SIGNEE: Julian Gray‍ 

IPS RANK: 91

SCHOOL: Hopewell High School

HOMETOWN: Huntersville, NC

POSITION: Wide Receiver

VITALS: 6’1/180

Early Enrollee? YES

Where Does He Rank?

Statistics: As a junior Gray totaled 57 catches for 1,217 yards and nine touchdowns. 

Why NC State? NC State is just a really good program and I love everything they do there. I love the way coach Doeren coaches. I love coach McDonald... he’s a very experienced wide receivers coach -- he’s put multiple people in the league. I love the hard, tough, together motto. I think that builds a good program. I really love the strength and conditioning program there, as well.

Who Did He Pick NC State Over? Georgia Tech, Rutgers, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, and Duke

IPS Take On Gray: Gray shows great acceleration and his explosiveness makes him tough to cover in small spaces. Once in the open field, time and again you see defensive backs misjudge his straight line speed.  As a result, they take horrible pursuit angles. Watching his film, you won’t see anyone catch him from behind.

While speed is Gray’s calling card, the thing that jumps out at me is his toughness. He does a tremendous job of breaking arm tackles, and you can likely thank his time in the weight room for that.  A 485 pound squat is an impressive number for a 180 pound receiver, and that strength serves him well when running out of tackles.