2026 Top Football Recruits in North Carolina: Composite Rankings

🏈 2026 North Carolina High School Football Composite Rankings

North Carolina continues to be a recruiting hotbed for college football programs — and the Class of 2026 could be one of the strongest in years. Dozens of rising seniors from across the state are drawing national attention, racking up offers (some committing already) and moving up recruiting boards.

To give fans and recruiters a clearer picture of where these players stand, NC Football News created a Composite Rankings system. We pull the statewide rankings from the four major recruiting services — 247Sports, On3, Rivals and ESPN — and average those values to produce a more balanced look at where players stand across the industry. Only prospects who appear in at least two of the four rankings are included in our final list.

This table is updated regularly to reflect new evals, commitments and movement. Our aim is to offer a consistent, data-driven snapshot of North Carolina’s top high school football talent — sortable, readable and easy to follow as the cycle unfolds.

Below you’ll find the full, updated rankings list — followed by links to deeper recruiting coverage, including commitments, school-specific rankings and past composite updates.

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📅 Past Rankings Updates

• April 2025 Rankings & Story
• June 2025 Rankings & Story (Coming Soon!)

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📈 NC Football News 2026 Composite Rankings

RANK	NAME	AVG	POS	HT	WT	HARD COMMIT	HOMETOWN	SCHOOL	247	ON3	RIVALS	ESPN
1	Faizon Brandon	1.00	QB	6-3	197	Tennessee 8/3/2024	Greensboro	Grimsley HS	1	1	1	1
2	Kendre Harrison	3.00	TE	6-7	243	Oregon 11/30/2024	Reidsville	Reidsville HS	4	3	3	2
3	Rodney Dunham	3.50	EDGE	6-4	227	Notre Dame 4/10/2025	Charlotte	Myers Park HS	2	2	6	4
4	Ekene Ogboko	4.75	IOL	6-6	280		Garner	South Garner HS	3	5	8	3
5	Samari Matthews	5.25	CB	6-0	180		Cornelius	Hough HS	7	6	2	6
6	Aiden Harris	5.50	DL	6-3	240		Matthews	Weddington HS	6	4	4	8
7	Pierre Dean	7.00	IOL	6-5	305		Clemmons	West Forsyth HS	9	7	5	7
8	Leo Delaney	8.50	IOL	6-6	280	Clemson 6/3/2025	Charlotte	Providence Day	5	9	15	5
9	Thomas Davis Jr.	10.25	LB	6-2	205	Notre Dame 11/12/2024	Matthews	Weddington HS	11	11	9	10
10	Ebenezer Ewetade	10.50	EDGE	6-4	221	Notre Dame 4/5/2025	Garner	South Garner HS	15	8	7	12
11	Keshawn Stancil	11.50	DL	6-3	260		Clayton	Clayton HS	13	10	10	13
12	Trashawn Ruffin	12.50	DL	6-3	307	North Carolina 3/27/2024	Mount Olive	North Duplin HS	12	12	12	14
13	Noah Clark	12.75	DL	6-3	318		Durham	Jordan HS	8	14	13	16
14	Gordon Sellars	13.75	WR	6-2	180	Clemson 4/18/2025	Charlotte	Providence Day	17	12	17	9
15	Zavion Griffin-Hayes	14.00	EDGE	6-6	235	North Carolina 6/5/2025	Rolesville	Rolesville HS	16	18	11	11
16	Andrew Harris	16.50	DL	6-2	235		Matthews	Weddington HS	20	15	16	15
17	Elijah Littlejohn	17.50	EDGE	6-2	205		Charlotte	West Charlotte HS	14	17	21	18
18	Camdin Portis	19.00	CB	6-0	165	Miami 10/27/2024	Charlotte	Myers Park HS	10	16	31	19
19	Ben Boulware	21.00	DL	6-5	305		Winston-Salem	Oak Grove HS	18	20	18	28
20	Keysaun Eleazer	21.75	EDGE	6-5	190		Raleigh	Southeast Raleigh HS	24	22	24	17
21	Brody Keefe	24.00	WR	6-3	185		Charlotte	Myers Park HS	36	25	14	21
