When junior wrestler Darrion Caldwell left his relatively small hometown of Rahway, NJ to come to Raleigh, he was separated from a close knit group of friends who he said is like family. The separation was almost necessary for the group, who all had opportunities to leave home and play major college sports. Caldwell and his friends Earl Clark, Ishmyl Johnson and Andre Neblett, otherwise known as “B-fam”, moved on from high school life and high school friendships to start athletic careers at division I schools. Caldwell came to N.C. State to wrestle, Clark accepted a basketball scholarship to Louisville, Johnson left to play football at Michigan State and Neblett took a scholarship to play football for Temple.

For Caldwell, the break up of the group of friends was hard, especially when he first arrived in Raleigh. “In high school, we were always around each other, we were at each others games and matches all the time,” he said. “The support was always there in person.”Earl Clark, a junior forward for the University of Louisville, said the group of friends didn’t realize how close they were until they left the security of Rahway. “We all joked about how we were going to get away from Rahway,” Clark said. “But now that we’re getting older and seeing how things are, we see how we took the time we spent together in high school for granted. That time is something we miss.”Now, with hundreds of miles between them, the group has relied on their bond built in high school to stay close. “We’re good friends,” Caldwell said. “We basically have a very strong brotherly bond that grew during high school and has lasted into our college years.”Caldwell said “B-fam” stays tight with the help of their cell phones. “We’re all texting each other or calling each other,” he said. Andre Neblett, a junior defensive tackle for Temple University and charter member of “B-fam,” said the group talks all the time.”We’re real close,” he said. And the group doesn’t just text every now and then to check and see how things are going.

Caldwell said the texts and calls occur on a “daily basis.””Even though now we can’t get to each others games and matches, we talk a lot,” he said. “Every game day or match day we are sending texts and checking in on things.”One feature of the texts and phone calls, Caldwell said, is to make sure members of the group can remind each other how well they are performing in their respective sports. “We’re all competitive,” Caldwell said. “If one of us does well, we all want to do well. We feed off each other.”Both Clark and Neblett said Caldwell, as he was in high school, remains the most competitive member of the group. Clark said that fact may come from Caldwell’s size relative to his closest friends. Caldwell checks in at around 150 pounds and isn’t six feet tall. Clark is 6’9” 200 pounds. Johnson and Neblett both tip the scale at more than 270. “Darrion may be the smallest guy, but he always likes to stand out,” Neblett said. “He has the biggest heart out of all of us. I’ve never seen someone with as much competitiveness as him.”Clark said Caldwell most definitely has a “little-man complex.””He has put us in the headlock before,” Clark said. “Darrion has always been the smallest guy. He would always challenge me to one-on-one or challenge Ishmyl in the wieght room.”With Caldwell, Clark, Neblett and Johnson all being from Rahway, a town where Caldwell said “everybody knows everybody,” trips home have also become a special time for the group. “The [community] loves when we come home,” Caldwell said. “They like seeing kids who grew up in the community go out and represent Rahway in front of the whole country.”Neblett said the success the group has enjoyed since leaving Rahway has given its members added responsibility in the community. “A lot of our other friends didn’t get to go to school,” he said. “The four of us being able to be a positive role model to them and other young guys coming up is important. I take real pride in the ability we have to do that.”

Darrion Caldwell by the numbers

53,910 – Views on YouTube of Caldwell’s 2007 NCAA quarterfinal matchup with Northwestern’s Ryan Lang

1996 – The last year in which a Wolfpack wrestler earned All-American status until Caldwell in 2008

86 – Career victories in 98 matches

48 – Career pins, 16 shy of Sylvester Terkay’s record of 64

36 – Victories last season, the most ever by an N.C. State sophomore

0 – Losses to ACC opponents this season

Source: N.C. State Athletics