NC State WR Wesley Grimes feels ‘at home’ with familiar faces on roster

Even though wide receiver Wesley Grimes spent his first two years of college football at Wake Forest, he knows his way around NC State’s football facilities pretty well. 

The former Millbrook High standout spent “a lot” of time working out inside the Wolfpack’s indoor practice facility while he was in high school. He also attended various camps held by the Pack, which didn’t hurt either. 

Grimes is not the usual transfer, who steps on campus for the first time during their official visit to see if they like what the program has to offer. He knew what NC State had, and became the Pack’s first portal commitment in early December, shortly after his season with the Demon Deacons ended. 

Now, just a handful of spring practices in, Grimes feels as if he never left.

“Just being around the facility, I’m used to a lot of the stuff around here,” Grimes said earlier this week. “So playing here, I feel at home.”

While the surroundings are not new for the Raleigh native, neither are his teammates. 

NC State retooled its offense through the transfer portal in the offseason, which led to On3’s No. 6 class, and many of those faces were people Grimes was already very familiar with. The Pack signed six transfers from North Carolina, including the former Wake Forest route runner, but there was one new teammate that he was excited to team up with: Ohio State transfer Noah Rogers. 

The relationship between the two goes back way before either one even thought playing Division I football was right around the corner.

They met in fourth grade playing Pop Warner against each other in the region. Grimes played for the Capital City Steelers, while Rogers was on the North Raleigh squad. During their seventh-grade season, the two were on a trip to a tournament at Walt Disney World in Florida where they began to grow “close” as friends. 

And by the time they reached high school? They were training partners, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. That is where their friendship strengthened even more. 

“We’ve always been competing, getting each other better,” Grimes said. “We’ve been feeding off each other, getting each other better, and we just ended up here.”

The two, after separate stops outside of Raleigh, reunited through the portal with the Wolfpack. While that is the most notable friendship duo on the offense, there are more connections around the NC State roster. 

Former Charlotte (N.C.) Julius L. Chambers standout running back Hollywood Smothers, who transferred from Oklahoma this offseason, was teammates with current star wideout Kevin “KC” Concepcion. Additionally, Maryland transfer defensive back Tamarcus Cooley played with Rogers at Rolesville High. 

A lot of those players were all recruited around the same time, so they were routinely on campus together for camps and visits. For sophomore tight end Juice Vereen, who was a part of the 2023 recruiting class that missed out on Rogers and Smothers out of high school, getting the band back together was key in the portal process of landing the local products. 

“That helped us out, leading them to pick this decision for them boys to come back home,” Vereen said. “It just helped us bring them back home.”

NC State coach Dave Doeren thought the already existing friendships have helped in assimilating the roster together over the winter and spring workouts. 

“Built-in friends coming in the door, that helps,” Doeren said. “Thirty-two [new] guys, if none of them know each other, that can be challenging. There were some relationships, not only within the guys that came in, but with the guys currently on our team. … Those friendships help when you’re talking about building chemistry on your roster.”

Being in a new place with familiar faces has helped Grimes, especially since he is on the same side of the field with Rogers for the first time in his career. The relationships and bonds have only grown since the Pack brought the transfers on campus, and it brought a smile to Grimes’ face when he talked about it.

“Just being back with everybody is just a great feeling,” Grimes said. “Happy to come out every day. You play with your brothers, it’s just a fun time again.”

It may have taken longer than expected through the transfer portal process for this group of North Carolina talent to be on the same squad, but all have had glowing reviews to this point. 

What’s it like for Grimes? That’s an easy answer. 

“It’s kind of a full-circle moment, we just all ended up in the same place,” Grimes said. “It all worked out for the better.”