Any questions about Kevin Keatts have likely been answered. The former UNCW coach gave what was easily the best opening press conference in recent NC State history. He spoke with no fear and didn’t shy away from his track record of winning and the fact that he wants national championships at NC State. Either this guy is exactly the right hire, or he studied NC State fans and delivered the exact speech they wanted to hear. This is a must watch. (video below links to GoPack)
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.
Was just watching the player interviews and what they said was pretty damning of Gottfried. You get this picture that there was no real culture and no discipline (which the average fan could see clearly). It’s like the saying, “a kid needs his dad to be a dad more than a friend.” I feel like Gottfried tried to be too much of a players coach and he lost their respect at some point.
Where did you see the player interviews I would be interested in seeing them.
do a search on wral sports fan
BFD. He speaks well. BFD.
Come on now, it’s somewhat of a deal. Have you ever heard coach Lutz speak? I mean I think he’s a really good coach but when he opens his mouth recruits will start running the other way unless they happen to be from the Appalachian.
And don’t forget about one of the best orators in State history… Jimmy V. He convinced the 83 team that they could beat Phi Slamma Jamma.
As you know my pick was Pearl. Go orator. Let’s just wait and see what this guy does before we get head over heels in love with this guy. Sure hope he does well. To Sundrip Sniffer, I have never been on PP.
I was on the Holtmann boat but like you I will take a wait and see approach. It’s a better hire than Lowe for sure. Keatts has higher potential upside than Gottfried. When we hired Gottfried he had a long resume so the upside was lower but he was more predictable.
Just shut up and go away. Only thing you ever do is complain. Go back to PP.
No need to make it personal. It’s actually healthy to have differing opinions.
He didn’t offer a different opinion, which is the problem. All he did was say Butch F Davis, and on an article on the main page.
I did offer a different opinion. My opinion is if we wanted an orator, pick a poet. If you want to win basketball games, we will have to wait and see if his words translates into wins. On the other forum, many were saying that these words were nearly identical to Sidney’s. See what we got that time.
He said all the right things during the presser. He spoke on the legacy of NC State basketball and sympathized with the fans. He definitely appears to have some charm and charisma which a good recruiter always needs. I wish him the best of luck. In all honesty he was not my top choice but I hope he surprises all of the fans.
One of the things I’m hoping for is that he is a great player evaluator. Not all 4-5 star players are created equal. I thought one of Gott’s problems was that he recruited by star level and not by coachability or fit with team.