Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) has announced his commitment to NC State!
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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.
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.
He does have the ability to knock down a three, making 34.8% for his career.
James has 2 years of eligibility remaining. With James’ commitment, NC State currently has 1 scholarship available for next season.
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.
I will say this. I’ve questioned a lot of Yow’s decisions but I have to give her this… she listens to fans when they are fed up. Her office was getting tons of emails calling for Gott’s head and she responded. Maybe not as quickly as I liked but she acted.
When the new coach is hired, if he has to clean house and start Corchianni Jr at PG next season I will support that. We need a coach that kids will respect and also kids that are coachable and play their asses off for their coach.
Here’s hoping we get it right this time and choose a real winner. As always I am willing to give the next guy 4 seasons to prove himself. Just want to see progress each season, some decent defense, and disciplined basketball. If the next guy can build the team with 3&4 stars and be kicking ass by year 3/4 I could live with that too. Nothing worse than losing with 5 stars.
Well it’s official. Gott is axed. I don’t hate Gott but I never liked his hiring. It felt like Yow either struck out on the big names, pissed off a couple of coaches then was forced to settle on a guy who was fired from his previous job. Not a recipe for success.
I heard we screwed up with Marshall during a previous coaching search so he may not be interested. Otherwise I think he would make a good candidate. He’s a fiery guy and his guys play disciplined basketball.
I still like McDermott and Holtman. That game we played against Creighton, we were totally and completely outcoached. Holtman is the guy you want if you like the young up and comer.
McDermott’s utter failure at Iowa State in what was an otherwise stable and successful program concerns me. Not to mention he hasn’t had great success at Creighton since his son graduated, although they are definitely looking good this year. Holtmann, though, appears to be great and his time at Gardner-Webb at least gives him some link to the region.
Yeah I may lean more towards Holtmann myself. He unexpectedly became headcoach at Butler and really took full advantage of the situation. He’s young and likely has that energy needed at a program like State where the kids don’t appear to be buying in.
McDermott is such a long shot anyways. But Holtmann, IMO, is a true target. I just think this time around NC State needs a guy who mirrors the personality of the fan base. The softer, friendlier approach didn’t translate well for Herb Sendek despite putting together some pretty nice seasons. I think they need to put a huge package together and throw it at Arch, Wade and Marshall.
To me, those are your top 3 guys. You basically ask them what its going to take to get them here and you match it. After that then you go to your second tier. I think Keatts is your last option, but I hear he WILL take it.
A 3 year resume at Wilmington? I don’t know.
Is McDermott a long shot? I thought he was only making a Mil a year currently?
With McDermott, he has a track record of improving programs at the lower levels (see Wayne State & Northern Iowa) but has struggled at times in the big leagues. But when he has talent he wins. Maybe it’s just a matter of pairing him up with good recruiters.