BREAKING: Aydan White returns to NC State for 2024 season
NC State star cornerback Aydan White had a change of heart this week. After entering the transfer portal earlier this month, the junior All-ACC defensive back now plans to withdraw and return to Raleigh for the 2024 season.
White earned a spot on the all-conference third team this season after recording a career-high 10 defended passes, 37 total tackles, 2 interception and a sack. Next season will be his fifth with the Wolfpack after he considered NFL Draft and transfer portal options.
He announced the news in a Twitter post with Savage Wolves NIL co-founder Tom Livolsi.
“I’ve got one more year in me,” White said. “Let’s do it.”
Over the course of his career, White developed into one of the ACC’s top defensive backs. He emerged as a starter during the 2022 campaign and received first-team all-conference honors after securing 4 interceptions, including one that he returned for a touchdown, and 9 defended passes.
The cornerback’s decision to return provides a major boost to NC State’s secondary. Redshirt junior Shyheim Battle decided to enter the NFL Draft. The Pack will only have to replace one of its starting cornerbacks now.
Battle and White formed one of the best cornerback duos in the country this season, and they helped shut down opponents’ passing attacks during the second half of the 2023 campaign. In perhaps their best performance of the season, they held Wake Forest’s leading receiver, Jahmal Banks, to 0 receptions.
“He believes in himself, I believe in him, coaches believe in him,” Battle said after that game. “He knows all he has to do is do his job. That makes everything else easier for us.”
In order to bolster the depth of NC State’s secondary, the Wolfpack also brought in a pair of transfer defensive backs— Devon Marshall from Villanova and Corey Coley from Maryland. Both cornerbacks have extensive experience and proven production that will help them compete for the starting spot across from White.
Coley, who has 1 season of eligibility remaining, made 9 tackles and defended 2 passes in a rotational role with the Terrapins, while Marshall recorded 47 total tackles and recorded 11 defended passes as a sophomore.
White is already enrolled classes with the Pack, so he will be eligible to rejoin the team and participate in winter workouts and spring practice. The 2024 season will be his final year of eligibility.
