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N&O: NCAA wants to punish Beverly for…going to class?

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Since the news broke that 2017 PG Braxton Beverly (late NC State commit) might have to sit out a year, Wolfpack fans have been questioning why the NCAA would do something like that to a kid?

If you’re unclear of what we mean, Beverly committed to Ohio State in early June. In late June, OSU fired head coach Thad Matta. Beverly decided to ask for his release, which he was granted. He then committed to NC State last week. The catch is that Beverly had already enrolled in summer classes at OSU. Now, the NCAA is trying to treat the situation like a ‘transfer,’ meaning he would have to sit out a year.

Obviously, NC State is trying to fight this decision and Pack fans are livid. Now, the News & Observer has weighed in.

It’s fine for the NCAA to do its due diligence here. A player who enrolls shouldn’t have the freedom to transfer at will. There’s a dividing line that needs to be established, and an academic year should count as an academic year. But when there’s good reason for it – like a coach getting fired before the player even puts the uniform on, and the school being willing to let the player go, as it should – the NCAA shouldn’t stand in his way.

There isn’t a lot of precedent here because there haven’t been many examples of coaches getting fired on their day off. But if a school is willing to let a recruit move on after firing the coach who recruited him, the NCAA shouldn’t stand in the player’s way on what’s essentially a technicality – just as a school shouldn’t stand in the way of a transfer who has completed his undergraduate education, as Pittsburgh tried to do with Cameron Johnson this summer before he was eventually allowed to transfer to North Carolina.

The NCAA hasn’t officially ruled yet, but the thought is that they were initially leaning towards treating this as a transfer. We still are likely a month or two away from getting the final word, but should we really have to deal with this? Would a higher profile school have to deal with this? ESPN’s Fraschilla doesn’t think so.

That’s a well-deserved cheap shot at the Tarheels and their ‘above the law’ reputation. So it’s not just NC State fans chirping about the double-standards that the NCAA seems to be fine with. This is a top analyst at ESPN.

The real question is, even with all this media backlash, will it matter? Will the NCAA do the right thing and let Beverly suit up this season, or will this just be another example of the NCAA working in a black and white world that at times, punishes the kids who just want to play basketball.

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Basketball Recruiting

2025 4-Star SF Jackson Keith was at the NC State vs. UNC Game

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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.

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NC State Recruits that Will Be in Attendance for the UNC Game Tonight

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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.


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NC State is 1 of the Schools 4-Star PG Kayden Mingo is Hearing from the Most

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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.

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).

 

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Highlights of NC State 2024 Signee Paul McNeil from the John Wall Holiday Invitational

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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.

 

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