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NC State Basketball

Players to Watch: LSU’s Versatile Bigs, Mickey and Martin

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9 years ago

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Jarell Martin stands at 6’10 and weighs in at 236lbs. His front court mate, Jordan Mickey isn’t far behind at 6’8 and 235lbs. These are the guys that make LSU go. They are a team that will go as far as their bigs can take them Mickey is a double-double machine that averages 15.5pts and 10rebounds per game while adding 3.6. Martin is putting up even better numbers at 17ppg and 9.2 rebounds per game.

First let’s have a look at Martin.

Jarell Martin: Martin isn’t your average 6’10 big man. He’s not a big, lumbering back to the basket type guy. He is agile, strong and can attack off the dribble. His jumper is decent but you’d much rather him be spotting up than attacking the rim. He’s going to be a major mismatch for NC State and how they decide to guard him could be a deciding factor on Thursday.

Jordan Mickey: Watching those Martin highlights you’d think he was the athletic one, but he’s not. Mickey is a CJ Leslie type athlete with more strength and better shot blocking anticipation. This guy can rise and can also attack off the dribble. He’s more average sized and should be a little more natural for NC State to matchup against, but honestly, I’m not sure State has faced a guy as bouncy and long as Mickey.

Matchups
State is going to have a tough time matching up here in the middle. The problem for LSU is that State is going to have the advantage on the perimeter. For the Pack though, the question is how will they guard these two monsters in the middle. Abu matches up well physically with Mickey but his position defense and propensity to foul is going to be a problem. Freeman is a guy who can really body up Mickey and throw him off balance. Sure he’ll get around him some, and he’ll rebound over top of him, but he’s not going to be able to just out physical him. That means you’ll need Anya in there to deal with the 6’10 Martin. The problem here is that Martin is agile and Anya has trouble stopping attacks off the dribble.

These are the major questions surrounding this game. Their answers will be the difference between going home and advancing to the next round.

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Wolfer96
Wolfer96
9 years ago

From everything I’ve seen on LSU it appears that it will be a battle of their Front Court vs our Back Court. If our interior guys play smart we can match up fairly well on defense but not sure how much scoring we’ll be doing from the paint? It will be an interesting matchup. 

Just remember one thing Wolfpack… when they press, attack, attack, attack. Hopefully we’ve learned this by now having played half a dozen pressing teams this season.

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ThatWiggaJigga
ThatWiggaJigga
9 years ago

I’m Ok with this team basing everything around their bigs.  If we can effectively double team their big and rotate back on D well we should be able to shut down to a degree their bigs.  Anya has the power to battle down low and a second defender should take away that drive.  Then we have Freeman and Abu who can matchup with the other big.  If Ralston isn’t hitting I expect to see alot of the twins.

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wolfpack74
wolfpack74
9 years ago

Their bigs can get their points.  State needs to stop Hornsby.  If he get 15 or more, we are in trouble.

0

NC State Basketball

NC State Women’s Basketball Releases Their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

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20 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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NC State Women’s Basketball team released their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule yesterday.

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RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State women’s basketball program has announced its non-conference slate for the 2024-25 season, as revealed on Thursday.

The Pack will play eight of its 11 games, in addition to a preseason exhibition, at Reynolds Coliseum. Coming off a historical 2023-24 season that was highlighted by the program’s first Final Four since 1998, second in program history, head coach Wes Moore is entering his 12th season at the helm. With a strong home court advantage, the Pack has accumulated a 117-15 (.886) record at home since the renovation of Reynolds Coliseum was completed in August 2016.

NC State will participate in the Pink Flamingo Championship at Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas on Monday, Nov. 25 and Wednesday, Nov. 27 against opponents that will be announced at a later date. As previously announced, NC State will play the defending NCAA Champion South Carolina at the Ally Tipoff at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Sunday, Nov. 10, as well as host Ole Miss for the SEC/ACC Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 5.

The Wolfpack will host Anderson (S.C.) for an exhibition on Tuesday, Oct. 29 before officially starting the season at home vs. ETSU on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Following the Ally Tipoff, NC State will return home to host Kent State on Thursday, Nov. 14.

NC State’s first true road game of the season is at TCU on Sunday, Nov. 17. The Pack will then play Coastal Carolina at home on Thursday, Nov. 21 before its trip to the Bahamas for two games (Nov. 25-27).

The Pack will close out the non-conference slate with four straight games at Reynolds Coliseum, starting with the SEC/ACC Challenge game vs. Ole Miss (Thursday, Dec. 5). NC State will then host Old Dominion (Sunday, Dec. 8), Davidson (Wednesday, Dec. 11) and James Madison (Thursday, Dec. 19) to wrap up non-conference play.

With NC State’s known non-conference opponents, six are coming off postseason tournament appearances. Three received NCAA Tournament bids (Kent State, Ole Miss and NCAA Champion South Carolina), two were invited to play in the WBIT (TCU and James Madison) and one played in the WNIT (Old Dominion).

