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
NC State’s Casey Morsell is the 4th Player in NCAA History to Start 41 Games in a Season
I want Archie’s brother.
He’s had a lot of talent at Arizona and has done ok but I wouldn’t say he’s done great? Probably better coach than Gottfried but at this point that’s not saying a whole lot.
Accomplishments
4× Elite Eight (2008, 2011, 2014, 2015)
6× Sweet Sixteen (2008, 2009, 2011, 2013–2015)
9× NCAA Tournament bids (2006–2009, 2011, 2013–2016)
Much better than 95% of the Coaches in Division 1.
Ben Howland went to like 4 final fours. If we want a guy that would actually be interested in the job we should be targeting him.
If you look at Gott’s accomplishments on paper it looks pretty good too. But both State and Arizona want championships. And Arizona has had more talent than State the last 10 years or so. I acknowledge that Arizona has done well but based on talent and expectations some could say they fell short.
My choices for new coach would begin with Creighton’s coach and Butler’s coach.
Just heard rumors that Gottfried fired at season’s end. I think it’s a mistake to keep him till then. Should fire him now and let one of the assistants take a shot at closing out season strong. Not a fan of Archie. Heard that he was telling ppl that State could not compete with unc/duke during his playing days.
Welcome back Tyler. I thought we had lost you guys. A trap game? OMG that is real wishful thinking.
@wolfpack74 if we are still writing through this season you are not losing us haha. A Trap game is real wishful thinking it is about the only thing we can hope for. But if NC State is NC State then they are capable of the surprising result right?
Inconsistency would be an understatement to describe this team. It could lose by 50 or pull out an upset. But my gut tells me it’s going to be ugly.
I would like to see the Cardiac Pack once again. I thought you guys had left since nothing was written about the debacle in Winston Salem.