NC State Basketball
Men’s Basketball: Pitt 68 NC State 60: ACCDN HIGHLIGHT REEL & CONDENSED GAME
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
NC State’s Current 2024 Football Scholarship Breakdown
4-Star Safety Jontae Gilbert Has Locked in an Official Visit to NC State
A Look at NC State’s Draft Picks Year-by-Year
Auburn Transfer Linebacker Cam Riley Decommits from NC State
Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill Commits to NC State!
NC State’s Current 2024 Football Scholarship Breakdown
NC State’s Mohamed Diarra Has Professional Options in France
NC State is High on Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill
NC State has Dominated UNC in Athletics in 2023-24
Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James is a Priority for NC State
2024 NC State Commit Trey Parker Finishes 2nd in OTE Dunk Contest
VIDEO BREAKDOWN: Was BYU 3 point barrage unstoppable, or was NC State’s defense to blame? You decide.
VIDEO: Terquavion Smith GOES OFF in G-League Debut with 37 points & 8 Boards
NC State lands combo guard DJ Horne from the portal
One positive was Gantt’s play. He looked like a guy we can give more minutes to.
Trying to be realistic, I agree. Gantt can be a huge asset going forward. I have been trying to find something positive about this loss, thanks for the help. I am encouraged by his play and think Thomas could be very valuable as the season progresses.
Truly disappointing. Joiner and Clark 0 for 20 !?! Unbelievable! As you guys pointed out, there are other reasons why we lost, but that stat really stands out. It only took two days and one game before we took the December stumble I was hoping to avoid. I am not just disappointed; I am angry. I thought we were better than this.
I actually thought we played decent ball for the most part, but couldn’t match their shooting precision and missed too many FTs which would have kept things close. Too many fouls early for Dusan limited his effectiveness. A few too many turnovers, what was JJ thinking on the full court lob just when momentum had swung our way? It was a major mojo killer mistake. Pitt had their share of open shots but had to hit a lot of really hard shots as well. They had the better guard play. Bad day or reality check? It ain’t good to start… Read more »
Decent, yes. But at home, I’d expect more. This is the type of game I guess I’d expect if on the road against Pitt. Maybe my post game rant was a little off kilter mood wise because I didn’t wait a day to post (which I probably should have done) but I still feel we played unaggressive and settled when we should have attacked the basket. Had we missed the same number of shots attacking the basket as we did missing the three pointer, I feel we would have fared better. We could have gotten them into foul trouble, maybe… Read more »
That was abysmal. I do not like the way we are jacking up threes like they are going out of style. We did our best when we drove it inside and attacked the basket. Had been more consistently hardnosed with that, then we could have drived and dished. Inside out!!! NOT OUTSIDE IN!!! Instead, we relied on the three, and quite simply, died by the three. To Pitts credit, they played incredible D and guess what! Short of some happy threes at the start, they played inside out. Their offense over all was decent, not great. Frankly, defense won the… Read more »