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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Coach Gott,
Everyone knows you can produce great guards. Work on getting our big me above average.
#GETEMRIGHTCOACH!
The big kid coming will not solve this team’s problem. Gottfried does not know how to integrate our bigs into the offense. No rebounds, no defense. What a disappointment. Need to stop drinking the Kool Aid I guess.
Well it won’t be worse with Yurt7 but he’s not a cure-all.
Yeah, all he will do is set picks for the four guards. Useless. We need a team with a true PG, SG, SF, PF, and C. Not four guards playing zero defense and not rebounding. I’m also tired of making excuses for Gott’s teams. Let’s try using the Wisconsin’s and Virginia’s approach at recruiting and keep kids three or four years.
We tried that already, his name was herb sendek. His team’s had great defense, but incredibly boring offense. That didn’t suit anybody either. You can’t please all the people all the time.
When are these people going to learn how to play defense. Lazy asses and poor coaching. This team has no patience. Getting blow out by Illinois. What a pitiful sight. Bring on baseball. Dennis Smith and Henderson are useless on defense. Hurts the team.
Can’t be too safe with a head injury. TJ has been out for a couple of weeks now for a minor head injury.