Less than three weeks after securing elite quarterback Holton Ahlers for its recruiting class of 2018, East Carolina has gained a commitment from the highly regarded player it envisions snapping the ball to Ahlers in the future.
Raleigh product Peyton Winstead announced via Twitter on Saturday his intention to pursue his college football career with the Pirates. ECU offered Winstead in November, Charlotte followed with an offer in December and ACC schools had begun courting the 6-3, 290-pound Leesville Road High School center.
In the end, legacy and rooting ties to the purple and gold were influential in Winstead’s decision. His father Bob, a football coach, played football for the Pirates in the ‘eighties and his mother was an ECU cheerleader.
“I’ve grown up a Pirate fan my whole life, and it has been a dream of mine to be a Pirate,” Winstead told HighSchoolOT.com. “There’s just something special about Greenville that you can’t really put into words.”
The early pledges from Ahlers and Winstead represent strategically important pieces in ECU coach Scottie Montgomery’s blueprint for the class of 2018 and may influence other key targets on the Pirates’ offensive recruiting board.