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NC State Women’s Basketball Earns #3 Seed in NCAA Tournament

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RALEIGH – For the second straight season, the 10th-ranked NC State women’s basketball team (26-5) will be hosting NCAA Tournament games in Raleigh. Announced Monday evening during the 2019 Women’s NCAA Tournament Selection Show on ESPN, the third-seeded Wolfpack will host 14th-seeded Maine on Saturday, March 23 at 1 pm inside Valvano Arena at Reynolds Coliseum on the campus of NC State University.

The Wolfpack hosted Maine on Dec. 15 of this season, defeating the Black Bears 84-46. Maine (25-7) has won 14 straight games and won its second consecutive America East Conference Tournament title, defeating three foes by an average of 22.6 points per game during the competition.

Saturday’s winner will take on the winner of sixth-seeded Kentucky and 11th-seeded Princeton on Monday, March 25 (time TBD). Kentucky and Princeton will open the action in Raleigh by playing at 11 am on Saturday, March 23.

NC State has played 16 NCAA Tournament games in the city of Raleigh throughout program history. The Wolfpack is 14-2 in these games and has not lost an NCAA Tournament contest in its home city since 1983. The 2019 season marks the Wolfpack’s 25th trip to the NCAA Tournament and 28th appearance in the top national postseason tournament (AIAW National Tournament appearances prior to the beginning of the NCAA Tournament in 1978, 1980, and 1981).

Last season, the Wolfpack hosted and defeated Elon (62-35) and No. 16 Maryland (74-60) in the first and second rounds of the NCAA Tournament in Raleigh.

With a 26-5 record and a third-place finish in the Atlantic Coast Conference that was followed up by an exciting run to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament, the Wolfpack is in the midst of a very strong season and will be making its third consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance.

Photo Credit: @PackWomensBBall

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NC State Basketball

Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar Commits to NC State

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Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar (6’4″) has verbally committed to NC State for her final year.

Weimar took an Official Visit to NC State a little over a week ago.

She is the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, and has been named Defensive Player of the Year the past two years. She has earned 1st Team Patriot League Honors the past two seasons.

This year, Weimar averaged 18.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. As a Junior, she averaged 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds. She shot 55.5% this year, and 59.7% last year.

With the exodus of River Baldwin, picking up a commitment from Weimar is massive.

With the addition of Weimar, NC State now has 2 scholarships available heading into the 2024-25 season.

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Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill Commits to NC State!

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Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) has committed to NC State!

Hill took an Official Visit to NC State this past weekend.

This past season, Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons. 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 #81 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.

Even though 247Sports and ON3 consider Hill a Shooting Guard, NC State is recruiting him as a Point Guard.

Hill is the 4th player to transfer to NC State this offseason, joining Louisville’s Brandon Huntley-Hatfield & Mike James, and Georgetown’s Dontrez Styles.

With the addition of Hill, NC State now has 1 scholarship remaining for next season.

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NC State’s Mohamed Diarra Will Not Return to NC State for Final Season

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NC State Forward Mohamed Diarra will not be returning to NC State for his final season of eligibility. Rather, he will give 100% of his focus to pursuing his professional career.

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Diarra is declaring for the NBA Draft, and will explore that possibility as far as it goes, but the likelihood of him playing professionally in his home country of France are high.

Diarra was a significant player for NC State all season long, averaging 6.3 points and 7.8 rebounds (team high), but his impact in March was tremendous, recording 10+ rebounds in 7 of the Wolfpack’s 10 postseason games, and five of those performances were double-doubles.

Wolfpack fans will always remember the grit and mental toughness that Diarra put on display in the NCAA Tournament, playing game-after-game while fasting for Ramadan.

The Wolfpack’s frontcourt just got a little bit thinner. In the past two weeks, NC State has lost Diarra and Ernest Ross.  Ben Middlebrooks is returning, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield transferred in from Louisville. Dontrez Styles transferred in from Georgetown, and while he is more of a Small Forward, in certain lineups, he could play the Small 4 position. With all that being said, I fully expect NC State to try to find another post player in the Transfer Portal with Diarra’s exodus now official.

With Diarra not returning in 2024, NC State now has 2 scholarships available for next season.

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Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

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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.

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