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Point Guard Cat Barber is one of NC State’s representatives down at the ACC Operation Basketball event down in Charlotte today…aka Media Day. Here is a transcript of his time with the media:

Q. Cat, how would you rank the point guards in the ACC? There’s a lot of good ones.

ANTHONY BARBER: You know, point guard is the best position on the floor.

Q. How would you rank the individual player point guards in the league that you compete against?

ANTHONY BARBER: Like individually or just?

Q. Yeah, who do you think are the best point guards in the ACC?

ANTHONY BARBER: There’s a lot of them. Marcus Paige is a good point guard, Demetrius Jackson is a very good point guard, myself. There’s a lot of them in the ACC. I can’t name everybody right now, but it’s pretty much a lot of them.

Q. Mark asked you to describe or rank point guards; describe your teammate Beejay here.

ANTHONY BARBER: Beejay is a great teammate, great player. He blocks the shot well. He has a great motor. If somebody is on the perimeter and it’s a breakdown, a defensive breakdown, and they get past them, you know you’ve got Beejay back there to block the shot. Once he block the shot, you just better be ready to get the rebound. So Beejay is a great player, he’s a great help, and he’s good.

Q. Do you find yourself pushing him at all during practice or during the game?

ANTHONY BARBER: Yeah, I push Beejay a lot. He can fend for himself. In practice when he’s not doing what he needs to do, I’m on him. When I’m not doing what I need to do, he’s on me. I feel like that can help us throughout the whole year and throughout the game, so I’m on Beejay a lot and he knows it. And he knows I’m going to be on him, so that’s not going to change.

Q. We talked to Coach Gottfried over the summer and all he could talk about was Cat Barber and how good you’ve gotten over the summer. What have you done?

ANTHONY BARBER: I think it started at the end of the year in the Georgia Tech game when I came out and had a big game and just carried over throughout the other games, throughout us making it to the Sweet 16.  I just think he believes in me and everybody on my team does, and I feel like this upcoming year is going to be the same, like as I took over from last year. But I feel like it’s a great year for me and my teammates. I feel like it’s a great year for me, so I’m just going come out and do what I have to do.

Q. Cat, are you more of a pure point guard or a scoring point guard?

ANTHONY BARBER: I would say a scoring point guard. I can get my teammates in positions to score the ball, but my whole life I’ve been able to score the ball, just be a variety of players, do different things. But right now I feel like I score the ball more.

Q. You seem to try really, really hard your freshman year to be a college basketball player. Last year it looked like you settled in just a little bit more, a little bit more composed, saw the floor more. What do you expect for yourself for this year as you continue to evolve?

ANTHONY BARBER: You know, my freshman year, you want to live up to the hype that you came in, so there’s pressure on you to do what you did in high school. But the game changes. And I feel like this year, I mean, the year that just passed, I settled in a lot more, and as another year goes past, I feel like I’m better at pace, you know, doing what I have to do with pace, slowing up the game, going fast, getting people in positions where they can score the ball and just scoring for myself. So I feel like this year is going to be great.

Q. You mentioned getting on Beejay. Are you a vocal leader now much more so than you used to be? The point guard is always the on-court general in that sense, but are you vocally that way, as well?

ANTHONY BARBER: Yeah, a couple of past years I didn’t talk as much, but this year I talk a lot. When we’re doing our conditioning, when we’re doing training, running, I try to make sure everybody is clapping, everybody is involved. I’ve just been talking more throughout the off-season and during practicing.

Q. What do we need to know about Terry Henderson?

ANTHONY BARBER: He’s going to slide in and be a great player. Terry can shoot the ball very well. He can create his own shot off the dribble. I’m just ready to see what he can do this year.

Here is a VIDEO of Cat’s Press Conference.

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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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NC State Basketball

Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar Commits to NC State

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17 hours ago

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April 26, 2024

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Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar (6’4″) has verbally committed to NC State for her final year.

Weimar took an Official Visit to NC State a little over a week ago.

She is the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, and has been named Defensive Player of the Year the past two years. She has earned 1st Team Patriot League Honors the past two seasons.

This year, Weimar averaged 18.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. As a Junior, she averaged 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds. She shot 55.5% this year, and 59.7% last year.

With the exodus of River Baldwin, picking up a commitment from Weimar is massive.

With the addition of Weimar, NC State now has 2 scholarships available heading into the 2024-25 season.

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Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill Commits to NC State!

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2 days 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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3 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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Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

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4 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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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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