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 (many 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.

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📈 NC Football News 2026 Composite Rankings

Updated July 12, 2025

RANK	NAME	AVG	POS	HT	WT	HOMETOWN	SCHOOL	HARD COMMIT	247	ON3	RIVALS	ESPN
1	Faizon Brandon	1.75	QB	6-3	197	Greensboro	Grimsley HS	Tennessee 8/3/24	1	4	1	1
2	Kendre Harrison	2.75	TE	6-7	243	Reidsville	Reidsville HS	Oregon 11/30/2024	4	2	3	2
3	Rodney Dunham	3.25	EDGE	6-4	227	Charlotte	Myers Park HS	Notre Dame 4/10/2025	2	1	6	4
4	Aiden Harris	6.00	DL	6-3	240	Matthews	Weddington HS	South Carolina 6/8/2025	6	6	4	8
4	Ekene Ogboko	6.00	IOL	6-6	280	Garner	South Garner HS	Georgia 6/18/2025	3	10	8	3
4	Samari Matthews	6.00	CB	6-0	180	Cornelius	Hough HS	Texas 7/11/2025	7	9	2	6
7	Pierre “PJ” Dean	6.50	IOL	6-5	305	Clemmons	West Forsyth HS	Georgia 6/30/2025	9	5	5	7
8	Ebenezer Ewetade	9.25	EDGE	6-4	221	Garner	South Garner HS	Notre Dame 4/5/2025	15	3	7	12
9	Leo Delaney	9.50	IOL	6-6	280	Charlotte	Providence Day	Clemson 6/3/2025	5	13	15	5
10	Keshawn Stancil	10.50	DL	6-3	260	Clayton	Clayton HS	Clemson 6/28/2025	13	8	10	11
11	Gordon Sellars	13.50	WR	6-2	180	Charlotte	Providence Day	Clemson 4/18/2025	17	11	17	9
11	Thomas Davis Jr.	13.50	LB	6-2	205	Matthews	Weddington HS	Notre Dame 11/12/2024	11	24	9	10
13	Trashawn Ruffin	14.00	DL	6-3	307	Mount Olive	North Duplin HS	North Carolina 3/27/2024	12	19	12	13
14	Andrew Harris	16.25	LB	6-2	235	Matthews	Weddington HS	South Carolina 6/8/2025	20	15	16	14
15	Zavion Griffin-Hayes	16.75	EDGE	6-6	235	Rolesville	Rolesville HS	North Carolina 6/5/2025	16	25	11	15
16	Noah Clark	17.25	DL	6-3	318	Durham	Jordan HS	South Carolina 7/2/2025	8	32	13	16
17	Elijah Littlejohn	19.00	EDGE	6-2	205	Charlotte	West Charlotte HS	Penn State 6/16/2025	14	23	21	18
18	Keysaun Eleazer	20.75	EDGE	6-5	190	Raleigh	Southeast Raleigh HS	Stanford 7/1/2025	24	18	24	17
19	J.B. Shabazz	21.50	OT	6-7	295	Kernersville	East Forsyth HS	Tennessee 7/11/2025	25	7	33	21
20	Ben Boulware	22.00	DL	6-5	305	Winston-Salem	Oak Grove HS		18	21	18	31
20	Camdin Portis	22.00	CB	6-0	165	Charlotte	Myers Park HS	Miami 10/27/2024	10	28	31	19
22	William “Tex” Vaughn	25.00	TE	6-4	231	Kings Mountain	Kings Mountain HS	Boston College 5/24/2025	28	22	27	23
23	Damaad Lewis	25.50	DL	6-4	245	Charlotte	Myers Park HS		19	14	26	43
24	Brody Keefe	26.50	WR	6-3	185	Charlotte	Myers Park HS	Duke 6/10/2025	37	31	14	24
25	Tyran Evans	27.75	WR	6-3	185	Charlotte	Hough HS	Miami 6/25/2025	31	12	36	32
26	Grant Lawless	28.50	QB	6-3	190	Denver	East Lincoln HS	Wake Forest 6/5/2025	33	16	36	29
27	Jace McCallum	29.25	EDGE	6-4	220	Harrisburg	Hickory RIdge HS	Vanderbilt 6/11/2025	21	17	36	43
28	D’Various Surratt	30.00	S	6-0	185	Shelby	Crest HS	NC State 7/1/2025	26	45	22	27
