Connect with us

Dennis Smith Jr faces his first real test tonight as he faces up against Georgia Southern’s Tookie Brown. As you know from our previous article, Tookie Brown averaged around 17 points per game last year and finished as the Sun Belt conferences Freshman of the year along with First Team All-Sun Belt honors.

But what most of you don’t know is that this will not be the first time Smith and Brown have faced up against each other. Back in 2014, Smith’s Trinity High School and Brown’s Morgan County High School went up against each other in the Chick-Fil-A Classic. Tookie Brown, who at the time was committed to Mississippi State, ended up on top in this one with a 52-47 victory of Smith’s Trinity High. Brown also seemed to have played a better overall game (though we never actually saw the whole game). Based on the stats, Smith outscored Brown 16 to 14 but Tookie added 7 rebounds and 8 assists while committing only 2 Turnovers. Smith on the other hand had only 2 rebounds and 4 assists but added 3 turnovers.

You can check out the full stats here

I can imagine Smith has not forgotten his matchup against Brown, especially since he missed most of the following year with an injury. It will be interesting to see Smith go up against a strong PG in Brown on the defensive side. Can he keep him out of the lane and causing havoc on the NC State defense? And will Smith be able to dominate on offense against a smaller gaurd? Or will he have trouble against a stronger and quicker set of athletes. It will certainly be fun to watch these two go at it again, hopefully this time Smith can end up on top.

2 Comments
Subscribe
Notify of
2 Comments
newest
oldest most Upvoted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Anthony
Anthony
7 years ago

Greg… I think you man 2014

Anthony
Anthony
7 years ago
Reply to  Anthony

mean*

NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James is Currently Visiting NC State

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James is a Priority for NC State

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

NC State’s Casey Morsell is the 4th Player in NCAA History to Start 41 Games in a Season

Published

on

NC State Guard Casey Morsell started 41 games for the Wolfpack this season, becoming the 4th player in NCAA history to do so.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by NC State Basketball (@packmensbball)

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.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

Georgetown Transfer Dontrez Styles Commits to NC State!

Published

on

Georgetown Forward Transfer Dontrez Styles (6’6″/212) has committed to NC State!

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.

Continue Reading