Taijh Alston

Height:
6-4
Weight:
212
Class:
Freshman
Hometown:
Vass
High School:
Union Pines
Major:
Physical Education

Officially enrolled early at ECU in January of 2017 and participated with the Pirates in spring drills, thus signed a grant-in-aid with the program instead of a letter-of-intent (per NCAA policy) … Collected a pair of tackles in each of the first two scrimmages (April 1, April 7) before notching three, including one for lost yardage, during the Purple-Gold Game on April 22.

High School: A three-year varsity starter as a defensive end for coach Ryan Riggan at Union Pines … Completed prep career with 13.5 sacks and averaged 6.5 tackles per game … Played outside linebacker position on junior varsity squad as a freshman before becoming full-time starter at end during sophomore, junior and senior campaigns … Tallied 54 tackles, including 7.5 for lost yardage, and 1.5 sacks in 2014 in starting debut on Vikings’ varsity roster … Earned First-Team All-Cape Fear Valley 3-A Conference honors and was named to The Fayetteville Observer's All-Cape Fear Region squad (second team) as a junior after collecting 77 stops, 13.0 tackles for loss and 5.0 sacks despite missing several games because of an injury … Credited with 96 hits, 16.0 TFL and 7.0 sacks in 2016 during senior year as team captain … Offensively, contributed as a tight end … Resided in Lumberton during childhood before transferring to Union Pines district prior to ninth grade … Listed among Top 25 college football recruits in state of North Carolina according to Charlotte Observer … A three-star recruit per 247Sports.com and Scout.com … Ranked as the No. 3 defensive end in state, 46^th in region and was included among nation’s top 120 performers by Scout.com … Recruited by Appalachian State, Charlotte, Coastal Carolina, Miami (Ohio), N.C. State and West Virginia … Also earned varsity letter in basketball.

Personal: Full name is Taijh Tyrik Alston … Born at Pinehurst, N.C. … Son of Chrystal Dowd and Donald Fairley … Enjoys working out and strength building with weights … Plans to major in physical education.