.

A lot of football recruiting being discussed as the local programs now shift into ’2012 mode’. Of course the huge local news this week came a few hours before NC State’s bowl win when highly rated offensive lineman, Bryce Kennedy switched his commitment from UNC-CH to NC State. Kennedy is 6’2″, 285 lbs, and the 41st ranked OG in the country (according to ESPN) out of Southern Pines.

About StateFans

'StateFansNation' is the shared profile used by any/all of the dozen or so authors that contribute to the blog. You may not always agree with us, but you will have little doubt about where we stand on most issues. Please follow us on Twitter and FaceBook

Football Recruiting

46 Responses to 2nd football recruit leaves UNC for NC State

  1. Bowlpack 01/18/2012 at 4:59 PM #

    STLPack – I honestly think that Summers is the future. He’s a winner, one of the top players in the State and can do it all. I think that TOB may be open to another RW type player…who wouldn’t be?

  2. TOBtime 01/18/2012 at 5:07 PM #

    ^Bowlpack, I’ve seen Mr. Summers in person. To say he an “athlete” is like saying I breathe. It just doesn’t do the guy justice. Will he be a QB? James looked great against what I thought was lower level athletic competition but then he kept putting up great numbers in the state playoffs. I totally agree he is a winner no matter where he lines up and could play several positions in D1 ball.

  3. Hungwolf 01/18/2012 at 5:13 PM #

    I don’t think Fedora and staff are pushing hard to keep what the previous staff recruited. Fedora already seems to be focusing on next year’s class and don’t be surprised if he brings in lots of JUCO players like he did at Southern Miss. He may need to given the transfers, defections, drop outs, Non qualifiers, and small class this year. Not to mention if he finds more violations that have not been reported yet…
    Fedora has never built a program by redshirting players and developing them, at Southern Miss he brought in lots of JUCOs. Be interesting to see if he tries that at UNX, given his seven year contract he may change his strategy. Then once the NCAA ruling comes down along with the crack down of eliminaitng the “Carolina Way”, one can only wonder if recruits will want to go to the Hill knowing life as it has been no longer exists. Players may actually have to go to class, take real classes, and live broke like other students. Not a pretty picture to paint at the Hill anymore. I think UNX and Fedora are in for some hard times and a lot of losing.

  4. pack17 01/18/2012 at 5:28 PM #

    In regards to the future at QB. I remember hearing from someone close to the program that our coaching staff was in love with Manny Stocker. I know he is already enrolled so hopefully he will have the same grasp of the offense as Glennon did when it was his turn. I also like what I have seen with Brosius. Taylor is an impressive high school athlete. Impossible to predict how they will actually make the transition. As long as our O line continues to improve, we should certainly have at least 1 who is serviceable in the ACC.

  5. MISTA WOLF 01/18/2012 at 6:38 PM #

    James Summers is the real deal. Seen him play in the playoffs against some decent competition. Page’s running back and him were the only players of high quality that I seen. They ran out of the spread from what I remember and relied on him to do everything. I’m excited about the future at quarterback needless to say.

    And by the way Fox South is airing the 2002 game of State and Texas Tech. Epic.

  6. ChemE79a 01/18/2012 at 7:07 PM #

    Using back-up quarterbacks: when FSU first joined the league Bobby Bowden had a policy of playing the back-up for one series during the second quarter. It did not shake anyone’s confidence because it was known in advance when it was going to happen and that it was only for one series (maybe 2 if it was a 3 and out). The system seemed to work well at that time and I have often wondered why FSU dropped it and why no one else adopted it.

  7. runwiththepack 01/18/2012 at 7:10 PM #

    Pride,

    You’re right, but the two-qb system isn’t really what i meant. I just meant giving the reserve significantly more than what the reserve has been getting. 13 passes all year doesn’t seem enough to matter.

    I realize that the team has to get more of a lead in order to do that, though. (either that, or fall hopelessly behind!) When we were getting blown out by Cincinnati I thought it would be a good idea to give Brosius a couple series. It would have really stunk if Glennon were lost for the season from an injury with 5 minutes on the clock when we’re down by 4 td’s and a fg.

    Again, i suppose the coaches have reasons. It just seems counter-intuitive to have a reserve that hasn’t seen any meaningful snaps until he’s a junior. TOB isn’t a dummy. I trust him.

  8. bill.onthebeach 01/18/2012 at 7:20 PM #

    ^Reference: Bruce Shaw and Dave Buckey, 1972

    Mr. Cowdog can provide details.

  9. primacyone 01/18/2012 at 9:20 PM #

    We are LOADED at QB at the moment. Broisus is the real deal and in the same mold as Glennon. He’s probably further along than Glennon at the same mark in time. I can honestly see Broisus playing in Sundays if he plays in college the way he played high school.

    I think same could be said for Summers. Taylor has done nothing but win and is in the same mold as Summers – runner and passer and team leader.

    And then we have Stocker. Don’t don’t much about him, but his numbers are impressive and he runs a 4.6 40. He should see the field somewhere.

    But yea, I really think we are truly LOADED with talent at QB.

    Needed some help at DE and OL, so very happy about the UNC switches. Owino could be a superstar by the time he is a senior. He appears to have the athleticism.

  10. Wufpacker 01/18/2012 at 9:31 PM #

    I generally agree that if you have two quarterbacks, you don’t have one, but didn’t we utilize a two QB system relatively effectively at least once? I want to say it was Shane Montgomery along with Terry Jordan. I remember thinking at the time that it was a bad idea, but it just kept working. I could be misremembering I suppose.

