NC State Basketball
Surprise! Pack, Anya Shock LSU 66-65
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.
NC State’s Mohamed Diarra Will Not Return to NC State for Final Season
NC State Baseball Bracketology Report Heading Into Series Against Ball State
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WATCH QB Grayson McCall’s Tape from the 2024 NC State Spring Game
NC State’s Payton Wilson & Dylan McMahon’s 2024 Draft Projections
NC State’s Mohamed Diarra Has Professional Options in France
Indiana State Transfer Shooting Guard Ryan Conwell Set to Visit NC State
NC State is High on Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill
NC State Reaches Out to High Point Transfer Guard Duke Miles
Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James is a Priority for NC State
2024 NC State Commit Trey Parker Finishes 2nd in OTE Dunk Contest
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Wolfer96 Is it the Les Robinson, Lee Fowler, Sendek, or Lowe curse?
PackJunky wolfpack74 Caleb did a good job tonight. My man, Lee, finally got to play. His defense is so good. If Turner could play on defense like Lee, he would be really good. Our bigs came to play and did a fantastic job. Go pack.
It felt so weird to be on the good side of luck. As a State fan we’ve been screwed so many times by bad calls, half court shots that steal a win away from us, inexplicable breakdown at the FT line late in the game (last season), etc. And to be on the receiving end of the opponent’s failures is just weird. We had no business winning that game. We lost practically every statistical category. They out-physicaled us, the refs screwed us several times, Turner and Lacey went 8 for 29, LSU ran a dunk drill on us in the… Read more »
wolfpack74 PackJunky Well there is more to being useful than scoring. He is one of our absolute best defenders, he is a good passer, a good rebounder for a wing, and he is super aggressive. Last night, he had a bad game. He is still figuring things out as a freshman. I could ask the same question about Kyle… if Kyle is so useful why hasnt he had more playing time lately? Well I think both of them are very useful, it’s just that we have a ton of depth and we need the right fit for the matchups we encounter.… Read more »
Wolfer96 wolfpack74 Can’t relax. We need to win more so our recruiting does falter anymore than it has so far this year. Yes, they have overachieved again, but that game last night was almost as bad as the last Duke game. If LSU had any discipline and floor leadership, we would have lost by 20 or more.
PackJunky If he is so useful then why didn’t he get more playing time last night? He has scored 17 points in the last five games, shooting about 22%, 20% for 3’s. I will give him one thing, he has 3 times the turnovers vs 3 pts field goals lately. I would just like to see Cody get more playing time when it means something. Caleb has always been rated higher than Cody, and I don’t see it. I believe if you play one then play both at the same time. They have played that way their entire life.
If you think Caleb is useless you haven’t been watching this team all year, or you don’t know much about basketball.
wolfpack74 Gott definitely made the adjustments at half time. The key was the team playing more physical. It started with Dez getting all into Quarterman who was killing us all game. Then the rest of the team started matching that intensity. We continued to give up some offensive rebounds but not the put back dunk kind that really hurt us in the 1st half. Anya will get all the press which is well deserved but Kyle had several plays that really got us back in the game. I just want to know what was going on with Lacey? He just… Read more »
I mean this is it. This is the end of the road if you don’t bring all that you’ve got. Gott needs to somehow use this game as motivation for Nova. I didn’t like how the guys came out in the 1st half. The transition D was just awful. Guys were fumbling the ball or turning the ball over. We left too many guys open on 3’s. To beat Nova this team will have to come out with razor sharp focus. Hopefully they shook off the tourney jitters this game. Now that the 1st game is out of the way… Read more »
Gott got smart or desperate. He took out that useless Caleb and replaced him with Kyle. Smart move to use Lee as well. Lacey looks dead tired, CAT still has energy. Go pack for one more.