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NC State Basketball

Rothstein (CBS) hearing NC State could play PG heavy, be one of ACC’s fastest teams

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6 years ago

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Jon Rothstien (CBS college basketball reporter) tweeted out something we found pretty interesting a couple days ago.

Instead of just retweeting this, we wanted to dive into it just a bit. Rothstein has great sources and wouldn’t tweet this if who he was hearing it from someone on (or close to) the staff. So there is no question about its authenticity, it’s more about what this might hint at for this year’s team.

If you watched Kevin Keatts’ team last season, then you know he likes to play small and fast. The 6’5 Torin Dorn played most of his minutes at the 4 and found a ton of success there. However, this year Keatts has a group of more versatile bigs (Funderburk, Steere, Walker).

This means there may be times when Keatts might feel comfortable shifting Dorn to the 3. If he does that, he’ll also be shifting freshman Jerricole Hellems to the 3 (he is likely being groomed for the ‘Dorn role.’) In this scenario the Pack is now busting at the seems with guards. You’d now have Markell, Beverly, Blake Harris, Devon Daniels, Eric Lockett, and CJ Bryce vying for the remaining 2 guard spots.

Now that scenario is probably not happening a majority of the time. Usually, you’ll see Walker at center and Dorn as the PF. This means that a combination of Johnson, Beverly, Harris, Daniels, and Bryce will fill out the 1 through 3 spots. If this tweet is correct and Keatts goes with Johnson, Beverly, and Harris (the 3 PGs) you’d be sitting Devon Daniel, CJ Bryce, and Eric Lockett.

If you ask us, this is very unlikely. Daniel and Bryce are two extremely important pieces for Keatts. Daniels is by far the best scorer on this team and Bryce is the quintessential Keatts-guy. He’s played for him at UNC-W, he defends multiple positions, he is a great decision maker and is a valuable slasher from the wing. And then there is Eric Lockett, who you’d be wrong to discount as an after thought. From everything we’re hearing, the staff is loving Lockett and he’s going to get minutes on this team.

So what scenarios can we actually expect to see the 3 PGs on the court together?

Our guess is that you might see it when there is foul trouble, or when NC State is in a late game situation and they need elite ball-handling. What we are saying is, don’t read this tweet and bank on seeing that lineup a bunch this season.

Obviously, Keatts wants to prepare for anything, so practicing a lineup with the 3 PGs is worth it. The bigger takeaway here is that Keatts options are nearly unlimited. He has two (sometimes 3) deep high-level talent at every position, so he may look to get creative early in the season.

And as far as speed? Rothstein hints that this 3 PG lineup makes NC State one of the fastest teams in the ACC? We’d argue that this is the fastest team in the ACC with their expected starting lineup of Markell Johnson, Devon Daniels, CJ Bryce, Torin Dorn and Wyatt Walker.

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Dof87
Dof87
5 years ago

I could see us using 3 to do some zone busting.

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NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James is Currently Visiting NC State

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7 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) is on a visit to NC State currently, according to a source.

Indiana State Transfer Ryan Conwell was on campus last week, but he just committed to Xavier.

From what I hear, the staff preferred James over Connell anyway. A plus with James is he has 2 years of eligibility, whereas Conwell has 1.

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.

Rivals ranked James as the #71 overall player in the 2021 recruiting class, and ESPN ranked him as the #7 prospect in the state of Florida.

After redshirting his first year in Louisville due to torn achilles, James has been a starter for the Cardinals the past two years. This year, he averaged 12.6 points and 5 rebounds.

For a more extensive look at James’ game, click here.

Rivals ranks James as the #77 overall player in the Transfer Portal.

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NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James is a Priority for NC State

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10 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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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.

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NC State Basketball

NC State’s Casey Morsell is the 4th Player in NCAA History to Start 41 Games in a Season

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16 hours ago

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April 19, 2024

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NC State Guard Casey Morsell started 41 games for the Wolfpack this season, becoming the 4th player in NCAA history to do so.

 

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Prior to this season, the record for most games started in a single season in NC State history was 37, with three Wolfpack players doing so: Lorenzo Brown, Richard Howell, CJ Williams.

Morsell now sits atop the list, and a fellow teammate, DJ Burns ranks second, with 40 games started this season.

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NC State Basketball

Georgetown Transfer Dontrez Styles Commits to NC State!

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1 day ago

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April 18, 2024

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Georgetown Forward Transfer Dontrez Styles (6’6″/212) has committed to NC State!

Styles was the 2nd leading scorer for Georgetown this season, averaging 12.8 points per game, while grabbing 5.8 boards. He shot 36.8% from three.

Originally, Sytles was a consensus 4-Star prospect in UNC’s 2021 recruiting class. 247Sports ranked him as the #62 overall player nationally, and the #2 player in the state of North Carolina, playing for Kinston High School.

After two seasons with the Tar Heels, Styles entered the Portal, and took an Official Visit to NC State and Georgetown, and ultimately chose the Hoyas.

ON3 ranks Styles as the #104 overall player in the Portal.

With his final year of eligibility, Styles’ made the right choice this time.

NC State now has 2 scholarships remaining after Styles’ commitment.

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