Shuey to visit Clemson, UNC, Tennessee

South Mecklenburg High linebacker/fullback Spencer Shuey, who has seen his college recruitment increase dramatically since an outstanding performance in the Shrine Bowl, has set up tentative visits with some of his new suitors.

He expects to visit Clemson Jan. 9, North Carolina Jan.16 and Tennessee or Illinois Jan. 23, according to his father.

"Both UNC and Clemson have told Spencer and myself that they plan to offer (scholarships) on his visits," Mark Shuey said in an e-mail. "But it is a dead period right now. So it's been a couple of days since anyone has talked.

"UT says they think they will offer also, but needed to wait until coach Monte Kiffin (father of head coach Lane Kiffin) arrives...As he will have the final say. That's where we stand right now, anyway."

- Stan Olson

Knee injury sidelines Pack's Wilson

N.C. State quarterback Russell Wilson is out for the rest of the Papajohns.com Bowl with a knee sprain.

Wilson was injured on a touchdown drive that put the Wolfpack ahead 17-6 late in the second quarter against Rutgers.

At halftime, Wilson had 186 passing yards and one touchdown and 46 rushing yards on eight carries. Harrison Beck will replace Wilson.

Pack safety Johnson back from injury

N.C. State starting boundary safety Clem Johnson, who missed the regular season finale against Miami with an ankle injury, will play in Monday's Papajohns.com Bowl against Rutgers.

Coach Tom O'Brien said during Sunday's news conference that he's not sure Johnson is 100 percent, but he has been healthy enough to practice.

Johnson's play as the last line of defense could be critical against an opponent with a big-play passing attack. Rutgers quarterback Mike Teel has thrown 20 touchdown passes over the last six games.

"It's good for us that he's sharp, and he looks pretty healthy during practice, so that's good for our secondary," O'Brien said.

• O'Brien is familiar from his days at Boston College with Teel, Rutgers' quarterback.

Teel played at Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey for Greg Toal, father of Boston College linebacker Brian Toal. Teel attended camp at Boston College, was recruited by O'Brien and said he was a close friend of Brian Toal.

"(Boston College) was a nice place and (O'Brien) was a great coach," Teel said. "It just wasn't right for me."

O'Brien also tried to recruit Rutgers wideout Kenny Britt, who leads the Big East in catches and receiving yards, and a few players in the Scarlet Knights' secondary.

• The lone North Carolina resident on Rutgers' roster is Hickory High graduate San San Te, who starts at place-kicker as a redshirt freshman.

Rutgers coach Greg Schiano said he typically recruits place-kickers through specialists who run camps devoted exclusively to coaching young kickers. That's how he located Te, who is 9-for-13 on field goal attempts.

"He's had some pretty good answers for us," Schiano said.

• One of the most often asked questions about the Birmingham game is why it's called the Papajohns.com Bowl rather than just the Papa John's Bowl.

Bowl executive director Mark Meadows said the sponsorship with the pizza retailer was hatched shortly after Papa John's began making delivery available through its web site. Company executives thought the bowl would raise awareness of the Internet ordering option.

"I do think it was a successful sponsorship and partnership," Meadows said.

It was successful enough for the company to recently sign on for two extra years as title sponsor after the initial two-year contract expired. -- Ken Tysiac

Pack adds 2 more recruits from Georgia

N.C. State continues to finish its football recruiting season strong, adding two more players from Georgia, a state the school has done well in recently.

Center Camden Wentz of Lassiter High in Marietta, Ga., and offensive tackle Duran Christophe of Woodstock (Ga.) High committed to the Wolfpack on the way home from a visit to the school this week.

The players, who are close friends and live near each other, said they also considered going to Louisville - which had offered both - together.
Wentz had previously committed to Stanford but later changed his mind. He is 6-foot-3 and 275 pounds.

"It's a great school with great facilities," Wentz said of N.C. State. "All the other schools I looked at were comparable to that but the coaching staff stood out to me. Coach (Tom) O'Brien has a history with offensive linemen and the offensive line coach has a history of putting linemen in the NFL.

"It just felt that the offensive line there is a big deal to coaches."

Wentz was a four-year letterman. As a senior OT, he helped Lassiter to a 9-3 season and was an AP all-state selection.

Christophe, who is 6-6 and 275 pounds, said he also had offers from East Carolina, Tulane, Indiana, Central Florida and Middle Tennessee State.
He is scheduled to play in Georgia's high school North-South all-star game Monday. While he is expected to play defense in the game, Christophe expects to play the offensive line at N.C. State.

The Wolfpack now has 24 commitments.

-Stan Olson

Shuey's stock rises after Shrine Bowl play

South Mecklenburg High linebacker/fullback Spencer Shuey made a splash during last week's Shrine Bowl practices and game in Spartanburg, and college coaches noticed.

Although Shuey, who is 6-foot-3 and 240 pounds, did have offers from Illinois, Duke and Appalachian State among others, most of the major schools in the area hardly seemed to have noticed him.

Then came the Shrine Bowl.

Shuey wound up as the North Carolina squad's defensive MVP in his team's 24-16 loss Saturday. He had eight tackles, including two for losses, but seven of them came in little more than a quarter, before he broke his thumb.
Since the game, the calls have been pouring in.

"Clemson has called," South Mecklenburg coach James Martin said this evening. "North Carolina called and talked to his father, and Tennessee is showing interest. This weekend certainly has helped; just being named MVP in the game has made a difference."

