QB CJ Bailey’s reunion with childhood friends, teammates a big hit for NC State

By Noah Fleischman

It started as they were beginning to commit to colleges as teammates at Hollywood (Fla.) Chaminade-Madonna Prep. Quarterback CJ Bailey, an NC State pledge, was pleading with his longtime teammates to join him in the college ranks and continue their decade-long chemistry at the next level.

“You need to come with me to NC State,” Bailey recalled telling them. 

But it wasn’t effective. 

Wideouts Chance Robinson and Joshisa Trader landed at nearby Miami, the program that tried to flip Bailey up until signing day but he remained firm on going to NC State. Running back Davion Gause, meanwhile, was headed to the Triangle, but to suit up for North Carolina.

Bailey believed the group would be able to do big things together. After all, that quartet won nearly every youth national championship they played for growing up on the Miami Gardens Ravens. The signal-caller believed that same success could follow in college. 

While the four players went their separate ways to begin their collegiate careers, life has a way of pulling like-minded people together. And after two seasons, the quartet reunited on the same team once again, just this time at NC State.

Despite the national narrative of the transfer portal ripping teams apart, the Wolfpack used it for the complete opposite effect. Instead of relying on players to get to know complete strangers — which is still the case for the more than 30 other transfers on the roster — the South Florida trio had a headstart on it by using their past relationships to their advantage. 

NC State head coach Dave Doeren believed he saw a positive from that in spring practice, too.

“That’s the hard part when you’re adding 40-plus new players a year with high school, junior college and the portal together,” Doeren said. “When some of them already have chemistry coming in the door, it does shorten that curve a little bit for them.”

The four players grew up in the same Miami-area park together. They pushed one another to grow as players on a roster littered with future Division I standouts, including current Ohio State wideout Jeremiah Smith and Miami cornerback OJ Frederique. Add in the fact they were the spectacle of the town, routinely filling the park with hundreds of onlookers by the age of 11, and this group has a special sense of confidence that few possess. 

RELATED READING: Made in Miami: They teamed up at the youth level. NC State’s transfer portal work reunites star quartet once again

And they have all channeled it together under one roof once again. 

Rod Mack, who coached the quartet beginning when they were 8 years old, thought it wouldn’t take long for the group to pick up where they left off.

“To see them back with each other, I think it’ll just be like riding a bike,” Mack said. “They’ll get right back on and start going right away.”

So far, he’s been right. 

NC State’s spring practice slate, which was filled with constant competition between the old friends, was an opportunity for the newcomers to get acclimated to the Wolfpack’s offensive system. With Bailey going into his third season in leading the program’s unit, it made it even easier for his childhood teammates to get up to speed.

“It’s been very productive,” Trader said. “Just getting work in every single day. I’m with CJ every day.”

Trader, who was a top-40 recruit nationally out of Chaminade-Madonna, wasn’t able to carve out a starting role at Miami. He caught 19 passes for 269 yards and 2 touchdowns in his two seasons with the Hurricanes, improving his football IQ and skills in Coral Gables. 

But now that he’s back with Bailey, Trader has a different vibe about what he can do going into his junior year. He looks like the wideout that posted 123 receptions for 2,131 yards and 28 touchdowns from Bailey in their three prep seasons as starters together.

“I just feel like me,” Trader said with a grin. 

While Trader was the transfer portal headliner of the group with his blue-chip background as a high four-star recruit, Robinson arrived in Raleigh as an unknown quantity at the collegiate level. Injuries kept him off the field through his first two seasons at Miami, but he is looking to put together a breakout redshirt sophomore season with the Pack.

Bailey was quick to rave about him from what he saw on the practice field.

“On the first day of practice, he was catching one-handed passes everywhere,” Bailey said with a laugh. “He gets to his routes; he’s a big body. He can bump through traffic. When you see him in that first game, you’re going to see a lot of explosive plays coming from him. … He’s a good player.”

Add in Gause, who rushed for 585 yards and 7 touchdowns in two seasons in Chapel Hill, and Bailey feels even more at home at NC State — a program that he hasn’t pondered leaving from the moment he committed as a high school junior. 

And getting the running back to leave the archrival Tar Heels for the Wolfpack made it even sweeter.

“It took a lot for him to get here,” Bailey said. “Me and him, we didn’t want to be rivals, but it’s just fulfilling to see him back with me at NC State.”

Now that the quartet — plus Penn State transfer safety King Mack, who is a year older than them but grew up in the same Miami Gardens youth program —  is back together once again, the benefits have been palpable. Not only do they have a built-in chemistry that most programs would do anything to get, but their tight-knit relationships have been critical in the learning process along the way. 

No matter what happens on the practice field or the weight room, the quartet is more than comfortable to rely on each other along the way. It started at winter dinner hosted by Doeren and his wife, Sara, with the players reminiscing about their Pop Warner days, and it’s only continued since.

“Having everyone together, you know you’ve got support in everything you’re doing,” Trader said. “You’ve got someone you can count on, someone you can lean on. If you’re doing bad, they’re going to lift you up. If they’re doing bad, you’re going to lift them up. It’s just showing support.”

Although the four players didn’t end up playing together at the collegiate level right away, despite Bailey’s best effort to make it happen prior to their high school graduation, they are now.

And the quarterback couldn’t be any more thrilled.

“They didn’t believe me at first, but look where they’re at now,” Bailey said. “It’s a blessing.”