NC State Adds a Highly-Touted Tight End From Portal
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RALEIGH — While the transfer portal window closed for new entries on Friday, many players are left looking for new homes for the 2026 college football season. NC State is one program still making additions before the academic calendar makes it difficult to integrate new transfers, making yet another pair of splashes Tuesday.
The Wolfpack secured a commitment from former Oregon tight end Vander Ploog, per an announcement from Ploog on social media. The former consensus four-star recruit did not much game action with the Ducks, but adds another talented option and potential future star for rising tight end coach Gavin Locklear.
The Impact of Adding Ploog
Despite spending his first collegiate season with the Oregon Ducks, Ploog never saw action and utilized a redshirt, so he is set to have four years of eligibility remaining, no matter where he ends up out of the transfer portal. NC State tight end coach Gavin Locklear emerged as a rising star across the country for his work with his position group during the 2025 season.
After a visit over the weekend, Ploog was convinced by Locklear and the rest of the NC State staff that he would be a good fit for the program. He became the second tight end to commit to the Wolfpack out of the portal, joining Montana State's Hunter Provience, a defending FCS champion. The two tight ends are the program's highest-rated transfers of the class so far, per On3.
4⭐️ Tight End, Vander Ploog (yes that’s his real name) from Fullerton, CA doesn’t seem to be too impressed with UCF. pic.twitter.com/qq2KsJEyPC
— Sherman Young Jr. (@ShermStu_2) May 19, 2024
As a high school player, Ploog had a prolific career with Fullerton Troy High School in Southern California, where he totaled over 2,200 receiving yards and 37 touchdowns in three years at the varsity level. His efforts helped him become a four-star prospect, earning him numerous offers from across the country. Eventually, he landed in Eugene, Oregon, but never got the opportunities he was looking for.
Dave Doeren and the NC State front office staff have made a habit of identifying underused high-level recruits and bringing them to Raleigh over the last few seasons. Ploog could be the latest case in that exercise, should he decide to join the Wolfpack. With Cody Hardy and Justin Joly on the way out and Dante Daniels also potentially out of eligibility, the Pack needed to rebuild the depth of the tight end group. Ploog is a sizable piece to that puzzle.
Douglas and Ploog should compete for the team's pass-catching tight end role, while Provience being the perfect fit to replace the outgoing Hardy. Locklear appears to have reloaded the group in a hurry.
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Tucker Sennett graduated summa cum laude with a B.A. in Sports Journalism from the esteemed Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University. A former basketball player, he has gained valuable experience working at Cronkite News and brings a deep passion for sports and reporting to his role as the NC State Wolfpack Beat Writer On SI.
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