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Courtesy: David Curtiss
The NC State Wolfpack men’s team has had about as good of a 72-hour recruiting period as any team in the history of collegiate swimming. The latest swimmer in the class of 2021 (current juniors) to verbally commit is David Curtiss, who is ranked 7th in our class of 2021 high school rankings.
“I am very excited to announce my commitment to further my academic and athletic career at NC State University! I would like to thank my coaches, family and friends for helping me reach such an accomplishment. Go PACK! #wolfpack”
After #2 Aiden Hayes, #9 Garrett Boone, and #12 Sam Hoover also committed, Curtiss is the 4th swimmer in the top 12 to commit this week.
Curtiss is the 2nd-best sprint freestyler in the class, behind only uncommitted #1 Anthony Grimm (whose primary stroke isn’t actually freestyle). Curtiss will have some work to do to develop a 3rd event at the collegiate level that is up-to-par with his 50 freestyle time, though he’s versatile enough at 100 yards and less that he’s got some options on which direction to go.
Curtiss’ best times in Yards:
- 50 free – 19.70
- 100 free – 44.08
- 100 back – 49.41
- 100 breast – 59.55
- 100 fly – 50.10
- 200 IM – 1:57.10
In long course, Curtiss is one of the fastest 18 & unders in US history – he was only the 3rd 17-18 year old American ever to go sub-22 seconds in the 50 free, swimming a 21.95 in the semi-finals at the World Junior Championships ahead of a 22.14 in finals the next day for a silver medal. That time earned him a spot on the USA Swimming National Team (senior, not junior).
Curtis swims at the Hamilton Area YMCA in Hamilton, New Jersey and for the Pennington School. As a sophomore last season, he was the Easterns champion in the 50 and 100 yard frees, and scored runner-up finishes in the same events at the YMCA National Championships. A year prior, as just a freshman, he won the YMCA National title in the 50 free, swimming 19.75 at just 15-years old.
Keeping in mind that this class is made up of only high school juniors, it already includes a pair of swimmers who go 19.7 in the 50 free (Hayes and Curtiss), a 20.2 (Garrett Boone), and a 20.3 (Sam Hoover). While NC State has expanded to success in essentially every event and distance, the revival of the program over the last decade began with sprint success, and this group fits well within that wheelhouse.
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As someone removed from the US college world now, has there been a notable upturn in MC State’s academic status to match Stanford, Cal, Virginia (and the Ivies, academically) etc. or is this primarily swimming related?
I ask partly just as a fan of the sport, but I’m also responsible for UK recruitment of US graduates and don’t want to miss a trick. Our class of 2019 in the US all look to be traditional powers, but I recruit kids 6 years younger and need to be a bit of a canary in the coal mine!
It has very highly regarded engineering programs. US News has them ranked #34 among public schools, similarly to places like Michigan State and Virginia Tech and Colorado School of Mines.
NC State is a place you can go to and get a world-class education if you want to. It’s also a place that you can go to and skate by and get a basic, soft degree taking classes that your academic adviser recommends for ‘athletes who are there to major in sports.” I would say that the same is true of all of the above schools you named. Reputation-wide, NC State is probably still behind all of the schools you named, but as I said – the school is good… Read more »
The short answer to your questions Togger, is NO
How do they do it? AMAZING RECRUITING, AMAZING TRAINING, AMAZING IMPROVEMENTS! CONGRATULATIONS!
Both my boys have had the pleasure to swim against David over the years in Y swimming and at Easterns. He is a CLASS act, both in and out of the pool. Congratulations David!! Y proud!!
Tough day for DeSorbo and UVA as they watch all of the nations fastest recruits go to NC State. My prediction is none of the top 20 go to UVA, all the hype now seems to be at NC State.
Not exactly ALL of the fastest recruits, but certainly a large portion of them. I’d be curious how many of these guys were seriously considering UVa. It’s certainly still possible to build a strong class out of what’s left (especially since #1 would be an instate guy for UVa), but it looks unlikely they’ll keep up with State.
I wonder if they were all at the same recruiting trip weekend? And if that was very well planned in advance? If so kudos to them recruiting coach. A lot can happen in two years, but I am impressed none the less.
I’m pretty shocked that they have been able to get a better 2025 class than 2024 class and neither have stepped on campus. Good for NC state I’m going up against the bigger dogs around the country.
I’m really curious on how college coaches are able to recruit high school sophomores and be able to tell them in good faith that it’s the right decision. This is not a comment on NC state this is a comment on all college coaches. I could just be a grumpy old dude but I hope the coaches have the best intentions for the 15/16 year olds they are recruiting.
that is the life of a recruit, everything is shiny and new, better hope the reality is the same…. Sometimes it is and sometimes they find themselves starting over somewhere else…. But this is not a swimming thing, whole college recruiting is the same, it is more and more about impressions and such (new facilities with plasma teeves and playstations), seems that the fit is not always there for the recruit…… But it is their choice to make, and the young ones these days live completely different life than us curmudgeons, you need different games to lure them in….
You clearly have never been to NC State’s facility. Nothing fancy at all. Holloway’s team culture is the ‘shiniest’ thing he has at NC State.
Exactly. on the opposite sides of both of those things is Purdue.
@Samuli Hirsi Playstations??? This isn’t football or basketball my friend. You’re right though, the 70 year old race pool they have there is so shiny that these recruits must be blinded in their decisions. The team culture and family atmosphere at NC State is second to none and you are quick to judge just because NC State is killing it recruiting this year. You should encourage whichever team you root for to do a better job recruiting instead of eluding to NC State’s great coaching staff playing “games.”
which leads back to my point. I hope the coaches who recruit are being honest and truthful to the teenagers and the students are able to make the right decisions about the next 6 years of their life.
Home meets at NC State feature the fastest athletes swimming in lanes 7 and 8 as opposed to lanes 4 and 5, due to the fact that there is a massive sloping water depth difference. I believe the water is 3-3.5 feet deep on the shallow side, in lanes 1-4, before getting deeper. Let’s not pretend NC State has good facilities for swimming (yet).
Just remember these are all VERBAL commitments, which are completely non-binding, particularly for the swimmer. And that’s why we occasionally see “de-commits” happen. If things change for the swimmer in the next year before they sign the binding NLI, then they can change their mind.
Congratulations David! You will love being part of the WOLFPACK NATION!
#7 in the class? Kid has a shot of making the Olympics before he sets foot on campus.