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.
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This was a rough game to watch, and the first half statistics showed. But the positive I can point to is that this team actually showed some fire and passion in the 2nd half. This Tennesee State team was actually pretty good but make no mistake this was a team State had to beat. But with the youth, the injuries, Yurtseven being out and a variety of issues. This team is still a big question mark.
I believe the talent is there. But I don’t believe we have the coaching to put it all together. Time will tell.
At this rate, Dennis Smith will not be in the NBA next year. No shot only drive.
His shot selection and decision making are not what I expected. He’s still trying to out-athlete everyone on the floor and he needs to learn that this is not H.S.
This game has not changed my mind about this team. No offense other than one on one. Mav needs to get back shape. Hopefully the Big guy can help with the offense.
Hopefully Anya can use this game to be a bigger part of the offense/defense. Up to this point the offense has been too guard dominated.
Just don’t mess with Markell’s minutes. He’s the only one on the perimeter playing defense at a high level. Need to bring Kapita off the bench until he can learn to play D without picking up 3 fouls in 3 minutes. Mav needs to be brought on slowly. Don’t want him shooting more than 5-6 shots this game. He needs to prove that he is not a streaky shooter before letting him take too many shots.