22	J.B. Shabazz	24.75	OT	6-7	295		Kernersville	East Forsyth HS	25	19	33	22
23	D’Various Surratt	25.25	S	6-0	185		Shelby	Crest HS	26	28	22	25
24	William “Tex” Vaughn	25.25	TE	6-4	231	Boston College 5/24/2025	Kings Mountain	Kings Mountain HS	28	23	27	23
25	Damaad Lewis	25.75	DL	6-4	245		Charlotte	Myers Park HS	19	21	26	37
26	Nick Reddish	26.00	S	5-11	185		Charlotte	Independence HS	27	27	23	27
27	Donovan Johnson	27.75	DL	6-4	325	Rutgers 3/11/2025	Fayetteville	Pine Forest HS	35	26	30	20
28	Tyrell Simpson	29.75	OT	6-7	310	Rutgers 5/31/2025	Leland	North Brunswick HS	33	31	29	26
29	Tyran Evans	30.00	WR	6-3	185	Tennessee 1/5/2025	Charlotte	Hough HS	31	24	36	29
30	Jace McCallum	31.50	EDGE	6-4	220		Harrisburg	Hickory RIdge HS	21	32	36	37
31	Lyrik Pettis	32.75	S	6-1	175		Shelby	Crest HS	30	41	36	24
32	D.J. Howerton	33.00	TE	6-4	220	Rutgers 6/3/2025	Greensboro	Grimsley HS	32	38	32	30
33	Jayden Griffin-Haynes	33.75	WR	6-3	200	North Carolina 6/5/2025	Rolesville	Rolesville HS	34	39	25	37
34	Manny Lewis	33.75	EDGE	6-2	250	Appalachian State 6/1/2025	Waxhaw	Marvin Ridge HS	22	40	36	37
35	Terande Spencer	34.50	EDGE	6-3	235		Rockingham	Richmond Senior HS	23	42	36	37
36	Gavin Waddell	34.75	WR	6-1	175	Louisville 4/3/2025	Rolesville	Rolesville HS	37	34	36	32
37	Jamal Rule	35.00	RB	6-0	205		Charlotte	Charlotte Christian	46	29	28	37
38	Dallas Brannon	35.25	LB	6-2	205		Charlotte	Independence HS	55	30	19	37
39	Caleb Gordon	36.50	LB	6-0	215	Arkansas 6/3/2025	Gastonia	Ashbrook HS	56	33	20	37
40	Ja’Vaughn Hargett	37.00	OT	6-5	260		Durham	Southern HS	40	37	34	37
41	Jaire Richburg	37.50	WR	6-3	180		Kernersville	East Forsyth HS	41	36	36	37
42	Zaid Lott	38.25	QB	6-0	215	Syracuse 3/25/2025	Charlotte	Providence Day	49	35	36	33
43	Jackson Debe	39.75	QB	6-3	185		Charlotte	Providence HS	39	47	36	37
44	Kamdon Gillespie	40.25	EDGE	6-2	230		Mooresville	Mooresville HS	43	45	36	37
45	KD Cotton	40.75	ATH	5-10	175		Charlotte	West Charlotte	47	44	35	37
46	Alex Voss	41.00	WR	6-4	200	Boston College 4/18/2025	Waxhaw	Marvin Ridge HS	51	43	36	34
47	Aiden Smalls	44.00	ATH	6-1	175	Rice 4/25/2025	Raleigh	Clayton HS	57	46	36	37
48	Gannon Jones	44.25	QB	5-11	170	Wake Forest 5/29/2025	Raleigh	Cardinal Gibbons HS	58	48	36	35
49	Ely Hamrick	44.75	QB	6-4	215	Virginia 9/16/2024	Asheville	Crest HS	63	49	36	31
50	Jacob Smith	45.75	QB	6-1	205	NC State 8/6/2024	Pfafftown	Reagan HS	61	50	36	36
51	Noah Terry	46.75	RB	5-9	210		Raleigh	Cardinal Gibbons	62	52	36	37
52	Rob Lange	47.25	EDGE	6-4	230		High Point	Northwest Guilford HS	65	51	36	37
53	Dominic Basrawala	47.50	EDGE	6-3	245		Charlotte	Charlotte Catholic	64	53	36	37
54	David Green	48.25	K	5-10	170	North Carolina 4/11/2025	High Point	High Point Christian	66	54	36	37
	Updated 6/6/2025

💡 This composite list is updated monthly — check back for new rankings movement, commitments and summer camp risers.

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🔗 More NC Recruiting Coverage

🏫 Check out where 2026 North Carolina high school football standouts will play in college: Explore our full NC High School Football Commitment Tracker

🏈 Find out which 2026 high school football players have committed to North Carolina college programs: View our NC College Commitment Tracker

📊 Explore 2025 North Carolina composite player rankings, led by Providence Day standout David Sanders Jr. (Tennessee signee)