Revisiting NC State's South Florida Portal Rebuild
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RALEIGH — Throughout the transfer portal process, NC State made a concerted effort to bring in players that benefitted returning quarterback CJ Bailey. That meant emphasis on offensive linemen, tight ends, and most importantly, a new stable of wide receivers for the talented passer to sling the football to in 2026.
The Wolfpack staff also appealed to Bailey's hometown roots in the portal, adding several players with connections to the Miami Metropolitan Area and even a pair of the quarterback's teammates from Chaminade-Madonna College Preparatory, where they marched their way to a state championship in 2022. The South Florida Wolfpack took shape slowly, but surely.
Laying the seeds for reunions
While no one but Bailey himself can speak to his intentions in November, the quarterback appeared to lay the foundations of the pipeline between his home area and his new school before the Wolfpack's matchup against his hometown Miami Hurricanes. While the game itself was a disaster for Bailey, his comments in the prelude included one move that seemed calculated in hindsight.
"JoJo Trader, Chance Robinson, Keelan Marion, Mark Fletcher, Malachi Toney, all of them," Bailey began. "All those guys I know, I don't want them talking (smack) to me after the game, so we got to go win it all."
They teamed up by the time they were 9 years old. Now, QB CJ Bailey, RB Davion Gause, and WRs Chance Robinson & JoJo Trader reunited at NC State.
— The Wolfpacker (@TheWolfpacker) January 29, 2026
"They were special kids at that age and they just wanted to play ball, win games and be with their friends."https://t.co/YhL3hGbABU pic.twitter.com/nasFVxxWqm
Fast forward a few months, and both JoJo Trader and Chance Robinson, Miami Hurricanes wide receivers, jumped into the transfer portal and brought their talents to Raleigh, joining Bailey. Davion Gause, a running back at UNC, made the uncommon decision to leave Chapel Hill and head down the road to NC State, also joining Bailey after playing together at Chaminade-Madonna.
The two wide receivers first caught passes from Bailey when they were 9-years-old back in Southern Florida. Now, the Wolfpack quarterback will try to get them playing to the potential they showed as high school players, especially Trader. As a four-star recruit, the expectations were high for Trader, but he never made his way into the Miami rotation with any consistency. His trusted quarterback could turn him into one of the ACC's strongest pass catchers if the chemistry from high school remains.
The second Miami wideout became the 13th member of the NC State roster from the Miami Metro Area, joining a group of returners and new transfers. Penn State safety King Mack joined the Pack after beginning his collegiate career with the Nittany Lions and at Alabama. His roots run back to South Florida, as he played at St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale alongside Robinson.
Between Gause, Bailey and Trader, the Wolfpack has three of the four key pieces from the Chaminade-Madonna success during their high school days. The fourth member of that quartet probably isn't on the table, but Wolfpack fans can dream about him nonetheless: Jeremiah Smith.
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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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