Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) confirmed with me that he is currently on a visit at NC State.
Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons this season. 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 #78 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.
According to a source, the NC State Coaching Staff is extremely high on Hill, and they are recruiting him as a Point Guard.
What did an ACC Title & Final Four mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.? The man who won the ACC Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 gave me a statement.
It means a lot. It means a lot to the university, the state of North Carolina and a lot more to my dad, grandma, and myself. They have been NC State fans since forever, so their excitement level was though the roof when they saw BOTH of our basketball teams shining like that. It was a great feeling!
2017 was Smith Jr.’s only year of College ball, averaging 18.1 points, 6.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals. He earned 2nd Team All-ACC honors, and obviously, he earned a spot on the ACC All-Freshman Team.
DSJ was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 9th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.
Smith Jr. just wrapped up his 7th season in the NBA. This was his 1st season with Brooklyn, playing in 56 games for the Nets. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, averaging 18.9 minutes per contest.
NC State’s DJ Horne played in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament this weekend, and he was named to the All-Tournament Team.
In 3 games, Horne averaged 14.3 points, shooting 41.5% from the field, and 30% from three.
Horne’s Portsmouth Partnership team made it to the finals, but lost to Jani-King 68-75.
The Portsmouth Invitational is an annual pre-draft camp that has been showcasing College Seniors to professional scouts since 1953.
NC State has reached out to Utah Transfer Guard Deivon Smith (6’0″/173).
Utah guard Deivon Smith tells @LeagueRDY he’s hearing from these schools since hitting the portal:
Kentucky
Villanova
Florida
Creighton
St. John’s
Miami
Wake Forest
NC State
Kansas State
Washington
Louisville
VCUIn his first season with the Utes, Smith averaged 13.3PPG,… pic.twitter.com/jvJI7Yahfw
— 24/7 High School Hoops (@247HSHoops) April 20, 2024
Smith filled up the stat sheet every game this year, averaging 13.3 points, 7.1 assists and 6.3 rebounds, shooting 46.7% from the field and 40.8% from three for Utah. He earned All-Pac 12 Honorable Mention this season. Smith had 8 double-doubles and 1 triple-double this year.
Wherever Smith lands, this will be his 4th college. He started at Mississippi St., starting in 8 of the 33 games he played in, averaging 22.5 minutes per game. Smith went on to spend his next two seasons at Georgia Tech. Year 1 in Atlanta, Smith started in 5 of the 24 games he played in, averaging 19.7 minutes per game. In Year 2, he carved out more of a role, starting in 13 of the 24 games he played in for the Yellow Jackets, averaging a career high 24.8 minutes per game.
At Utah this year, Smith broke out and had a career year in every possible way.
NC State is familiar with Smith, offering him back when he was a 4-Star prospect out of Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia. Rivals ranked Smith as the #53 overall player nationally in the 2020 recruiting class. ESPN ranked him as the #5 player in the state of Georgia. 247Sports ranked him as the #11 Point Guard in his class.
The only problem is who do you bring in to replace Gottfried. State has shown in coaching searches we are not a top destination for the upper esalon of coaches.
I realize that coaches can not go out on the court and play the game, but they are responsible for the personality, attitude, and effort of a team. It is okay to lose when giving your all but inexcusable when you go out and represent your school in the manner that our players so often do. Williams and Coach K would have lost their minds and sat every player. We need a coach to motivate
“They cannot do anything about that performance but they can make sure it never happens again.” Here’s my problem, they already did and it was against Miami. Fool me once as the saying goes. They’ve got me worried at this point.
As I’ve mentioned before I was done before last season. We don’t need to see 2 more years of this crap to know what we have. This is the most talented and deepest roster maybe ever in Raleigh but if the coach can’t get them to play hard at minimum then what else needs to be said? I’ll return when we have a new coach. Until then best wishes to all Wolfpack fans.
A friend of mine and fellow Alumnus who happens to be a lot more forgiving than me was using this season to make the final call on our beleaguered coach. I’m pretty sure I know which way he’s leaning.
This is a defining moment. State can either get back up and learn or stay down. This team has to mature quick since a third of the team will be gone next year and this is the first time state has had depth in a good while. I’ve been a state fan since I was 13 when Herb Sendek was the coach, and even then there was inconsistency. Someone needs to step up and change the culture and fast.
Who’s leaving? Only Anya is a senior and maybe Henderson. The rest need to stay and learn how to play as a team because none are that talented to consider the NBA yet. It only looks like we have depth. Most are first year players that don’t play hard or together. However, the real problem is the coaching. No ability to develop players especially the bigs. Sorry to hear Wolfer96 is out.
That was a fairly accurate breakdown. As mentioned the lack of effort is a real concern. But lacking discipline is nothing new for a Gott coached team. I saw guys walking back on defense when unc was pushing the ball in transition. Standing around after a score and giving up wide open shots. At some point these guys have to show a little pride.
This is type of game that players and coaching staff should come out and apologize to WPN. Except for one or two players, They should know it was embarrassing to wear Wolfpack jersey. 27% FT, 26 TOs, 51 margin loss is inexcusable. Team was out-coached, out-hustled, out-everything. This is recurring theme for Gottfried and co. Will Gott’s true team only come in March? WPN have to swallow poops til?