N.C. State Football: Johnathan Alston picks Wolfpack

The North Carolina State Wolfpack added their 20th commitment in the 2013 class yesterday, and it was their best commitment of the entire class. High-end three-star athlete Jonathan Alston is arguably one of the top 500 recruits in the nation, and he chose N.C. State over offers from the North Carolina Tar Heels, the East Carolina Pirates, the Arkansas Razorbacks, the South Carolina Gamecocks, the Tennessee Volunteers, the Syracuse Orange, and Notre Dame.

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Alston can play at wide receiver or outside linebacker, but the top 20 in-state recruit (North Carolina) is best fit at outside linebacker where he is rated by some recruiting outlets as a top 40 OLB. Alston’s only official visit was to N.C. State, and it seemed unlikely that he would be going anywhere outside of Raleigh. However, the Bunn standout was linked to UNC with a couple of unofficial visits to Chapel Hill in his recruitment.

But N.C. State was able to secure their top commitment in the class thus far yesterday, and Alston gives the team an athletic, legitimate building block on defense. Most recruiting outlets have the Pack without a single four-star prospect, but 247Sports rates Alston as a four-star guy. So Alston is the Pack’s impact recruit, so to speak, in the class- at least for now.

Alston is 6’2″, 200 pounds and officially visited the Wolfpack last week after unofficial trips in late July and early October. The WR/OLB is the star of Bunn High and has excellent range, solid pass rushing ability, is a disruptive player, and he can also make an impact in the red zone as a receiver. The Raleigh News and Observer named him to their All-Area First-Team in the preseason, and he entrenched himself as one of the better players in the state with a solid season that culminated in a four reception, 79-yard game (one touchdown) in a playoff game. He finished the year with 20 in total.

You can follow Joe Soriano on Twitter @SorianoJoe.