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Kevin Keatt’s Press Conference After NC State’s OT Win Over #16 Miami: BULLETED

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1 year ago

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NC State head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media for his postgame press conference after the Wolfpack beat #16 Miami today. You can watch it here, or check out a bulleted breakdown below.

  • Great team win. Gritty win. It’s one of those wins that you’ll look back and say, “Man, that was a great win.” It’s a great, middle-of-January, ACC battle.
  • Give Miami credit.
    • There was a moment in the game where I thought Isaiah Wong just took the game over.
      • He had a stretch where we just couldn’t guard him.
  • I have to shout out Ernest Ross, another guy who’s been on our bench for a long time and came out and had 17 points and 9 rebounds.
  • This team keeps putting together good games, and it’s always someone else who’s stepping up.
    • When we put the team together for the 1st time, we thought we had 10 guys who could play.
    • Being down Dusan Mahorcic and Jack Clark, the other 8 guys are stepping up in a big way.
  • I don’t know if you’ve congratulated Jarkel Joiner, but he’s a daddy now.
    • I don’t know if I should be telling you that, but there’s a “Jarkel Jr.” who was born yesterday.
    • We didn’t know if he was going to make the game today.
    • He got back at midnight last night and played the game.
    • He was able to be there for the birth of his child and was able to make it back.
    • He played with a heavy heart as a proud new daddy.
  • Our team has taken on the identity of defense and grit.
    • When you look at the stat sheet, they shot almost 50 percent for the game, maybe more, but I thought we made big plays and big stops when we needed to.
  • What’s special about this team is that every game that we get a win, I’m able to point at someone who made a difference in the game.
    • DJ Burns came in the game, 13 points, a career high in assists with 7.
    • I didn’t expect to play him that early in the 2nd half.
    • I wanted to get to that 1st timeout because I didn’t want him to play 33 minutes, but we struggled to score, and so he came in and made a big difference for us.
  • I think we’ve all learned. You know what’s happened with Manny Bates and Devon Daniels.
    • One of the biggest things, as a staff, is also we’ve prepared guys for taking advantage of opportunities.
    • Greg Gantt was a guy who was a punching bag for a lot of people, having never played.
      • Obviously, he’s played a lot of minutes.
    • Ernest Ross was a guy who didn’t like his minutes, but he had a great week of practice.
    • LJ Thomas has played better, and Breon Pass is starting to get better.
    • We’ve started to develop our bench because we know we’re going to need those guys down the stretch.
  • I absolutely believed it [Ross could have a performance like this]. I knew it.
    • Ernest was great. He’s around the rim all the time. He’s been flying around.
  • I’ve said this before…I don’t think there’s another back-to-the-basket guy in the country as unique as him [Burns].
    • Here’s why I say that. He’s got an ability to score; he’s got a great touch around the basket.
      • But he’s also a great passer. He’s a willing passer.
    • When he’s in the game, we try to go to him as much as possible because we don’t know how long he’ll be in the game.
    • He’s unique, and we love the way he can score the ball.
    • This is something we haven’t had in the last year or so.
      • We’ve had to draw up a play to get a jump shot or some kind of drive. Now, we can throw it inside and score off of that.

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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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Papajohn
Papajohn
1 year ago

I don’t know about anyone else, but I have yet to really have confidence in this team. I like them, and believe they can play with anyone, but it’s going to take a lot more wins before I go into a game feeling absolutely sure they will win. Every game will have a story line … GT – will they let down after the 3 quality wins? Can they win on the road again? UNC – First ACC two game road trip. Will Bacot eat our lunch again? We get so amped for these rivalry games, can we calm down… Read more »

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Dof87
Dof87
1 year ago
Reply to  Papajohn

What ACC teams do you have more confidence in? It will be interesting when we play UNC how DJ and Gantt affect Bacot. Of course last year he had free reign given our decimated front court. Our rebounding is light years better than last season. This is actually the first season in many that I feel like UNC doesn’t pose a huge matchup problem. But first GT, lets TCOB in what will be a very tough road game. And yes, Smith will shoot long balls. People need to get over it and accept it. He’s a scorer. He opens up… Read more »

Last edited 1 year ago by Dof87
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Dof87
Dof87
1 year ago

What a difference a season makes. Manny Bates and Hayes leaving and the sky falling. Things look so much different now. Speaking of Manny, feel bad for him he’s out with knee injury and had surgery to keep him out till later in season.

