Derrik Smits (7’1″/235) decided to transfer from Valparaiso on March 18th after graduating.
As you can see above, Reamer reported that Smits is planning on going through the Draft process, with the option to return to school (which is most likely).
Reamer reported yesterday that Smits has already visited Butler, and will be visiting Arizona State and NC State over the next 10 days, and will choose between those three schools.
Coming out of high school, Smits was a 3-star prospect, ranked as the #11 player in the state of Indiana. Smits chose Valparaiso over offers from Butler, Clemson, Xavier and Indiana.
Smits sat out his first season at Valpo due to injury, and then played the past three seasons.
He saw a big jump across the board last year, seeing career highs in games started (25), minutes played (21.7), field goal percentage (59.4%), rebounds (5.7), and points (12.2).
NC State can fill 1 more spot before next season, and a front-court player is the priority. Pat Andree (6’8″), Graduate Transfer out of Lehigh, is on campus in Raleigh for a visit this weekend.
Andree has the height of a big fella, but is also a three-point specialist (41%). Smits is your prototypical “big.”
Smits has NBA pedigree. You might remember his pops: Rik Smits.
His father played 12 seasons in the NBA, was an All-Star in 1997-98, and averaged 14.8 points and 6.1 rebounds per game.
Smits gets his height from his father, who stood 7’4′.
With one year of eligibility left, Smits has to decide if he’s willing to leave the state of Indiana. He has the option to stay in-state by going to Butler, or he can check out the West coast at Arizona State, or the East coast at NC State.
Matthew is Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, and is in charge of business strategy. He is an NC State alum who majored in business. Matthew is also the lead pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.
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.
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.
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.
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.