NC State’s Justin Gainey wants to own in-state recruiting. His first moves are early step in right direction

From the day Justin Gainey arrived at NC State, recruiting within the program’s borders was at the top of mind. He’d found success in recruiting high school talent from his home state, and now that he’s leading one of the top programs in the area, that mission wasn’t going to change.  The 49-year-old put it plainly in his introductory press conference, setting the tone for what was to come. He didn’t want to watch the top players in the state, whether they attend high school nearby or are North State natives that are playing prep ball elsewhere, to get on planes and head outside the four walls of the lines that separate the territory from the rest of the country.  Gainey wants to keep North Carolina talent, well, in North Carolina. “We’re going to recruit the state hard and heavy,” he said at the time. “There’s a lot of talent in this state, a lot. We’re going to scratch every corner of this state to find the best, to find the best that fit us. But we want to be dominant in the state of North Carolina in recruiting, and then we’ll build out from there.” Through his first 50 days on the job, Gainey has proven those words weren’t empty or hollow. Instead, he’s appeared to make that a top priority as he and his staff have crafted their first roster in Raleigh.