It’s been a good several days for NC State on the recruiting front, as the Wolfpack flipped Vanderbilt commitment Kelvon McBride last week and today added running back Kendrick Raphael to its 2023 class.
WeLockIn @PackFootball @StateCoachD @CoachKurtRoper #Committed pic.twitter.com/DLV0v5zipe
— Kendrick Raphael (@RaphaelKendrick) November 29, 2022
Raphael had been an Iowa commit until mid-September, but he also had visited NC State in June, so no doubt State’s staff maintained a relationship on the chance that Raphael accidentally saw Iowa’s offense in action and changed his mind.
Raphael, who is listed by 247Sports at 5’11 and 180, is a consensus four-star prospect and top-400 player nationally. (Which still only makes him barely a top-80 player in Florida. Crazy how much talent there is down there.)
Here’s part of his scouting evaluation from 247’s Andrew Ivins:
Uber-productive running back that amassed over 3,500 rushing yards and close to 50 touchdowns during prep career. Split touches as a junior and senior with a fellow Power Five prospect in an old-school, throwback offense that operated primarily out of a three-man T Formation. Could best be described as a shifty runner with plus-vision that has home-run capability if he can find a crease.
There’s a high school running the T-formation?! Gonna need to see those highlights.
Oh yeah, that’s the good stuff. Maybe we could make this kind of offense the wave of the future for a while. The whole forward pass thing feels stale sometimes.
Raphael is the second running back commitment in State’s 2023 class, joining Kyron Jones. And oddly enough, two of State’s top three recruits are now from Florida—Raphael and 4-star safety Daemon Fagan.
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