North Carolina continues to load up of their 2024 recruiting class, touchdown their newest dedication from Nashville (Tenn.) Franklin Highway Academy offensive deal with Luke Masterson on Saturday.
The three-star expertise has household ties to North Carolina and grew up a fan of the Tar Heels, so his dedication is one thing he is dreamed about for some time.
ON NORTH CAROLINA:
“My dad truly went to legislation faculty there, so I’ve all the time grown up a fan of North Carolina. I like Coach (Randy) Clem(ents), he is a great man. He coaches onerous, powerful soccer and I like that about him.”
WHAT THE TAR HEELS ARE GETTING:
At 6-foot-6, 270-pounds, Masterson is an athletic offensive deal with with lots of bend and quickness to his recreation. That mixture of traits made him a really fascinating prospect through the offseason as applications like Duke, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt, Missouri, Ole Miss, Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and Louisville additionally have been in pursuit.
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Masterson additionally shows his athleticism off the gridiron. He wrestles for his highschool and in addition throws shot put and focus on. He beforehand performed lacrosse for the final seven years as effectively.
WHY IT’S BIG FOR NORTH CAROLINA:
For the Tar Heels, Masterson turns into the seventh dedication within the 2024 class and the third offensive lineman, becoming a member of Desmond Jackson and Andrew Rosinski. Masterson is rated a 5.6, three-star prospect and the No. 29 participant within the state of Tennessee.
It is clear, North Carolina head coach Mack Brown and his employees have put an emphasis on offensive line recruiting on this 12 months’s class. Thus far, that effort has paid off with three gifted commitments up entrance that may be an enormous a part of the longer term.
RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — We’re not even one month into 2025, and there’s already a second chance to see snowfall in central North Carolina.
Most of the week will be rather cold with temperatures in the 30s to 40s.
Spotty showers are likely on Sunday, amounting to 0.10 to 0.20 inches. This is not all that impactful for the region, and it’s too little rainfall to make any big dent in the drought conditions across the Triangle. The chance for any backside mixed in snowflakes Sunday afternoon looks fleeting, but you’re more likely to see it in far eastern portions of the viewing area.
Another chance for precipitation will be on Tuesday night (more snowy) and Thursday into Thursday night (more icy).
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Tuesday: There can be a path of 1 to 3 inches of snow in the southern/eastern parts of central NC.
Thursday: There is a risk of some freezing rain at night, more likely in the eastern parts of central NC. Details beyond this are limited.
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MORE COVERAGE
WATCH | First Alert to Winter Special 2024
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In this week’s special First Alert to Winter show, the team looks at snow chances, the winter forecast and getting ready for wintry weather.
The Ole Miss Rebels have made strong moves in the transfer portal this offseason, but the program missed out on a key contributor on Saturday when cornerback Thaddeus Dixon pledged to the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Ole Miss was in the race late for Dixon, but a deciding factor in his decision to join the Tar Heels may have boiled down to Carolina’s hiring of former Washington assistant Armond Hawkins as defensive backs coach. Dixon is a transfer from the Washington Huskies, so familiarity in his new home likely played a role.
READ MORE: Will Ole Miss QB Austin Simmons Continue Playing Baseball in 2025?
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So, where do the Rebels go from here? Ole Miss has already gained some key pieces in its secondary out of the transfer portal (including CB Jaylon Braxton of Arkansas), but Lane Kiffin’s team will probably still be seeking some help in the defensive backfield as the transfer portal continues to move.
According to On3’s current transfer portal class rankings, Ole Miss has the third-best haul in the country, behind Texas Tech and Missouri. The Rebels have seen 23 players transfer into the program so far this offseason, and that number could continue to grow between now and kickoff of the 2025 season.
Ole Miss opens its 2025 campaign on Aug. 30 at home against Georgia State.
READ MORE Ole Miss Rebels News:
Ole Miss To Host Former Penn State WR Trey Wallace
Ole Miss Rebels DT Jamarious Brown Named Freshman All-American
Ole Miss Lands Former Louisville QB Pierce Clarkson Via Transfer Portal
Former Ole Miss Football Superstar AJ Brown Named AP All-Pro Second Team
The Pete Golding Effect: How Ole Miss Football Will Reload Defensively in 2025
In a postseason recruitment that was raw and revealing at times, where decorated cornerback Thaddeus Dixon suggested in social media postings that University of Washington football fans wanted him to come back more than the coaches, apparently received all the assurances he needed at North Carolina.
On Saturday, the senior defensive back from Long Beach, California, told On3 he would join the Tar Heels for his final season of college football, adding to a growing list of one-time UW players and coaches headed to Chapel Hill.
So far, the departing group includes linebacker Khmori House, safety Peyton Waters, wide receiver Jason Robinson Jr., defensive coordinator Steve Belichick and defensive analyst Armond Hawkins, all moving from Montlake to the ACC.
The 6-foot-1, 187-pound Dixon would have given the Huskies three highly accredited corners, joining fellow UW starter Ephesians Prysock and Arizona transfer Tacario Davis, to fill out a secondary that could have had few equals this coming season, and still might.
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Dixon reportedly took recruiting visits to Mississippi and North Carolina, and fielded overtures from Michigan, before settling on the Tar Heels.
The disconnect for Dixon appeared to show up when the Huskies landed a portal commitment from the 6-foot-4, 190-pound Davis, a second-team All-Big 12 pick this past season, presumably to take his vacated spot.
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The 6-foot-4, 193-pound Prysock and Davis teamed together at Arizona in 2023, with both earning All-Pac-12 honorable-mention accolades.
Dixon originally was supposed to run out of college eligibility when the season ended, hence the Huskies went looking for cornerback help, but the NCAA gave the veteran an extra year when it changed the rules governing players with junior-college backgrounds. He came to the UW from Long Beach Community College.
One of the Huskies’ top individual success stories this past season, Dixon went from a back-up player in 2023 to unseat returning starter Elijah Jackson, who opened all 15 games for the national runner-up team.
Thaddeus Dixon soaks up the moment after an Apple Cup interception. / Skylar Lin Visuals
Moving into the lineup, Dixon started 12 of 13 games and received All-Big Ten honorable-mention honors for Jedd Fisch’s coaching staff. He had a team-best 10 pass break-ups, an Apple Cup interception and several textbook tackles in the open field. He’s easily made himself into an NFL prospect.
With three accomplished cornerbacks, the Huskies could have picked two starters and put the odd man out at nickelback.
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Dixon clearly wasn’t going to go that route at the UW, likely figuring his past performance should have provided him with more cornerback guarantees.
For the latest UW football and basketball news, go to si.com/college/washington