It’s that time of year again. Basketball previews are starting to pour in and that means we’re going to have a lot to debate. Brian Hamilton of Sports Illustrated posted his preview of the ACC Men’s Basketball season yesterday on si.com, here is what he had to say about the Pack:
Earlier Coach Gottfried predicted that many analysts and media publications would pick the Pack to finish anywhere from 9th to 11th in the ACC. It looks like his prediction is spot on, but don’t be surprised if the Pack can exceed these expectations.
*SI/Hanner Statistical Projection:
“With the start of college basketball season less than a month away, we’re previewing each team in nine conferences. Using a statistical projection system developed by economist Dan Hanner and SI’s Luke Winn, which is now in its second season, we’ve forecast the conference standings and the top seven scorers from each team” SI
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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wolfpack74 We lost a lot of scoring with the departures of Ralston and Trevor. The BIG question will be “who will step up?”. It could be a number of guys but here’s my prediction: Cat shoots more scores more (shooting % still a question mark. Could be low.). Twins take big leap forward and add to scoring, rebounding, and defense. Anya steps up with new body and new attitude. He can score 8 ppg and pull down 8 rpg. Abu builds on freshman season and nearly doubles output on scoring and rebounding. Hendo puts up decent numbers. Maybe not Trevor… Read more »
We will be very lucky to go 9-9 with the schedule we have.