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NC State Basketball

Wolfpack Still Has Good Chance to Dance

Published

10 years ago

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It’s selection sunday and once again NC State is waiting in anticipation to see if they’ll be included in the field of 68.

As of now ESPN bracketology has NC State as one of their “Next 4 Out.” Now, a lot of this is based solely on the numbers and while the numbers are right in a lot of cases, it’s usually these last 4 or 5 teams in the tournament that get a closer look outside of the realm of statistics.

We have stood firm with our prediction that if NC State beat Miami and then Syracuse in the ACC Tournament (we’ll get into the ‘why’ later), that they would squeak in. We still believe that and have a few others on our side:

Coach K after the State/Duke game yesterday:

“I said to [N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried] at the end of the game, “I hope you guys get in.” I don’t understand it. They won at Tennessee. They probably should have beaten Syracuse twice. I think they’ve played a really good schedule, and they’ve got one of the best players in the country…. I’ll get in trouble probably for saying it. Like the Atlantic 10, they’re a really good conference. I hear people saying there are six teams in there. Come on. I mean, they’re good, but put them in our conference and go through the meat grinder that our conference has to go through. But really… our league should get more respect. The fact that Pitt comes in here and people are saying they have to do something, come on. Come on, man. I don’t get it. The Clemson team we played last night is a heck of a basketball team.”

Then there is this article from ACC reporter David Teel:

The more I look at the credentials of other contenders, the more I suspect the 10-member selection committee chaired by Wake Forest athletic director Ron Wellman will choose the Wolfpack.

This is my 24th year of projecting the field, and while I’m not nearly as detailed as the national types, or especially my friend Patrick Stevens of Syracuse.com, in predicting sites and matchups, my track record isn’t half bad.

Last season I picked all the at-large teams correctly. I missed one team each of the five previous seasons.

…. No. 12s: Stephen F. Austin, Harvard, North Dakota State, N.C. State/BYU play-in.

And then you have these tweets from Patrick Stevens who is very respected when it comes to projecting the field of 68:

 

 

So, basically you see why some are thinking State has a good chance to make it. What we’ve been saying all along is that the win over Syracuse gives the Pack a signature win for the committee to look at. It also ups their RPI to an area where you’re really in the discussion. Add in the fact that they have a great strength of schedule, they are peaking at the end of the season and TJ Warren is the ACC player of the year and a real draw when you talk about television and marketing money for the NCAA. We are looking for State to be one of the last teams in and may even play in the play-in game on Tuesday night…but we’ll have to wait and see during the selection show on Sunday evening.

…oh and PS. Dickie V also thinks we’re in….

 

 

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NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James is Currently Visiting NC State

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14 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) is on a visit to NC State currently, according to a source.

Indiana State Transfer Ryan Conwell was on campus last week, but he just committed to Xavier.

From what I hear, the staff preferred James over Connell anyway. A plus with James is he has 2 years of eligibility, whereas Conwell has 1.

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.

Rivals ranked James as the #71 overall player in the 2021 recruiting class, and ESPN ranked him as the #7 prospect in the state of Florida.

After redshirting his first year in Louisville due to torn achilles, James has been a starter for the Cardinals the past two years. This year, he averaged 12.6 points and 5 rebounds.

For a more extensive look at James’ game, click here.

Rivals ranks James as the #77 overall player in the Transfer Portal.

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NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James is a Priority for NC State

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18 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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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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NC State Basketball

NC State’s Casey Morsell is the 4th Player in NCAA History to Start 41 Games in a Season

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23 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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NC State Guard Casey Morsell started 41 games for the Wolfpack this season, becoming the 4th player in NCAA history to do so.

 

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Prior to this season, the record for most games started in a single season in NC State history was 37, with three Wolfpack players doing so: Lorenzo Brown, Richard Howell, CJ Williams.

Morsell now sits atop the list, and a fellow teammate, DJ Burns ranks second, with 40 games started this season.

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NC State Basketball

Georgetown Transfer Dontrez Styles Commits to NC State!

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1 day ago

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April 18, 2024

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Georgetown Forward Transfer Dontrez Styles (6’6″/212) has committed to NC State!

Styles was the 2nd leading scorer for Georgetown this season, averaging 12.8 points per game, while grabbing 5.8 boards. He shot 36.8% from three.

Originally, Sytles was a consensus 4-Star prospect in UNC’s 2021 recruiting class. 247Sports ranked him as the #62 overall player nationally, and the #2 player in the state of North Carolina, playing for Kinston High School.

After two seasons with the Tar Heels, Styles entered the Portal, and took an Official Visit to NC State and Georgetown, and ultimately chose the Hoyas.

ON3 ranks Styles as the #104 overall player in the Portal.

With his final year of eligibility, Styles’ made the right choice this time.

NC State now has 2 scholarships remaining after Styles’ commitment.

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