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Papajohn
Papajohn
1 year ago
Reply to  Dof87

Terrible news about Manny, but I have to admit, I’m glad that didn’t happen here. Hope he heals up well. The NBA is a rough game, they’re going to look very skeptically at a guy who’s been injured as often as he has.
interestingly, Cam is playing about the same minutes at LSU that he played here, and his box score is similar – except his shooting percentages are way better. He average 7.0 ppg here last season, and is up to 8.8 there. Much more efficient, but not a whole lot more productive.

1
Dof87
Dof87
1 year ago
Reply to  Papajohn

I was enamoured by Cam early on, but now seeing LJ Thomas I feel we have upgraded. It speaks again to what KK was dealing with last season as far as guard play in addition to the big man issues.

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NC State Basketball

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

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12 hours 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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NC State Basketball

What did an ACC Title & Final Four Mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.?

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22 hours ago

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April 22, 2024

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What did an ACC Title & Final Four mean to NC State Legend Dennis Smith Jr.? The man who won the ACC Rookie of the Year Award in 2017 gave me a statement.

It means a lot. It means a lot to the university, the state of North Carolina and a lot more to my dad, grandma, and myself. They have been NC State fans since forever, so their excitement level was though the roof when they saw BOTH of our basketball teams shining like that. It was a great feeling!

2017 was Smith Jr.’s only year of College ball, averaging 18.1 points, 6.2 assists, 4.6 rebounds and 1.9 steals. He earned 2nd Team All-ACC honors, and obviously, he earned a spot on the ACC All-Freshman Team.

DSJ was drafted by the Dallas Mavericks with the 9th overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft.

Smith Jr. just wrapped up his 7th season in the NBA. This was his 1st season with Brooklyn, playing in 56 games for the Nets. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.6 assists, 2.9 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game, averaging 18.9 minutes per contest.

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NC State Basketball

NC State’s DJ Horne Named to Portsmouth Invitational All-Tournament Team

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2 days ago

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April 21, 2024

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NC State’s DJ Horne played in the Portsmouth Invitational Tournament this weekend, and he was named to the All-Tournament Team.

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In 3 games, Horne averaged 14.3 points, shooting 41.5% from the field, and 30% from three.

Horne’s Portsmouth Partnership team made it to the finals, but lost to Jani-King 68-75.

The Portsmouth Invitational is an annual pre-draft camp that has been showcasing College Seniors to professional scouts since 1953.

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NC State Basketball

NC State Has Shown Interest in Utah Guard Transfer Deivon Smith

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3 days ago

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April 20, 2024

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NC State has reached out to Utah Transfer Guard Deivon Smith (6’0″/173).

Smith filled up the stat sheet every game this year, averaging 13.3 points, 7.1 assists and 6.3 rebounds, shooting 46.7% from the field and 40.8% from three for Utah. He earned All-Pac 12 Honorable Mention this season. Smith had 8 double-doubles and 1 triple-double this year.

Wherever Smith lands, this will be his 4th college. He started at Mississippi St., starting in 8 of the 33 games he played in, averaging 22.5 minutes per game. Smith went on to spend his next two seasons at Georgia Tech. Year 1 in Atlanta, Smith started in 5 of the 24 games he played in, averaging 19.7 minutes per game. In Year 2, he carved out more of a role, starting in 13 of the 24 games he played in for the Yellow Jackets, averaging a career high 24.8 minutes per game.

At Utah this year, Smith broke out and had a career year in every possible way.

NC State is familiar with Smith, offering him back when he was a 4-Star prospect out of Grayson High School in Loganville, Georgia. Rivals ranked Smith as the #53 overall player nationally in the 2020 recruiting class. ESPN ranked him as the #5 player in the state of Georgia. 247Sports ranked him as the #11 Point Guard in his class.

 

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