Justice Brown-Jones is off the board. The Wolfpack’s next move on the wing looks a lot like Qandace Samuels.

Justice Brown-Jones committed to Georgia on Sept. 19. For NC State fans tracking the 2027 board, that was less a shock than a confirmation. The Norfolk Christian combo guard/wing held a Wolfpack offer, but the timing never looked like a first-choice chase. The offer came late. There was no public official visit to Raleigh, or at least none she posted. While she was making her decision, Wes Moore was in Qandace Samuels’ gym.

That is the story of this week.

Brown-Jones visited Georgia and UCF, then chose the Bulldogs. NC State was on the list, not at the top of it. She always read as a backup plan: a 6-1 wing who could fill a need if the higher-priority names went elsewhere. They went elsewhere. Now the uncommitted wing picture is thinner, and the staff’s travel schedule says where the energy is going.

The remaining wing picture

After Brown-Jones and Corinne Lomax (Arizona, Sept. 3) came off the board, the names that still matter at the wing for NC State are these three.

Ivanna Wilson Manyacka, G/W, 6-2, Bullis School (MD). No. 2 overall in the class. Holds an NC State offer. Official visits already include Texas and LSU. She is also busy with the likes of South Carolina and LSU. Great. Hope she is enjoying herself. State sees it.

Qandace Samuels, SF, 6-1, Bishop McNamara (MD). ESPN No. 14. Holds an NC State offer. Officially visited Virginia Tech and just completed an official visit to Texas, a school already in her top 10.

Jordyn Palmer, W, 6-1, Westtown School (PA). ESPN No. 6. Holds an NC State offer.

That is the list. Wilson Manyacka is the dream-level name currently touring programs that can out-flash almost anyone. Palmer is an elite national wing whose recruitment lives in a different stratosphere. Samuels is the one who actually fits the moment: in-range, already offered, already evaluated, and with a built-in reason to listen.

Why Samuels is the logical “all-in” name

Qandace Samuels is a 6-1 small forward from Bishop McNamara, the same Forestville, Maryland program that produced her older sister, Qadence Samuels, now a senior guard at NC State after transferring from UConn.

The sister connection is not a gimmick. Wes Moore recruited Qadence out of high school, stayed on her through the UConn years, and got her in the portal. The staff already knows the family, the school, and the Washington Catholic Athletic Conference. Qandace is a five-star in the 2027 cycle, roughly No. 12 to 14 nationally depending on the board, a top-four small forward, and one of Maryland’s best prospects. She cut a list earlier this cycle that included NC State along with Alabama, LSU, North Carolina, Rutgers, Texas, Vanderbilt, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and Tennessee.

She has already taken officials to Virginia Tech and Texas. Those are not filler trips. Texas is in her top 10, and she just got off campus there. Moore being in her gym this week, while Brown-Jones was choosing Georgia, is still the tell on Raleigh’s side. You do not spend that travel on a name you are treating as a parallel option. You spend it on the one you still think you can get.

The Texas official does not kill the NC State case. It raises the temperature. A five-star wing with a sister already in Raleigh is also letting a Power program in Austin make its pitch. That is how this recruitment is going to work. The schools that sit still lose.

What she would give Raleigh is obvious on paper: length on the wing, three-level scoring, defensive versatility, and a body that can grow into the same kind of two-way forward Moore has always liked. The 2026 high school class already brought Kamora Pruitt and Annsley Trivette. The 2027 class still needs a true wing who can play now and later. Samuels is that profile.

What this does not mean

It does not mean Wilson Manyacka or Palmer are dead files. Wilson Manyacka remains the highest-upside wing on the board. She is 6-2, nationally elite, and NC State has an offer in. She is also visiting South Carolina and LSU. That is not a knock. That is the market. When the No. 2 player in America is taking those trips, Raleigh is not pretending it is the only call.

Palmer is ESPN’s No. 6 player. An offer to a Westtown wing of that caliber is real. Landing her would change the class overnight. It would also require beating a different set of programs than the ones circling Samuels.

The honest read of the board right now:

1. The staff wanted a wing in 2027.
2. The highest-upside realistic wing still in play who has shown real NC State interest is Qandace Samuels.
3. Moore’s calendar last week matched that ranking.
4. Samuels just added a Texas official on top of Virginia Tech, so the window is open and competitive.
5. Wilson Manyacka remains the dream-level name, and she is currently touring programs built to close those files.
6. Palmer remains the other elite wing on the offer sheet, a different recruitment, same positional need.

What to watch next

Samuels’ next public step. Virginia Tech and Texas officials are done. The next tell is whether Raleigh gets on the official calendar, whether the list shrinks, or whether Moore’s staff stays visible in Maryland. If State is “all in,” the next move should be visit logistics, not another late offer to a different 6-1.

Ivanna’s itinerary. South Carolina and LSU are not casual stops. If she keeps stacking those, State’s wing plan cannot wait on her.

Palmer’s process. No. 6 overall does not linger in the dark. Any official, list cut, or staff visit will tell whether NC State is a real finalist or an offer on a crowded sheet.

Brown-Jones to Georgia closes one line on the PackWBB board. It does not close the wing need. It just makes the remaining choice clearer. The coach was in Qandace Samuels’ gym while the other name was picking Georgia. Samuels then took Texas as an official. That is the market. Raleigh already knows the file. Now it has to close it.