NC State’s Atlantic Coast Conference schedule will be announced by the league office at a later date. NC State will play Wake Forest, Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Miami, Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech at home. The Pack will take on Wake Forest, Cal, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, SMU, Stanford and Syracuse on the road.

Season tickets are sold out for the 2024-25 season. Tip-off times and television designations will also be released at a later date.

2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

Tuesday, Oct. 29 – Anderson (Exh.)

Tuesday, Nov. 5 – ETSU

Sunday, Nov. 10 – South Carolina $

Thursday, Nov. 14 – Kent State

Sunday, Nov. 17 – at TCU

Thursday, Nov. 21 – Coastal Carolina

Monday, Nov. 25 – Opponent TBD &

Wednesday, Nov. 27 – Opponent TBD &

Thursday, Dec. 5 – Ole Miss +

Sunday, Dec. 8 – Old Dominion

Wednesday, Dec. 11 – Davidson

Thursday, Dec. 19 – James Madison

$ – Ally Tipoff (Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.)

& – Pink Flamingo Championship (Baha Mar, Nassau, Bahamas)

+ – SEC/ACC Challenge (Raleigh, N.C.)

 

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NC State Basketball

NC State Legend Julius Hodge Named Head Coach at Lincoln University

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2 days ago

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July 24, 2024

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NC State Legend Julius Hodge has been named the Head Coach at Lincoln University.

This marks Hodge’s first stint as a Head Coach.

Hodge has been in the Coaching world since 2015, when he served as Director of Player Development at the University of Buffalo under Bobby Hurley. Then, he spent 2016 and 2017 as an Assistant Coach under Herb Sendek at Santa Clara. From 2018-20, Hodge served as an Assistant Coach at San Jose State. Hodge has spent the past three seasons as an Assistant Coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

At NC State, Hodge earned 1st Team All-ACC honors in 2003 & 2004, and 2nd Team honors in 2005. Hodge was named the ACC Player of the Year in ’04. He earned the All-Freshman Team in 2002.

Hodge is 1 of 11 players in NC State history to earn 1st Team All-ACC honors more than once.

His 2,040 career points scored rank 3rd in NC State history. Hodge also ranks 1st in Free Throws Made, 14th in Rebounds, 7th in Offensive Rebounds, 6th in Assists and 7th in Steals.

Congrats Julius! You deserve this!

 

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WATCH: Getting to Know NC State’s Trey Parker

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4 days ago

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July 23, 2024

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NC State Men’s Basketball is releasing videos helping fans get to know the new players on the 2024-25 roster.

Below is the video of Freshman Trey Parker (6’1″/178), with a transcript underneath.

“My name is Trey Parker. I’m an incoming Freshman from Fayetteville, North Carolina.” 

“I was recently playing at Overtime Elite. It was a great experience. A whole lot of development and great energy.” 

“Coach Levi (Watkins) recruited me. As soon as I got to the campus, it was a great experience. They just gave me that big inspiration to feel like I’m home, and feel like a great student outside of basketball.”

“I knew I wanted to be a part of the Pack back in November of 2022. I just felt like it was a great fit for me.”

“Living in North Carolina, and now playing in North Carolina, is a big opportunity. There’s a lot of people from North Carolina looking up to me, and I want to give them what they want to see.” 

“Being close, allows for them to bring the whole city out. It just feels like I’m already at home.” 

“Y’all stay tuned. Showtime is coming this year.”

_______

Parker originally signed with NC State in November of 2022, as a member of the 2023 recruiting class. He decided to reclassify, making him a member of the 2024 class.

Parker is a consensus 3-Star prospect, though 247Sports’ Composite Rankings have him as a 4-Star prospect. 247 ranks him as the #135 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class, the #26 Shooting Guard, and the #13 player in the state of Georgia.

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NC State Basketball

Jersey Numbers for 2024-25 NC State Men’s Basketball Team Revealed

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1 week ago

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July 18, 2024

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The NC State Men’s Basketball team revealed the Jersey Numbers for their 2024-25 team yesterday.

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Numbers that are Staying the Same

Michael O’Connell – #12

Ben Middlebrooks – #34

Dennis Parker Jr. – #11

KJ Keatts – #13

Jordan Snell – #22

Numbers that have Changed

Jayden Taylor – #1 –> #8

Breon Pass – #10 –> #4

Numbers of New Players

Mike James – #0 (He wore #0 at Louisville last year)

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield – #1 (He wore #5 at Louisville last year)

Paul McNeil – #2 (He wore #2 in High School last year)

Dontrez Styles – #3 (He wore #0 at Georgetown last year)

Trey Parker – #5 (He wore #5 in High School last year)

Marcus Hill – #10 (He wore #0 at Bowling Green last year)

We don’t know what number Ismael Diouf will be wearing at NC State next year yet. 

 

 

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