How it happened: A behind the scenes look at Jonathan Paylor’s NC State commitment
Jonathan Paylor knew where he wanted to commit after his NC State official visit. The Wolfpack and Gamecocks remained super close at the top of his recruitment in the days following his summer officials, so he took a patient approach to his decision.
When he visited NC State for the final time July 28, he sat down next to his friend and Pack defensive back commit Asaad Brown II in the locker room and had an honest discussion.
“He was like ‘Where are we going, man?’” Paylor said. “I said ‘Bro, I’m coming here!’ He said ‘Stop lying.’ I said ‘Bro, I’m serious, I’m getting a hat and t-shirt today.’”
Brown was the first person to hear about the decision. Then, the longtime friends worked out inside Carter-Finley Stadium. They met at an Alpha Wolf Showcase two years ago, and now they are both committed to team up in the same stadium where they built their friendship.
“They treat me good, they have a good thing going, the academics are great, I’m going to be a two sport athlete here, so I’m running track also,” Paylor told Brown.
The Wolfpack commit was excited to hear that Paylor planned on joining him in Raleigh. NC State offered both prospects very early in the cycle and made its interest very clear from there. Heading into their respective senior seasons, both recruits decided NC State was the right fit for them.
Paylor’s recruitment stretches back all the way to 2021. He shared a step-by-step look into his decision-making process with TheWolfpacker.com earlier this week.
This is the detailed timeline of the elite in-state wide receiver’s journey to NC State.
August 19, 2022
Burlington (NC) Cumming High started its 2022 season with a 22-20 win over Burlington (NC) Williams High in August. Paylor sealed the win with an interception in the final minutes.
He spoke with TheWolfpacker.com after the game and shared that his first top schools list was on the way shortly. NC State made his top 20 just over a week later. He already had a strong bond with the coaching staff at that point.
“I love [wide receivers coach Joker Phillips],” Paylor said that night. “Coach Joker and [head coach Dave Doeren], are the guys you really want to see.”
Paylor shared some insight into how he viewed the Wolfpack at that point in his recruitment.
“For me it was like, ‘Man, this is a great school,’” Paylor said earlier this week. “This can be a school that can be up there in my recruitment, but I kept my mind open and everything like that.”
September 17, 2022
NC State hosted Paylor for a pair of game days last fall. His first trip to campus was for the Wolfpack’s win over Texas Tech, which is when the program debuted its new red stadium lights.
“Once they did the little light show and the whole stadium turned red, I was like ‘Oh, yeah, this is going to be nice right here,” Paylor said.
“Especially when I was there and they were screaming ‘Wolfpack,’ they did all the chants you probably could think of, and I’m just there in the middle, just vibing with the whole crowd and then hanging out with the recruits. Yeah, I had an amazing time up there.”
November 5, 2022
In the days leading up to Paylor’s second game day visit, he issued a challenge on Twitter.
NC State’s fanbase answered the call and chanted his name as the receiver watched the Wolfpack pull off another win over Wake Forest. That meant a lot to him, and he remembered that moment when making his decision.
“They already knew who I was, all I had to do was acknowledge it, and I’m like ‘Okay, dang, I can do this,’” Paylor said. “That helped me a lot too because these guys love me up here.”
January 21, 2023
Once the calendar turned over, NC State’s staff’s focus shifted to the 2024 class, and Paylor remained a huge priority. He visited campus for a junior day in January. Going into that trip, the Wolfpack joined Clemson and Colorado as the three programs making a push early in the year.
Doeren’s genuine effort in Paylor’s recruitment really stood out to the receiver at that point.
“When a head coach can come to your school three times and every time he gets, he comes up there without an excuse, it shows a lot,” Paylor said in January. “It shows that he really cares about you as a person and he cares about you as an athlete.”
March 24, 2023
Paylor visited for the second time in 2023 during one of NC State’s spring practices— a few weeks after he dropped a top 8 March 1. TheWolfpacker.com interviewed him after he cut down his list, and he said NC State and South Carolina were neck-and-neck in his recruitment.
