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4-Star Mady Traore Expected to Suit up for NC State Soon

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4-Star Center/Forward Mady Traore (6’11″/195) committed to NC State late in the recruiting process, back on July 29th, but he hasn’t put on a jersey for the Wolfpack yet.

He chose to run with the Pack over an impressive offer sheet that included Arizona, Arizona State, Auburn, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, LSU, Pitt, Seton Hall, Tennessee, USC, Virginia Tech, Wichita State and others.

Traore is originally from France, and what has kept him from getting on the court thus far has been Visa issues and passing the English competency test.

From what I’m hearing, Traore will be able to start practicing with the team on December 8th, and should be able to play by December 17th.

The Wolfpack find themselves in a different position than they did last year, with depth in the front court. Dusan Mahorcic and DJ Burns have developed a good rotation at the Center position, logging 21.9 and 16.6 minutes per game respectively. Ernest Ross is also getting some run, averaging 9.9 minutes per game, and has also been thrown out there at the 4 with both Mahorcic and Burns. Ebe Dowuona has sparingly seen the court thus far, averaging 2.7 minutes per game. Then there is Greg Gantt, who has battled issues ever since arriving in Raleigh, and has played in only one game thus far, logging 11.5 minutes.

Where would that leave someone like Traore? From what I’m hearing, he could be a guy that could log 5-10 minutes per game.

Traore’s upside is insane. He has a pretty shot, and can shoot the 3. He has handles like a Small Forward, but stands 6’11”, and has a 7’3″ wingspan.

We’ve been excited about Traore ever since he committed, and can’t wait to see him on the court suited up in Red and White.

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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Rev
Rev
1 year ago

So WTF?. Now he is not coming according to Cory Smith. This is looking like a Fuster Cluck to me.

Papajohn
Papajohn
1 year ago

I can’t imagine him getting any minutes this season. The 17th is Vanderbilt, and it’s all ACC after that.
Gantt appears to be coming back, and based on what we saw last night, I think he’ll get decent bench minutes. That’s 3 deep at PF (Clark, Ross, Gantt) and at center (Burns, Mahorcic, Dowuona). All of whom are experienced.
Traore should redshirt, but it sounds like he isn’t interested. Which likely means he doesn’t expect to use up his eligibility.

Afterglow
Afterglow
1 year ago

Good to know. I’ve been asking about this kid for quite some time. Thanks for the update, Pack Insider!

Dof87
Dof87
1 year ago

Its hard to see a true (or should I say ‘cru’) freshman coming in as ACC play starts picking up minutes. But even if he can’t help us this year during games (a big guy in practice is always helpful), he’ll have a big head start on next year.

travelwolf
travelwolf
1 year ago

Kid has unbelievable potential. I just hope some of our players were paying attention in French class…

NC State Basketball

NC State’s NET Ranking After Defeating Maryland Eastern Shore

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NC State defeated Maryland Eastern Shore 93-61 last night, improving to 6-2 on the season. Ironically, they fell one spot in the NET Rankings, from 51st to 52nd.

(NCAA)

NC State’s two losses were against #1 BYU (!) and Ole Miss (#89). BYU was a Quad 1 loss, and Ole Miss was a Quad 2 loss.

The Wolfpack currently rank 7th in the ACC.

ACC Teams in NET Rankings

17) Clemson
23) Virginia
37) UNC
38) Miami
42) Duke
46) Pittsburgh
52) NC State
71) Virginia Tech
91) Boston College
105) Wake Forest
107) Florida St.
114) Syracuse
159) Georgia Tech
212) Notre Dame
276) Louisville

For a refresher on how the NET Rankings are calculated:

Image

Using the quadrant system, which was in its fourth season in 2020-21, the quality of wins and losses will be organized based on game location and the opponent’s NET ranking.

Quadrant 1: Home 1-30, Neutral 1-50, Away 1-75
Quadrant 2: Home 31-75, Neutral 51-100, Away 76-135
Quadrant 3: Home 76-160, Neutral 101-200, Away 135-240
Quadrant 4: Home 161-353, Neutral 201-353, Away 241-353
The number of Quadrant 1 wins and Quadrant 3/4 losses will be incredibly important when it comes time for NCAA tournament selection and seeding. (NCAA)

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NC State Basketball

Kansas Transfer MJ Rice Makes Quite the Impression in his NC State Debut

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We’ve seen a lot of new faces on the NC State Men’s Basketball team this season, but one face we haven’t seen yet is Kansas Transfer Guard/Forward M.J. Rice (6’5″/215)…until tonight.

Rice stepped away from the program for personal reasons earlier this Fall, and when he returned, he had a little catching up to do. It wasn’t until today during shoot around that Rice and Keatts both knew that tonight would be his debut.

“He’d been practicing for the last couple of weeks, and you know, I was just trying to figure out when he was ready. He and I, we talked a little bit after shoot around today and I said ‘MJ you ready to go tonight?'” said Kevin Keatts. “and he had this big huge smile on his face. He’s like ‘You sure you ready?’ He’s like ‘Ask me some plays.’ So he and I sit over there on the scores table at the Dale and we went over plays and I was like ‘You know what, you are ready to play.'”

Out of all the transfers Keatts brought in this offseason, Rice might have the highest ceiling. Rice was a 5-Star prospect in the 2022 recruiting class, and ON3 ranked him as the #24 overall prospect nationally. He committed to Kansas, where he played in 23 games for the Jayhawks as a Freshman in 2022, averaging 2.2 points in 7.6 minutes per game. Rice was a huge pickup in the Transfer Portal, ranked as the #2 player in the Portal, with three years of eligibility remaining.

Rice also isn’t new to the area either, playing high school ball at Durham Academy, before heading off to Oak Hill Academy and Prolific Prep.

In a short sample size, Rice gave us a glimpse of what the hype is all about tonight. He scored 11 points in 11 minutes of play, also grabbing 6 boards. Rice was 5-6 from the field, and hit the only three he took. In the most electrifying play of the night, Rice took it coast-to-coast, finishing with a soaring dunk.

“He gives us another dimension. We’ve been playing with six of our new dudes. Now we added the seventh and I’m happy for him. He’s going to help us. He’s going to be really good for us.” said Keatts. “I said this on the radio just now…we’ve got some older guys, but two really good young players in Dennis Parker Jr. and also MJ Rice. It was good for MJ to see the ball going in. I think he played 10 minutes had 11 points. He made a three. He had a big time dunk, so I was excited for him.”

“He gives us the ability to play a little bit more small ball. If we have to, we can play him and Dennis Parker both at the three and four. Really good defender at that position and can rebound the basketball,” said Keatts. “It’s going to take time. I’m trying to figure out how to kind of put him into the rotation, and now we’ve added another really good exciting piece to it, but it was good to have him back out there.”

Welcome to the Pack MJ! We’re glad you’ve arrived!

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NC State Basketball

NC State 93 UMES 61: BOX SCORE

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NC State improved to 6-2 on the year tonight, defeating UMES 93-61 in Reynolds Coliseum. Below is the Box Score.

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NC State Basketball

Pack Insider’s Highlight Reel of NC State’s Win Over BC

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Ready to watch NC State’s Men’s Basketball team play in the ‘old barn’ tonight against Maryland Eastern-Shore? Well, until 7pm, go ahead and get yourself hype by watching Pack Insider’s Highlight Reel of the Wolfpack’s ACC opening win over BC this past Saturday. Check it out above.

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