Texas transfer IOL Daniel Cruz picked NC State to be ‘out of my comfort zone’

Daniel Cruz is a Texas boy through and through. He came up through one of the more-competitive high school football scenes in the nation, starting on the offensive line all four seasons of his prep career at North Richland Hills (Texas) Richland before committing to play at Texas.  Donning the burnt orange is a goal for most kids growing up in the Lone Star State. It’s the path Cruz took as a former four-star recruit. But after two seasons as a reserve center with the Longhorns, the rising redshirt sophomore opted to look elsewhere to continue his collegiate career.  Although he narrowed his options down to NC State and SMU, an in-state ACC program, Cruz opted to pick experience he hadn’t gotten yet. It would have been easy to pick the Dallas-based program just under 32 miles away from his high school. He, however, chose the Wolfpack after a weekend filled with official visits to both schools to test his limits and be uncomfortable to reach his full potential more than 1,200 miles away from home.