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Basketball Recruiting

2022 5-star wing MJ Rice leaning towards NC State? (w/ highlights)

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MJ Rice is a 2022 5-star recruit playing at Oak Hill Academy. He transferred there from Durham Academy just this past year.

This was just another chapter in what has been an eventful high school career.

Rice was already turning heads as a freshman and was quickly climbing the ranks. His blend of size, speed, athleticism, and brute strength couples with great footwork, a solid handle, and a consistent shot, had college coaches taking notice.

He had Duke, Kentucky, NC State, Louisville, and a slew of other schools already showing serious interest and NBA draft boards penciling him in for a 2023 first rounder. But a torn ACL  in December 2019 changed things.

Suddenly some of the top their schools began to look at other options. Almost all of the schools kept involved with Rice, but there were only a handful that kept recruiting him as hard as they had prior to the injury.

The surgery went well after 9 months of rehab, Rice was back. But questions remained if he’d be able to regain his lateral quickness and his athleticism.

If you’ve gotten to watch any of his games recently, you’d see that MJ Rice is back.

While he’s likely still only at about 85-90%, he’s still the most dominant player on the floor almost every night, and he’s not even a senior yet.

This kid has it all. Barring any more setbacks, it’s hard to see him not being a superstar at both the college and the pro level. He’s got the size, the speed, the hops, the shot, and man is he strong.

Coming in at 6’5 and 225 lbs, Rice seeks contact. He’s an extremely physical player, forcing defenders to brace for contact. Sometimes he’ll deliver it, and sometimes he’ll put you on your heels and pull up a jumper in your face. Watching him against high schoolers almost seems unfair.

Here is how Rice described his game to Stockrisers.com:

“I’m a competitor. I can guard a 1-5 and I can score at all three levels. I’m a dog, so I’m very aggressive and I can create my own shot and shots for others. I can really open up the floor and attract all the attention and I can make plays for my teammates. I can really do it all with my size and ability to score and guard.”

Just this week, 247’s Crystal Ball predictions broke in favor of NC State. Multiple analysts have predicted Rice will end up with the Wolfpack, one of the teams he’s constantly said has recruited him the hardest over the course of his high school career.  (There have also been rumors that he grew up rooting for the Wolfpack.)

Rice would immediately be the best player Keatts has ever brought it and would be a potential program changer, even if he were here for one year. He fits Keatts mold perfectly in that he’s a head down, hard working, no ego, kid who just loves to win.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on the situation, but as of now, it’s looking like the experts feel like Rice may be leaning towards NC State.

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Papajohn
Papajohn
3 years ago

With our track record, hard to get too worked up until he signs, and actually shows up. KK will eventually get some, but hard to get your hopes up early.

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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Basketball Recruiting

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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Basketball Recruiting

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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Basketball Recruiting

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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