Blake Harris was all set to attend University of Washington this fall before a coaching change made him rethink his decision. After notifying them that he wanted out of his LOI, U of W released Harris yesterday.
This opened the door for Kevin Keatts to make his pitch. The 4-star point guard was a star at Raleigh’s Word of God Academy last season. Harris is a smooth guard with great scoring ability. However, while Harris did lead his high school team in scoring, he’s actually more known for his vision. His ability to control the defense with his eyes and deliver passes using his peripheral vision is something you don’t normally see from a high-scoring high school point guard.
Harris is ranked #99 overall on ESPN’s player rater and is the #20 PG in his class. This would be a very nice pick-up this late in the game for Keatts.
Note that LaVar Batts, a Charlotte kid who was committed to VCU, is also looking around and could be an option for Keatts. We’ll keep you posted.
Hear we lost Thomas Allen. The only commit currently for next season. Wonder if Keatts targeting other guards over Allen or if Allen doesn’t like Keatt’s style of play?
wolfpack74
7 years ago
How many PG’s do we need? How about some good 3’s and 4’s assuming Y7 stays
We have 1 PG, so…. Yeah. We are full of 3’s and 4’s. Kirk and Mav are NOT 2’s, no matter what they are listed at. Neither are Dorn and Henderson, really, though Dorn may be closer to a 2. Then there is Allen coming in, who is a combo, and Newman. That’s it for guards, unless you count the walk-ons, one of which is Gott’s kid.
The key word that I am assuming that you missed was “good”. We have had two consecutive McDonald All American point guards (Smith would have been there if not injured) and what has it done for this team’s record. May be time to concentrate on the olther positions.
The BIG question there is… was it the players of the coach? I think that will be largely answered next season when basically all of Gottfried’s guys are playing in Keatt’s system.
Defense wins games. Take a look at South Carolina. The guys we have do not know how or will not play defense. Nothing is going to change, more of the same. Lights out, the party is and has been over.
That’s always something ppl debate. Are the players just not good defenders or is the coach not employing a good defensive scheme or not prioritizing defense? I am concerned that Keatts’ teams ranked so poorly defensively against lesser competition. I’ll just wait and see the product next season before judging too harshly.
Problem is this is pretty late into the recruiting cycle for this next season. So Keatts is probably working with a limited pool for 2017-2018. True test of his recruiting will be his classes 2-3 seasons from now.
Wolfer96
7 years ago
I’ll tell you one thing about coach Keatts, he don’t waste no time trying to get settled in. He hits the ground running. Of course, when your pay goes from $700k to over $2 mil overnight, that will motivate you. Good signs so far.
4-Star 2025 Small Forward Jackson Keith (6’5″/175) was also in attendance.
Keith is a consensus 4-star prospect in the 2025 recruiting class, with Rivals ranking him as the #53 overall player in the class. The Southern High (Durham, NC) standout is ranked as the #2 player in the state of North Carolina in the 2025 class by ESPN.
Keith holds offers from NC State, Wake Forest, Mississippi St., Illinois, SMU, Virginia Tech, LSU and others.
NC State (11-3) will host #7 UNC (11-3) tonight in PNC Arena, and they also will be hosting a couple of recruiting prospects.
4-Star 2025 Power Forward Sadiq White Jr. and 4-Star 2025 Point Guard Jordan Lowery both confirmed with me that they will be in attendance.
White, who plays for Myers Park (Charlotte) is the consensus #1 player in the state of North Carolina in the 2025 recruiting class, and he’s 4 spots away from being a 5-star prospect according to ON3. Lowery plays for Winston-Salem Christian School, and is ranked as the #7 overall player in the state of North Carolina in the 2025 recruiting class according to 247Sports.
White holds offers from NC State, South Carolina, Syracuse, Cincinnati, Wake Forest, LSU, FSU, Illinois, Virginia Tech, Alabama, Texas, Tennessee, Georgetown, Ohio State and others. Lowery holds offers from NC State, TCU, Virginia Tech, SMU, Oklahoma St., Kansas St. St. Louis and others.
2026 Point Guard Kobe Edwards also told me he will be in attendance.
4-Star 2025 Point Guard Kayden Mingo (6’1″/160) stated that NC State is one of the schools most frequently reaching out to him, along with Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Notre Dame, Penn State, Cal and Old Dominion.
2025 4⭐️ Kayden Mingo continued his stockrising season tonight as #2 Long Island Lutheran (NY) took down #11 La Lumiere (IN).
Mingo finished with 20PTS, 7ASTS and 5REBS in the 82-65 win. He’s LuHi’s leading scorer on the season.
Despite the Wolfpack’s interest in Mingo, they haven’t offered him yet. Mingo currently holds offers from Cal, Penn State, Saint Louis, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.
Rivals and ESPN both rank Mingo as a 4-Star prospect, with Rivals ranking him as the #70 overall player nationally in the 2025 recruiting class.
Mingo plays for Long Island Lutheran in New York, which is one of the top teams in the country. He is currently the Nike EYBL Scholastic’s leading scorer (20ppg).
NC State 2024 signee Paul McNeil Jr. showcased his talent at the 2023 John Wall Holiday Invitational at the end of the year. Below are highlights from his first two games.
In Richmond’s 77-62 win over Jordan in their first game of the invitational, McNeil had 27 points, 8 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.
In Game 2, McNeil had 24 points, 11 rebounds and 4 assists in Richmond’s 53-56 loss to Northwood.
In Game 3, McNeil had 21 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists in Richmond’s 68-84 loss to Cannon. I couldn’t find any highlights from this particular game.
Through 11 games this season, McNeil is averaging 29.6 points, 11.1 rebounds, and 4.6 assists per game. He is shooting 52% from the field and 35% from three.
Hear we lost Thomas Allen. The only commit currently for next season. Wonder if Keatts targeting other guards over Allen or if Allen doesn’t like Keatt’s style of play?
How many PG’s do we need? How about some good 3’s and 4’s assuming Y7 stays
We have 1 PG, so…. Yeah. We are full of 3’s and 4’s. Kirk and Mav are NOT 2’s, no matter what they are listed at. Neither are Dorn and Henderson, really, though Dorn may be closer to a 2. Then there is Allen coming in, who is a combo, and Newman. That’s it for guards, unless you count the walk-ons, one of which is Gott’s kid.
The key word that I am assuming that you missed was “good”. We have had two consecutive McDonald All American point guards (Smith would have been there if not injured) and what has it done for this team’s record. May be time to concentrate on the olther positions.
The BIG question there is… was it the players of the coach? I think that will be largely answered next season when basically all of Gottfried’s guys are playing in Keatt’s system.
Defense wins games. Take a look at South Carolina. The guys we have do not know how or will not play defense. Nothing is going to change, more of the same. Lights out, the party is and has been over.
That’s always something ppl debate. Are the players just not good defenders or is the coach not employing a good defensive scheme or not prioritizing defense? I am concerned that Keatts’ teams ranked so poorly defensively against lesser competition. I’ll just wait and see the product next season before judging too harshly.
Problem is this is pretty late into the recruiting cycle for this next season. So Keatts is probably working with a limited pool for 2017-2018. True test of his recruiting will be his classes 2-3 seasons from now.
I’ll tell you one thing about coach Keatts, he don’t waste no time trying to get settled in. He hits the ground running. Of course, when your pay goes from $700k to over $2 mil overnight, that will motivate you. Good signs so far.