NC State Forward Mohamed Diarra will not be returning to NC State for his final season of eligibility. Rather, he will give 100% of his focus to pursuing his professional career.
Diarra is declaring for the NBA Draft, and will explore that possibility as far as it goes, but the likelihood of him playing professionally in his home country of France are high.
Diarra was a significant player for NC State all season long, averaging 6.3 points and 7.8 rebounds (team high), but his impact in March was tremendous, recording 10+ rebounds in 7 of the Wolfpack’s 10 postseason games, and five of those performances were double-doubles.
Wolfpack fans will always remember the grit and mental toughness that Diarra put on display in the NCAA Tournament, playing game-after-game while fasting for Ramadan.
The Wolfpack’s frontcourt just got a little bit thinner. In the past two weeks, NC State has lost Diarra and Ernest Ross. Ben Middlebrooks is returning, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield transferred in from Louisville. Dontrez Styles transferred in from Georgetown, and while he is more of a Small Forward, in certain lineups, he could play the Small 4 position. With all that being said, I fully expect NC State to try to find another post player in the Transfer Portal with Diarra’s exodus now official.
With Diarra not returning in 2024, NC State now has 2 scholarships available for next season.
Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) has announced his commitment to NC State!
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This past year, James averaged 12.6 points per game (3rd on the team) and 5 rebounds. He’s extremely physical and aggressive, taking 47% of his field goal attempts at the rim (making 46%). As a result, he draws a lot of fouls, ranking 10th in the ACC in Fouls Drawn, and 4th in Free Throw Rate. James made opponents pay this year when they put him on the line, making 81.8% from the charity stripe, which ranked 15th in the ACC.
James shot the ball better as a Redshirt Freshman, than he did this past season. His Effective Field Goal Percentage in 2022-23 was 55.8%, which ranked 19th in the ACC, and his True Shooting Percentage of 59.6% ranked 14th.
News broke about James entering the Transfer Portal back on March 25th, and NC State was quick to reach out. Kevin Keatts and his staff recruited the former 4-star prospect out of high school heavily, but he ultimately chose the Cardinals.
After redshirting his first year in Louisville due to torn achilles, James has been a starter for the Cardinals the past two years.
He does have the ability to knock down a three, making 34.8% for his career.
James has 2 years of eligibility remaining. With James’ commitment, NC State currently has 1 scholarship available for next season.
Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) confirmed with me that he is currently on a visit at NC State.
Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons this season. He earned 1st Team All-MAC honors. Even though he was only at Bowling Green one season, he had one of the best seasons in school history, scoring 698 points, which ranks 5th all-time in program history for a single season.
For his first two years of collegiate ball, Hill played for Southern Union State College (JUCO) in Alabama. In 2022-23, Hill earned 3rd Team NJCAA All-American honors, and ranked as the #32 overall Junior College prospect.
247Sports ranks Hill as a 4-Star Transfer Prospect, and the #78 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.
According to a source, the NC State Coaching Staff is extremely high on Hill, and they are recruiting him as a Point Guard.
What did an ACC Title & Final Four mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.? The man who won the ACC Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 gave me a statement.
It means a lot. It means a lot to the university, the state of North Carolina and a lot more to my dad, grandma, and myself. They have been NC State fans since forever, so their excitement level was though the roof when they saw BOTH of our basketball teams shining like that. It was a great feeling!
2017 was Smith Jr.’s only year of College ball, averaging 18.1 points, 6.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals. He earned 2nd Team All-ACC honors, and obviously, he earned a spot on the ACC All-Freshman Team.
DSJ was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 9th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Smith Jr. just wrapped up his 7th season in the NBA. This was his 1st season with Brooklyn, playing in 56 games for the Nets. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, averaging 18.9 minutes per contest.
Wolfer96 wolfpack74 Washington scored 11 points in 9 minutes. Where was he during the last 10 minutes of the game? He must have been sent to the showers or he boarded the bus early. Either way, Gott has to get his head out of his ass concerning Kyle. No where have I seen anything about the defensive capability of Terry Henderson. Has to be better than Scarecrow Turner.
wolfpack74 Wolfer96 I tend to worry less about Freshmen and their mistakes. In my opinion the guys with the most upside are Abu and the Martin twins. Caleb did get caught in the air with no one to pass to but he also had some nice passes and that monster dunk. So he was a net positive for the game. As for Freeman, Cat, and Anya I think they have likely hit their ceiling. Lacey has likely hit his ceiling as well because I really can’t imagine him playing much better but that remains to be seen. Because Anya has bad… Read more »
Wolfer96 Rotation was a major issue to night. You know how I feel about Washington, he outscored all the other three put together. His defense was no worst than Anya, Turner or Freeman. It was obvious that Gott was out coached especially when he went to three different time outs and did not change personnel. Cat was catatonic again. Caleb does not deserve the time he gets, sorry. Maybe someone will really improve before the start of next year. I fear that it will look just like this one. The kind that gets you up and then drops you… Read more »
Ralston hit his 3’s but countered them with his usual brand of poor defense. Other than the 2 three pointers Cat did not show up. He made one poor decision after another. Anya was pretty much useless out there. He played timid. I feel bad for Lacey because he’s the only one that showed up for the entire game. Why Gott didn’t play Kyle more in the 2nd half I do not know? I thought Gott just got out coached and didn’t use the proper rotations. His team settled too often for the long jump shot and didn’t attack the… Read more »