In that moment, he did not plan on officially visiting any in-state programs and instead was going to travel to a few out-of-state programs. Shortly after the March 24 trip to campus, he confirmed that his plans changed, and he set an NC State visit for June.
The spring trip to campus went well, and he used those unofficial trips to Raleigh to grow his connection with the staff and keep tabs on the program.
“I had seen what I already had to see,” Paylor said. “For me, it was just getting back up there and talking to the coaches, seeing if anything changed and really just seeing the players more often.”
When reflecting on that point of his recruitment, Paylor said his NC State and South Carolina were extremely close.
May 3, 2023
TheWolfpacker.com attended one of Paylor’s spring track meets, watching the future two-sport NC State athlete win 4 conference championship races. Afterwards, he shared that the Wolfpack and the Gamecocks remained neck and neck in his recruitment.
His bond with offensive coordinator Robert Anae was really growing at that point.
“The new OC is amazing,” Paylor said in May. “I love coach Anae. I love him and the things they’re doing with the program, which is exploding, so I love it down there.”
Later that month, TheWolfpacker.com heard from a source who said, while South Carolina was the public leader, Paylor’s recruitment was tough to read. They also said that his bonds with NC State are as strong as any other program.
June 16-18, 2023 (Official visit weekend)
NC State hosted Paylor for his official visit the third weekend of June. This weekend was an absolutely critical step towards him picking the Wolfpack.
“I’m soaking it all in and realizing like ‘Okay, I’m really important to NC State,’ so let’s see what I can do about it,” Paylor said after the visit.
The four-star prospect said, once he sat down with freshman wide receiver Kevin Concepcion to discuss the weekend, he knew he wanted to join the program.
“I knew right after the official visit when I sat down with KC and he gave me the rundown,” Paylor said. “We talked, and then, after that, I went to coach Doeren’s room, and we talked some more. After that, I talked to my parents, and they were like ‘Yeah Jon, this is kind of where you want to be at.”
Paylor said his parents also felt comfortable with him picking NC State after the official visit. They really liked South Carolina too, so it that was a massive development.
July, 2023
Paylor thought his mind was made up in July, but he took a step back to reevaluate things later that month and ended up pushing his commitment back to August. In that time, NC State made a really strong move in his recruitment.
“They’re mashing the gas,” Paylor said in July. “The pedal is through the floor to be honest with you. Right now, NC State is really starting to really pull away in third, fourth gear.”
At that point, the receiver was leaning towards visiting South Carolina July 28, giving the Gamecocks what would likely be the final in-person pitch between the two programs.
He ended up adjusting his schedule and traveling to Raleigh. He made his commitment official that day.
July 28, 2023 (Alpha Wolf Showcase)
This was arguably the most important day of Paylor’s recruitment. After he told Brown he planned on committing to the Wolfpack, they went through their camp workout before heading up the Carter-Finley Stadium TowneBank Center for dinner.
He then shared his decision with assistant director of player personnel Quint Cottingham and graduate assistant Gavin Locklear.
“They were like ‘Are you serious?’” Paylor said. “And I was like ‘Yeah bro, I need a hat and a t-shirt. I need to put it in my bookbag.”
Paylor said they were sitting near Doeren during this conversation and, since he wanted to keep the news a secret for a few days, they stepped away from dinner for a few minutes to celebrate. He left the Murphy Center that day with an NC State hat and a shirt.
“I said hold it until the day before because, the day before, I’m going to tell the rest of the players, but I’m not going to tell coach Doeren,” Paylor said. “I’m going to tell coach Doeren the day of.”
August 3, 2023
Paylor told Phillips his decision Thursday, and the news was obviously met with excitement from the Wolfpack assistant.
“On FaceTime with him, I’m going to show him the t-shirt and the hat because he didn’t know I had one,” Paylor said earlier in the week.
“It’s going to be epic.”
August 4, 2023 (Commitment day)
Nearly one year after dropping his first top schools list, Paylor told Doeren the news and officially made his decision public in the Cummings High gym.
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