State will face Barton College at 7pm in its second and final exhibition match before starting the regular season. The Wolfpack handled Lynn in the exhibition opener after coming out to some early jitters. The second showing for the Pack should give us a good idea of which lineup Gottfried will look to go with to open the season.
Who are the Barton Bulldogs?
The Bulldogs are a NCAA Divsion II basketabll program in the Conference Carolinas. Barton is located in Wilson, NC which is an hour east of Raleigh, which means they have some homegrown talent on their roster. Once of which is Isiah Jones out of nearby Athens High School. While a Division II school, Barton has seen their fair share off success in the basketball ranks. Some of you may remember this wild finish to win the 2007 Division II National Title.
Barton had a very good year last year, finish 20-11 while making it to their conference championship game. Barton returns 9m players from last years team including all-conference point guard Danny Shand, who averaged nearly 15 points per game while also leading the league in assists at 5.4 per game. They also return Daniel Westbrook and RJ Claypool who averaged close to 10 points a game last year. Barton did lose 3 of their 5 starters from last year, including an all-conference player in Dominique Byrd. The Bulldogs are currently picked to finish 2nd in their conference.
________________________________________ How To Watch
The game will be played at the PNC Arena, all tickets are General Admission and can be purchased here or at the Gate.
All Tickets will be $5 though for non season ticket holders, you may need to shell out another $10 for parking (Go Figure).
The game will also be live streaming on GoPack.com
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Hopefully the Pack have brushed off some of the first game jitters and will come out strong against Barton and give us a better look at things to come this season. Barton will bring more size and talent to the table than Lynn but should still be highly outmatched by this NC State team. Following this game, State will begin the season against Georgia Southern at the PNC on 11/11.
He plays Defense like a Corner back. He goes very vertical very quickly.
Wolfer96
7 years ago
Man I hope the ACC refs don’t call it as tight as the refs tonight. I mean they blew the whistle for every ticky tack little foul.
Wolfer96
7 years ago
It’s going to be fun to see who scores more from 3 this season: Terry or Mav?
Wolfer96
7 years ago
Torin and Hicks really impressing me right now. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… Torin could be the leading scorer this season. I think it’ll be either him or Dennis. I would rather it be Torin and Dennis averaging 10 APG.
Wolfer96
7 years ago
Wolfpack starting off much better than last game. A few unforced turnovers but overall good passing. Dennis and Yurt7 picked up early fouls so that is something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.
Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) is on a visit to NC State currently, according to a source.
Indiana State Transfer Ryan Conwell was on campus last week, but he just committed to Xavier.
From what I hear, the staff preferred James over Connell anyway. A plus with James is he has 2 years of eligibility, whereas Conwell has 1.
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.
Rivals ranked James as the #71 overall player in the 2021 recruiting class, and ESPN ranked him as the #7 prospect in the state of Florida.
After redshirting his first year in Louisville due to torn achilles, James has been a starter for the Cardinals the past two years. This year, he averaged 12.6 points and 5 rebounds.
For a more extensive look at James’ game, click here.
Rivals ranks James as the #77 overall player in the Transfer Portal.
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.
Prior to this season, the record for most games started in a single season in NC State history was 37, with three Wolfpack players doing so: Lorenzo Brown, Richard Howell, CJ Williams.
Morsell now sits atop the list, and a fellow teammate, DJ Burns ranks second, with 40 games started this season.
Styles was the 2nd leading scorer for Georgetown this season, averaging 12.8 points per game, while grabbing 5.8 boards. He shot 36.8% from three.
Originally, Sytles was a consensus 4-Star prospect in UNC’s 2021 recruiting class. 247Sports ranked him as the #62 overall player nationally, and the #2 player in the state of North Carolina, playing for Kinston High School.
After two seasons with the Tar Heels, Styles entered the Portal, and took an Official Visit to NC State and Georgetown, and ultimately chose the Hoyas.
ON3 ranks Styles as the #104 overall player in the Portal.
With his final year of eligibility, Styles’ made the right choice this time.
NC State now has 2 scholarships remaining after Styles’ commitment.
Dennis has an uncanny knack for stealing transition passes. Don’t recall anyone with that particular skill. Has unnaturally quick ups.
He plays Defense like a Corner back. He goes very vertical very quickly.
Man I hope the ACC refs don’t call it as tight as the refs tonight. I mean they blew the whistle for every ticky tack little foul.
It’s going to be fun to see who scores more from 3 this season: Terry or Mav?
Torin and Hicks really impressing me right now. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… Torin could be the leading scorer this season. I think it’ll be either him or Dennis. I would rather it be Torin and Dennis averaging 10 APG.
Wolfpack starting off much better than last game. A few unforced turnovers but overall good passing. Dennis and Yurt7 picked up early fouls so that is something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.