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.
NC State Basketball
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wulfpacker Wolfer96 Let me clarify since I did not make this clear before… I was not comparing the current All-Star NBA Chris Paul to Cat Barber. I was comparing the college Wake Forest player Chris Paul to Cat Barber. At the time, I don’t think anyone thought Chris would be one of the best PGs in the NBA. At least I didn’t. He was good but I didn’t think he would be great at the next level. Both PGs were highly ranked coming out of HS and both played in the ACC. I was just trying to illustrate the different types… Read more »
ncsu_kappa As you said Lacey and Ralston are gone so whether Cat is ready or not it’s going to be his team. Am I as optimistic as you or the writer of this article? No. Cat has to show me that he can play at a high level all season and not play up and down. I hope he does well but I am just basing my opinion on what I’ve seen from Cat. In 2 seasons he has played up and down each season. In season 1, he played himself into a starting role then lost it. In season… Read more »
Wolfer96 I agree that some things are instinctual, but he has some good instincts when it comes to finding gaps. I dont think he is Chris Paul at all. I think that is a tough to hold him to the same standards as a perennial NBA All Star point guard. Cat also has a lot of things you cannot teach…like speed and toughness. We will have to see if you can be more even keel this season.
wolfer Cat has shown flashes of brilliance when was a score first point guard. the points came in bunches and so did his assists and he didn’t turn the ball over much. With TJ leaving and Lacey and Ralston getting the majority of the shots I think it took him a little while to adjust and find where he was comfortable getting his shots. As this article points out, he demonstrated flashes last year, with Lacey and Ralston gone, the offense is his load to bear. I think the off season practices will give our team time to gel and… Read more »
I’ll reserve judgement but I’m not as optimistic. He doesn’t have the basketball IQ, court vision, or play making ability as someone like Chris Paul. Some of those things you can learn but certain instincts I feel like you either have them at this stage or you don’t. From a purely “feel for the game” perspective just look at TJ. He just understood the game at a higher level. He knew how to use his body, he had great poise and balance, and created plays at will. Same with Julius Hodge. Hodge just knew how to make things happen for… Read more »