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What Kevin Keatts had to Say After NC State’s Win over FIU: BULLETED

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1 year ago

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NC State Head Men’s Basketball Coach Kevin Keatts met with the media for his postgame press conference after the Wolfpack’s win over FIU on Tuesday night. You can watch it here, or check out a BULLETED breakdown below.

  • As far as the game goes I thought we did a tremendous job and played hard.
  • Everything didn’t go well, we didn’t make every shot even though sometimes it felt like we had stretches where we didn’t miss.
  • We talk about sometimes the hardest playing team positions themselves to win.
  • Jarkel Joiner was fabulous.
    • He did a great job of scoring the ball and when we needed him, he got really hot.
  • And I was so proud of Casey Morsell.
    • You know he really shot the ball well…he ran the floor…he did some good stuff…he drove the ball.
    • He had a mixed bag in this game.
  • Ernest Ross played well.
  • LJ Thomas did a great job.
  • Breon [Pass] came on and played well.
  • So it was a good team win. We found a way to win on both ends of the floor tonight.
    • This was very similar, in my opinion, to the way we played the Austin Peay game.
  • When you’re a good player and you don’t have a good shooting night you somehow have to figure out how to effect the game.
    • You know he [Terquavion Smith] still had 6 assists and 6 steals (may be most by a player since Keatts has been here), but it was good just to see some other guys step up when he didn’t have to go for 25 to 30 points a game.
    • I thought that everybody chipped in.
    • I don’t worry about him. He’s going to be fine. But he still did a great job in effecting the game.
    • You know you’re good when you don’t have a big night and people ask if you’re ok.
    • He’s fine. He just didn’t shoot well. I wish he could have 30 every game, but he just didn’t tonight, he had 15 though.
  • He [Casey Morsell] didn’t settle.
    • I thought this game was effective because earlier in the game he drove the ball.
    • When you look back at his first couple of games, they were all 3 pointers. He never really drove the ball.
    • He had a couple backdoor cuts.
  • I think tonight we got 79 shots or 76 shots up.
    • You know when you mix your game up and you can put the ball on the deck a little bit more it helps you.
  • He’s [Jarkel Joiner] huge.
    • It’s great to have a veteran Point Guard and you know he’s a tremendous personality.
    • He’s great in the locker room. He’s a good basketball player and he’s good for our team because you know he’s a team 1st guy.
    • He’s kinda trying to figure out ‘Alright do I get everybody involved, or when is it time to score’ and I think he’s doing a good job with it.”
  • He’s [LJ Thomas] getting better. You know he’s going to be in the mix of coming in and being able to play.
    • I like him and Breon [Pass] both coming in as Guards off the bench and both giving us a lift on both ends of the floor.
    • I’m proud of LJ. He didn’t play last game, but you wouldn’t have known that.
      • He didn’t hang his head. He went back to work the last couple days.
      • He earned the minutes he played.
  • Thought he [Greg Gantt] was fine.
    • He’s rusty, but he’s playing.
    • He’s a tremendous kid, and I think sometimes he gets blamed or it’s a lot of jokes about Greg Gantt.
    • If Greg Gantt could be out there every game, he would be.
    • He’s been beat up, so it hasn’t been fair with some of the things said about him.
    • That being said, I’m excited he came in and did what he did and he’ll get better.
    • He’ll get more healthy. He’s still not 100 percent, but he’s gonna give you what he’s got.
  • I told our radio guys, I thought the score was going to be 120-110 and the way it started off, it was really slow. It was a lot of fouls and I was like, ‘Man, I lied to everybody.’
    • Then we got going. We started making 3’s and kind of blew things open.
    • We like to play things fast, and I thought we did a good job getting out in transition.
    • We forced a lot of turnovers, we got a lot of steals and that’s the way we want play. 

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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.

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Afterglow
Afterglow
1 year ago

Who’s talking stuff about Gregg Gantt???

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NC State Basketball

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill Commits to NC State!

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6 hours ago

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April 25, 2024

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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 Basketball

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

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1 day ago

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April 24, 2024

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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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NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

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2 days ago

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April 23, 2024

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Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) has announced his commitment to NC State!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tipton Edits (@tiptonedits)

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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NC State Basketball

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill is on a Visit to NC State

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3 days ago

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April 22, 2024

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Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) confirmed with me that he is currently on a visit at NC State.

Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons this season. 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 #78 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.

According to a source, the NC State Coaching Staff is extremely high on Hill, and they are recruiting him as a Point Guard.

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