    That being said, it generally doesn’t work out too well.

  11. jinx99champs 01/18/2012 at 10:15 PM #

    Man overboard! They’re jumping (flag)ship!!

  12. tjfoose1 01/18/2012 at 10:28 PM #

    Glennon was far from an unknown as a backup to Wilson.

    2nd string QBs don’t get more playing time because that would be less playing time for the 1st string.

    There’s a reason why the backup QB is the backup.

    QBs don’t need the in game rest due to the nature of the position. They also directly effect the production of every other player on the field.

  13. tjfoose1 01/18/2012 at 10:31 PM #

    FSU dropped the policy of playing backup QBs because they no longer dominate at the other positions. The can no longer compensate for the relative dropoff while providing OTJ training.

  14. PackMan97 01/19/2012 at 12:35 AM #

    Why don’t backup QBs get more playing time? The answer is simple, not many leads are safe in FB.

    You basically have to be up by three touchdowns before you want them in the game and then they aren’t really going to throw the ball much for fear of a pick-6, onside kick, TD…next thing you know it’s a 7 point game. So when they do see playing time, it’s up the middle, up the middle, up the middle, punt.

    It’s just not something that’s easy/safe to do.

  15. Bowlpack 01/19/2012 at 9:54 AM #

    Slightly off topic since the conversation seems to have shifted to QB, but we just got another DE commit in Kenderius Whitehead. Sounds like a pass rushing beast based on his stats 103 tackles and 16 sacks. The 103 tackles at DE is impressive. Similar in size to Owino which makes me start to wonder if the coaches will see what either of these guys can do at LB since that is a position of concern. Owino seems the least likely since he has only played the game for a year. That’s not to say that he isn’t a quick study and with Tenuta coaching him up then that could reduce the learning curve, but DE is more focused position in terms of what your assignments are and you can rely more on your athleticism to get the job done.

  16. phillypacker 01/19/2012 at 10:37 AM #

    I saw Manny Stocker play at the beginning of this season and have watched all of his film. I submitted a writeup about him on here back in late August or early September. He is a smart, dual threat quarterback. Tall super-athletic, wonderful touch on a whole range of passes from screens to fades to quick outs. Long and short. Excellent, smart runner. The best thing I can say about him, is the game seems to be very slowed down for him, meaning he is thinking and responding to what he sees more quickly than things are happening. Did a nice job of moving through his progressions on designed pass plays. Summers was much higher rated, I believe.

    When I saw Stocker’s film, before I went to watch him in person, I thought he looked solid but not exceptional, but seeing him in person was really impressed by his composure, poise, intelligence and athletic ability. He ran really well, had a great sense of how much time he had in the pocket, made good decisions to go down or airmail it out of bounds, scrambled effectively and for big gains when the pocket collapsed or when he saw room to run. Have not seen much of Summers, but Stocker looked very, very good. One other thing I liked was seeing him walking off the field at halftime, when Coatesville was already way ahead, talking through some aspect of the offense with his head coach. The piece I wrote way back has the words Manny Stocker in it if anybody wants to find it. That night he also had gaudy numbers in terms of completion percentage, which would have been about perfect were it not for a number of drops and deflections.

    By the way, I have been watching State’s qb’s since Bruce Shaw and Dave Buckey, fyi.

  17. STLPack01 01/19/2012 at 12:31 PM #

    OK, you guys made me feel better about the future. I just remember the horror that was our QB situation after Rivers left. It looks like TOB&co have done a decent job keeping the cupboard stacked.

  18. Prowling Woofie 01/19/2012 at 1:48 PM #

    We’ve also got Josh Stanley (RS), who played QB at Leesville Road here in Raleigh. Very good athlete, good FB IQ, throws well and can hurt you with his legs. Ran the scout team prior to the GT game, and did a good enough job immitating Washington that he earned the right to carry the flag onto the field for the game. Don’t know if he fits at all into the QB equation down the road, but he’s a terrific kid with a great attitude that knows how to win.

  19. VaWolf82 01/19/2012 at 2:36 PM #

    OK, you guys made me feel better about the future. I just remember the horror that was our QB situation after Rivers left.

    If these comments make you feel better, then you really don’t remember the post-PR years. With the #1 QB from Florida and one of the QBs from the Army AA game sitting on the bench; every message board post that I read from that time insisted that State would be OK after PR left.

  20. triadwolf 01/19/2012 at 3:26 PM #

    I’ve watched Summers in person for the majority of two seasons and I can tell you that he is not a very good passer Right Now. In 2010 he completed less than 50% of his passes and I venture to say he’s right around that in 2011.

    Now he is a great athlete, showed great leadership, and won a championship so with a red-shirt year working under a college QB coach, who knows where he’ll end up. But he has to become a much better passer to be D-1A QB (unless we go to something more like a spread).

  21. STLPack01 01/20/2012 at 1:26 AM #

    OK VaWolf, then please tell me why I shouldn’t feel better then, instead of swooping in and excoriating me. Of course I remember the post PR years. Jesus. I lived through those years with much pain and anguish. The Jay Davis (was he that bad?) the Marcus Stone (lord help us) and the Daniel Evans (erggh) Not to mention the unnamed and forgetful transfers from Nebraska. Yes, I do remember those years, which is the very reason why I posed the question. If you have something to add besides lambasting me for listening to my fellow SFN community members, then please be my guest.

1 2

Leave a Reply