Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) is a priority for NC State, according to a source.
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.
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.
He does have the ability to knock down a three, making 34.8% for his career.
NC State already hosted Indiana State Transfer Guard Ryan Conwell last week, and while the Wolfpack coaches like both players, from what I’m hearing, James would be their preference.
NC State hasn’t had James in for a visit, but that could happen soon.
James has 2 years of eligibility remaining.
NC State Basketball
NC State’s Casey Morsell is the 4th Player in NCAA History to Start 41 Games in a Season
-When are we going to come out with energy and intensity from the tip off?
-When are we going to defend? Especially the perimeter!
-When will our big men Abu and Anya show some progression since their freshman year?
Currently we are not there and in ACC and tournament play the teams will not miss the shots and will finish the game strong unlike the teams we barely beat. #GETEMRIGHTGOTT!#GOPACK
Don’t get me wrong we have a great talented team. We just have to fine tune a few things that will take us to the next level to compete for an ACC and National titles.
#GETEMRIGHTGOTT!#GOPACK
If there was a way to fix Anya so that his only goal in life wasn’t blocking shots. Each time he goes for a block he leaves his man wide open. He over-commits on help D. Just needs to take up space in the middle. He has low rebound numbers because he is chasing blocks. If he maintained good defensive position in the paint he would be the leading rebounder on the team.
Only thing he really needs to do it clog the lane and help out on backside D when needed.
Why is Abu so bad at defense? He over-hedges and doesn’t get back to his man or he doesn’t provide help defense when someone gets beat off the dribble.
Markell’s defense is beyond amazing. Those 3 steals at the end of the game were unbelievable and won us this tight game. That defense along with Torin’s scoring and Dennis’ explosiveness and playmaking is really fun to watch.
I cannot wait for this small ball lineup to end. We’ve been outrebounded in practically every game. And the interior defense is pretty much non-existent. Kapita is a welcome edition and Yurt7 cannot get qualified soon enough.
One glaring weakness is the front court. Some of that was the refs but a lot of it was that currently we do not have a dominant guy in the middle. Really hoping that Yurt7 can be that skilled center that can draw the double and find the open man. So far the offense is strictly guard initiated so it lacks balance and easier scoring opportunities. A lot will be riding on the Yurt’s shoulders.
I’m also hoping that y7 can have a big impact, but I will try to not expect too too much out of him the first few games. I expect he might struggle a little, but I still think the presence of a 7 footer will overall help our team.
*to clarify, he is still very young and hasn’t had a whole lot of experience of basketball in the USA. Will take some time is what I’m thinking.
Definitely agree. He’s not the solution to all our ills. There are fundamental problems on defense that may never get resolved but Y7 will no doubt improve our front court production not hurt it.
Dennis dominated. The freshman did it all. He’s starting to look like the guy that was advertised. He looked really good when he saw an opening and attacked. I thought he settled for a few jumpers but his shot selection should get better as he plays in more games. Hopefully staff is busy getting all the tapes together for discussion. This is the Dennis I’ve been wanting to see.
I like Abu but he’s not going pro with the way he’s playing. He’s playing soft in the paint and has bad hands. Dennis fed him a sweet pass and he fumbled it. He really needs to work on his angles. There’s 2 parts to an assist… an important part of that is the guy without the ball making sure there’s an angle between him and the guy with the ball. Too often Abu sits behind a defender.
Yea Abu needs to work on his hands and feet. More than one post move. All big men need multiple post moves. He actually showed a pretty good jumper his Freshman year now he doesn’t use it much.
Sadly he is one of those guys that only hits shots when he is confident. And his confidence is always up and down.
Man were those refs horrible. Kapita had the rebound, gets undercut, and then he’s called for the foul? Henderson stands with hands straight up and doesn’t jump but somehow he’s whistled for the foul? And that foul on Markell on the cleanest steal ever at the end of the game?