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.
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PG Blake Harris @blizzyblake55_ is currently on a visit to N.C.State. Meeting with #NCSU coach Kevin Keatts #WPN https://t.co/P1KCZleEHJ pic.twitter.com/B1zSvzWS7o
— Andrew Slater (@ASlater247) March 22, 2017
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.
Earlier today, I mentioned Wolfpack prospects 4-Star 2025 Power Forward Sadiq White Jr., 4-Star 2025 Point Guard Jordan Lowery, and 2026 Point Guard Kobe Edwards would be visiting for the NC State vs. UNC game.
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.
Basketball Recruiting
Highlights of NC State 2024 Signee Paul McNeil from the John Wall Holiday Invitational
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.