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.
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I grew up going to Reynolds. It was great. We had great seats that didn’t transfer to a similar relative position so we didn’t keep them. I’ve been to many games at PNC and it is still nice but not as intimate as Reynolds. We have beaten Duke and UNC-CH there several times. I’m pretty sure we beat Duke the year of a national title at PNC. It is interesting that it used to be rated pretty high in the NHL. Not sure if it still is but at one point it was the loudest in the NHL but not… Read more »
Saw many games in Reynolds. Seen just one at the PNC. PNC is nice but Reynolds had character. Sorry the almighty dollar got in the way. Does anyone know what’s going on with the NCAA and Yurtseven and Johnson?
I agree there is no way PNC is top 10. Maybe top 30? Reynolds would have been top 3 if we still played there.