Martin was asked why Shuey, who rushed for over 1,200 yards and scored 14 touchdowns offensively and had 87 tackles on defense, seemed to play under the radar for much of his career.

"He plays baseball as well (third base), and nowadays sophomores and juniors in high school go to the summer camps and attract attention there," Martin said. It also hurt that the rebuilt Sabres, who reached the state semifinals this season, had struggled in recent years.

"He was sort of a late bloomer. And he's absolutely able to play at the next level."

That could be at any number of positions. Schools are looking at him at middle linebacker, defensive end, tight end or fullback, Martin said.

"And he has very good speed," Martin said. "We've clocked him at 4.7 in the 40 (yard dash)."

- Stan Olson

Meineke Bowl: Davis re-tires, fast

The oddsmakers may say West Virginia is a 1 1/2-point favorite over North Carolina in the Meineke Car Care Bowl on Saturday but history -- and lug nuts -- came down on the Tar Heels' side on Tuesday.

During the annual trip to Lowe's Motor Speedway for both teams, North Carolina coach Butch Davis squared off against West Virginia's Bill Stewart in a tire-changing competition.

By their own admission, neither is particularly familiar with rapid-fire tire changing and air wrenches but, then again, the competition isn't all that serious either. It comes between ride-along sessions for players and coaches on both sides and after a buffett lunch of barbecue, baked beans and cole slaw.

When it came to tire changing, Davis won the "five off, five on" race with a time of 17.12 seconds, exactly .12 faster than Stewart in what may have been the most competitive coaching challenge in the history of lug nuts.

What does it mean?

It means history is on the Tar Heels' side because four of the previous six winners of the tire-changing competition have led their teams to victory in the bowl game.

-- Ron Green Jr.

Papajohns.com Bowl: Good response from Pack

N.C. State’s ticket office has sold about 5,500 of the school’s allotment of 10,000 seats for the Papajohns.com Bowl, school assistant athletics director for ticket operations Brian Kelly said Thursday.

The Wolfpack (6-6) will meet Rutgers (7-5) on Dec. 29 in the game in Birmingham, Ala. Kelly said school officials still are taking orders daily. The school ticket office will take orders by phone through Tuesday and will continue accepting online orders through Dec. 26.

Bowl sales and marketing manager Bo Kerr said most of the ticket orders taken directly by the bowl are received online, so it’s impossible to tell for sure how many patrons of that outlet are N.C. State fans. But he said there are a lot of orders from fans who have phone numbers with North Carolina area codes.

“We’ve gotten very good response from N.C. State,” Kerr said. “We’re expecting to have a good crowd.”

– Ken Tysiac

Florida DB commits to Tar Heels

North Carolina has received the commitment of a top Florida defensive back, choosing the school over finalists Georgia and Michigan, among others.

Angelo Hadley, a 5-foot-11, 190-pound safety at Armwood High in Seffner, Fla., announced his selection of the Tar Heels today, continuing a strong recruiting effort from coach Butch Davis' staff.

"He really liked the school and campus, and had a great relationship with his position coach," said Armwood coach Sean Callahan. "He runs a 4.4 40, but he’s football-fast, better on the field than when being timed.

"He's one of my favorite players; he's a tremendous hitter, but he would never put a big hit on our guys in practice. He would save it for Fridays. And he’s good enough that he will be playing on Sundays.”

Hadley had ten interceptions as a senior, giving him a school-record 19 for his career. He returned three of those ten for touchdowns, and also had 79 tackles. He’s expected to play free safety in Chapel Hill.

North Carolina is also recruiting two of Hadley’s teammates -- defensive end Ryne Giddins, a top-flight national prospect who is also considering UNC along with a number of other schools, and quarterback Mywan Jackson, who would play cornerback for the Tar Heels.

-- Stan Olson

Wolfpack gets another commit, from NJ safety

N.C. State, which seems to add another commitment daily, now has one from 6-foot, 210-pound safety Donald Coleman of the Hun School in Princeton, N.J.

Coleman, who grew up in Detroit, said he was also offered scholarships by Iowa, Minnesota and Delaware. He is the 22nd player to commit to the Wolfpack.

He liked the way N.C. State finished strong in coach Tom O'Brien's second season, he said, and thinks the program is on the way to winning championships.

In his post-graduate season at the Hun School, Coleman, who has 4.45 speed, had 75 tackles and also forced five fumbles. He played running back as well, scoring seven touchdowns and gaining more than 800 yards rushing.

--Stan Olson

Future Tar Heels litter Scout.com top 100

The recent addition to the updated Scout.com top 100 prep football prospects list of quarterback Bryn Renner of Springfield, Va., (No. 94) gives the North Carolina four commitments in that group, leading area schools. There's more good news for Tar Heels fans; seven undecided players are still considering UNC.

One of them, CB Gabe Lynn of Jenks, Okla., will make his choice Thursday, and while the Tar Heels may be longshots in a competition that includes in-state powers Oklahoma and Oklahoma State, they remain in the running.

In addition to Renner, North Carolina's other top 100 players are DE Donte Moss of Jacksonville (N.C.) Northside High at No.40, WR Jheranie Boyd of Gastonia Ashbrook High at No. 67 and LB Justin Dixon of Smithfield-Selma High at No. 91.

South Carolina has Rock Hill South Pointe High safety Devonte Holloman (No. 31) and Clemson has the No. 78 player in DE Malliciah Goodman of West Florence High in Florence, S.C.

And Virginia Tech has No. 86 in TE Logan Thomas of Lynchburg, Va.

-- Stan Olson