Football season has fully come to a close now with the Philadelphia Eagles 40-22 victory over the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday night in Super Bowl 59.
While college football came to a close a few weeks earlier than that (Ohio State defeated Notre Dame 34-23 in the CFB National Championship) it wasn’t until more recently that the last college all-star games wrapped up.
The Senior Bowl, East-West Shrine Bowl and Hula Bowl all offer up chances for hundreds of draft hopefuls to showcase their talents in front of scouts from every NFL team before the April draft and a few North Carolina players took that opportunity.
Senior Bowl
The 2025 Senior Bowl, which was held Feb. 1 at the University of South Alabama, featured two offensive linemen from Tobacco Road.
UNC offensive lineman Willie Lampkin played on the American team and NC State offensive lineman Anthony Belton played on the National team.
Belton, who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 345 pounds, didn’t have the best senior season with the Wolfpack, but those in attendance at practice week for the Senior Bowl stated that he did a lot to help himself there, especially being that he took reps at both tackle and guard.
Lampkin, similarly, made a big impression at practice week amongst spectators despite being the smallest offensive linemen (5-foot-10, 270 pounds). The five-year starter was actually the top Power Four guard in terms of overall PFF grade this past season too.
East-West Shrine Bowl
The 100th iteration of the East-West Shrine Bowl, which was held on Jan. 30, 2025 in Arlington, Texas, had three North Carolina-based players in attendance.
NC State starting offensive lineman Tim McKay, who was a starter for the West, was also one of 12 players to earn All-Practice Team honors at the event.
Also in attendance was UNC defensive back Alijah Huzzie, who was a noticeable presence throughout the practice week, showcasing his defensive talents as well as his versatility being a return specialist.
And although he wasn’t able to participate due to a torn ACL he suffered in September, East Carolina defensive back Shavon Revel still attended the event. Many mock drafts have the standout projected as a potential first-round pick.
Hula Bowl
While both the Senior and East-West Bowls are supported by and in partnership with the NFL, the Hula Bowl has still managed to find a niche and has thus risen as the third-best college all-star bowl.
The event doesn’t feature the biggest names in the draft, but it still invited 130 draftees who hoped to boost their stock and of those, 10 were from North Carolina colleges.
NC State had two players in attendance: defensive tackle Davin Vann and defensive back Aydan White.
Vann was the leader for the Wolfpack defense and although that unit overall took a big step backwards last season, Vann still performed with 6.5 sacks and six forced fumbles, all career highs.
White was also the leading defensive back for the Pack and had a pick-six and 59 total tackles last season.
UNC also had two players in attendance with defensive lineman Jahvaree Ritzie and linebacker Power Echols
Ritzie had a big breakout season with UNC as he recorded a career-high 40 tackles, 6.5 sacks and an interception.
Echols on the other hand had a bit of a down year for the Tar Heels with only 76 total tackles and 0.5 sacks.
There were two Wake Forest players: EDGE Jasheen Davis and linebacker Branson Combs.
Davis saw his numbers dip with only 33 tackles and 5.5 sacks this season, but Combs, the former receiver, racked up 94 tackles, two sacks and an interception.
Also accepting the invitation to Orlando was Duke wide receiver Jordan Moore (861 yards, eight touchdowns) and ECU receiver Winston Wright, Jr. (556 yards, eight touchdowns) and a pair of Elon standouts in quarterback Matthew Downing (2,049 yards, 16 touchdowns, four interceptions) and receiver Chandler Brayboy (979 yards, eight touchdowns).
