Wolfpack land Detroit DT

Detroit Cass Tech defensive tackle Kenton Gibbs had planned to take his recruitment out into late January or early February, but an official visit to N.C. State this past weekend hastened that timetable.

When Pittsburgh, where he was scheduled to officially visit this upcoming weekend, informed Gibbs they had filled his spot on Tuesday night, the three-star defensive tackle knew for sure what school he would pick. On Wednesday morning he informed Rivals.com he had committed to N.C. State.

Even before he received word from Pittsburgh that the Panthers had filled up, Gibbs was leaning hard towards N.C. State following this past weekend's official visit.

"I promised Coach [Matt] House from Pittsburgh that I wouldn't commit anywhere else until I take my visit to Pittsburgh, but [NC State] made it hard not to," Gibbs told TheWolfpacker.com following his official visit to Raleigh.

At one time, Gibbs had been committed to Illinois. He re-opened his recruitment back in September, though N.C. State was not on his radar then. The Wolfpack came into the picture after former Northern Illinois head coach Dave Doeren took over the program last month and brought in several assistant coaches who were familiar with Gibbs.

"Coach [Eddie] Faulkner went from Wisconsin to N.C. State and he said he wanted to get me down there to see what that is all about," Gibbs said shortly after Doeren was hired.

This past season the 6-foot-2, 290-pound Gibbs helped Detroit Cass Tech secure their second straight Division I state championship, returning a fumble for a touchdown at a key juncture of the game.