ELIZABETHTOWN — After weeks of speculation and with four scholarship offers in his back pocket, former Eagles football star Larrell Murchison on Wednesday officially made his commitment to … none of the above.

Just hours before a scheduled signing ceremony at the school, Murchison pulled the plug.

“A lot of things started happening the night before,” said East Bladen football coach Robby Priest. “Things got pretty crazy.”

At one point during the recruiting process, Ole Miss appeared to be the front-runner for the 6-foot, 4-inch, 290-pound defensive lineman out of Louisburg College, where Murchison had earned All-American honors his sophomore season.

A visit with Texas seemed to give the former Eagles star pause and a trip to Georgia impressed Murchison enough that, on Wednesday evening, Priest said his former player had decided on playing for the Bulldogs.

But Georgia suddenly yanked its scholarship offer and Murchison’s decision-making was back on.

Before Wednesday was over, Murchison was signed, sealed and all but delivered … to N.C. State.

“Louisburg coaches have a connection with coaches at N.C. State, and they’d kept each other up on Murchison,” Priest said. “I said earlier that there wasn’t a bad choice (among the schools recruiting Murchison), and I think he’ll do well at N.C. State. He’ll be closer to home and there are eight home games next season, so folks here can go see him play.”

The deal was finalized by fax at Fisher’s Men’s Shop in downtown Elizabethtown late in the day.

If there is still one piece of unfinished business left, it has to do with Murchison’s twin brother Farrell, a record-setting prep running back who has two solid seasons at Louisburg College. The brothers have played football together their entire lives, and the recruiting trail for Larrell has included possibilities of a package deal that involved Farrell.

“They’re working on it,” Priest said. “There are some classroom things to get cleared up and we’ll see.”

W. Curt Vincent can be reached by calling 910-862-4163.

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W. Curt Vincent

cvincent@civitasmedia.com