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NC State Men’s Basketball put out this video today to give a peek into what summer workouts have been like. They did an unbelievable job with the video, and even got head coach Mark Gottfried’s take on how the summer has gone. Here’s the video and all of Gottfried’s QUOTES are transcribed underneath it.

“I think they have worked pretty hard. The nice thing about the new NCAA rules, is that it gives us a chance to work with them a little bit in the summer. It’s helpful. It’s good for our young guys to learn what we are doing and what we are talking about and what we are doing every day. They get to learn what a practice might be like, even though we shorten them in the summertime. Overall I think it’s good for the guys to be in the gym with us, working on their skills, trying to develop, and making sure they are getting better individually as players.”

“I think when you look at Trevor and Ralston, you have two veteran guys. Guys that played a lot of college basketball games. Those guys are hard to replace. We have some guys who I think are eager and willing and ready to step in there, but they have a lot to prove. It’s always hard when you lose veteran guys who have scored a lot, defended a lot at our level. They know what’s going on at our level. So we have some younger guys that are ready to step in there.”

“I think Torin Dorn and Shaun Kirk have done really well. In the summertime we are just throwing a ton at them. Torin transferred in and we do things differently here. It’s just a good learning opportunity. When you throw so much at them, you can tell they are dizzy with all the information. But when they settle in, and start to get what you’re talking about, both those guys have done pretty good. They are learning a lot & I think they’ve both done pretty well in the summer.”

“I think Terry Henderson, kind of like Ralston, is a quiet leader. He’s not a guy that talks a whole lot, as far as that goes. He plays really hard and plays the game the right way. His leadership is a little bit more by example, and by the way he plays. He had a good off season last year when he didn’t play. He’s had a good spring and summer. I think the other players have a lot of confidence in him, and think that he can step in here and be a really good player for us. We’re excited to get him started, and get him going here at NC State.”

“I think Lennard is doing pretty good. He’s recovering and we are going to make sure that we are real cautious with him. We want to make sure that he’s fully healthy and ready to go, and that might be mid-September, and maybe even October, before we release him to practice and play. It gives the other guys more opportunities in practice and in these summer drills. When one guy is down, someone else has to step up, whether it’s BeeJay or Malik, and even playing some different guys at the Forward position. We’ve played Cody a lot at the Forward position this summer. It’s giving other guys more of an opportunity. But obviously we need Lennard back healthy and at full strength. We learned last year what a key and valuable contributor he was to our team.

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Matthew is Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, and is in charge of business strategy. He is an NC State alum who majored in business. Matthew is also the lead pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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Wolfer96
Wolfer96
8 years ago

This group looks a lot leaner and more athletic minus maybe Anya. Hoping to see some good highlight reels this season.

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NC State Basketball

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill Commits to NC State!

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20 hours ago

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April 25, 2024

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Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) has committed to NC State!

Hill took an Official Visit to NC State this past weekend.

This past season, Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons. 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 #81 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.

Even though 247Sports and ON3 consider Hill a Shooting Guard, NC State is recruiting him as a Point Guard.

Hill is the 4th player to transfer to NC State this offseason, joining Louisville’s Brandon Huntley-Hatfield & Mike James, and Georgetown’s Dontrez Styles.

With the addition of Hill, NC State now has 1 scholarship remaining for next season.

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NC State Basketball

NC State’s Mohamed Diarra Will Not Return to NC State for Final Season

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2 days ago

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April 24, 2024

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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.

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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.

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NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

Published

3 days ago

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April 23, 2024

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Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) has announced his commitment to NC State!

 

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A post shared by Tipton Edits (@tiptonedits)

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.

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NC State Basketball

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill is on a Visit to NC State

Published

4 days ago

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April 22, 2024

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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.

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