29	Nick Reddish	31.00	S	5-11	185	Charlotte	Independence HS	Notre Dame 7/11/2025	27	44	23	30
30	Lyrik Pettis	31.75	S	6-1	175	Shelby	Crest HS	Duke 7/1/2025	30	36	36	25
31	Donovan Johnson	32.00	DL	6-4	325	Fayetteville	Pine Forest HS	Rutgers 3/11/2025	36	42	30	20
31	Terande Spencer	32.00	EDGE	6-3	235	Rockingham	Richmond Senior HS	East Carolina 6/14/2025	23	26	36	43
33	Manny Lewis	33.50	EDGE	6-2	250	Waxhaw	Marvin Ridge HS	Appalachian State 6/1/2025	22	33	36	43
34	Jamal Rule	34.00	RB	6-0	205	Charlotte	Charlotte Christian	Nebraska 6/23/2025	48	34	28	26
35	D.J. Howerton	34.75	TE	6-4	220	Greensboro	Grimsley HS	Rutgers 6/3/2025	32	41	32	34
36	Tyrell Simpson	35.00	OT	6-7	310	Leland	North Brunswick HS	Virginia Tech 6/23/2025	34	49	29	28
37	Jayden Griffin-Haynes	35.50	WR	6-3	200	Rolesville	Rolesville HS	North Carolina 6/5/2025	35	60	25	22
38	Ja’Vaughn Hargett	36.25	OT	6-5	260	Durham	Southern HS	East Carolina 6/21/2025	41	27	34	43
39	Jaire Richburg	36.75	WR	6-3	180	Kernersville	East Forsyth HS	NC State 6/26/2025	42	30	36	39
40	Gavin Waddell	37.75	WR	6-1	175	Rolesville	Rolesville HS	Louisville 4/3/2025	38	40	36	37
41	Alex Voss	38.75	WR	6-4	200	Waxhaw	Marvin Ridge HS	Boston College 4/18/2025	52	29	36	38
42	Dallas Brannon	39.25	LB	6-2	205	Charlotte	Independence HS	Virginia 6/17/2025	60	35	19	43
43	Caleb Gordon	39.75	LB	6-0	215	Gastonia	Ashbrook HS	Arkansas 6/3/2025	61	43	20	35
44	Kamdon Gillespie	40.50	EDGE	6-2	230	Mooresville	Mooresville HS	Virginia Tech 6/14/2025	44	39	36	43
45	Jackson Debe	41.50	QB	6-3	185	Charlotte	Providence HS		40	47	36	43
46	Aiden Smalls	42.50	ATH	6-1	175	Raleigh	Clayton HS	Rice 4/25/2025	54	37	36	43
47	Gannon Jones	42.50	QB	5-11	170	Raleigh	Cardinal Gibbons HS	Wake Forest 5/29/2025	55	38	36	41
48	Zaid Lott	42.75	QB	6-0	215	Charlotte	Providence Day	Syracuse 3/25/2025	50	52	36	33
49	KD Cotton	44.00	ATH	5-10	175	Charlotte	West Charlotte	Duke 6/26/2025	45	56	35	40
50	Brody Norman	45.75	QB	6-1	185	Mooresville	Mooresville HS	Temple 6/8/2025	56	48	36	43
51	Nick Kashubara	48.00	OT	6-4	285	Greensboro	Grimsley HS	Appalachian State 6/11/2025	62	51	36	43
52	Dorrian Medley	48.25	S	6-3	170	Hickory	Hickory HS	Appalachian State 4/12/2025	57	57	36	43
53	Ely Hamrick	48.75	QB	6-4	215	Asheville	Crest HS	Virginia 9/16/2024	65	58	36	36
54	Rob Lange	49.75	EDGE	6-4	230	High Point	Northwest Guilford HS		67	53	36	43
55	Jacob Smith	50.00	QB	6-1	205	Pfafftown	Reagan HS	NC State 8/6/24	63	59	36	42
56	Noah Terry	51.00	RB	5-9	210	Raleigh	Cardinal Gibbons		64	61	36	43
57	Dominic Basrawala	51.75	EDGE	6-3	245	Charlotte	Charlotte Catholic	Army 6/23/2024	66	62	36	43
58	David Green	52.75	K	5-10	170	High Point	High Point Christian	North Carolina 4/11/2025	68	64	36	43

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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)