NC State Basketball
NC State 83 #16 Miami 81 (OT): ACCDN Highlight Reel and Condensed Game
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.
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.
NC State has Produced 19 1st Round NFL Draft Picks
NC State’s Mohamed Diarra Will Not Return to NC State for Final Season
NC State Baseball Bracketology Report Heading Into Series Against Ball State
Former NC State All-American SS Trea Turner Named NL Player of the Week
WATCH QB Grayson McCall’s Tape from the 2024 NC State Spring Game
NC State’s Mohamed Diarra Has Professional Options in France
NC State is High on Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill
Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James is a Priority for NC State
NC State Reaches Out to High Point Transfer Guard Duke Miles
NC State has Dominated UNC in Athletics in 2023-24
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.
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NC State lands combo guard DJ Horne from the portal
But the biggest difference was stopping Miami on the last four possessions of overtime. “Defense wins games when the shots aren’t falling,” Jim Valvano.
Some comments really stood out to me: NC State forced 17 Miami turnovers, but had just four of its own.
The Pack finished the game with a 23-7 advantage in points off turnovers, a 16-3 advantage in second chance points and a 52-36 in points in the paint.
Miami shot 56.9 percent from the field compared to just 44 percent for NC State, but the Pack attempted 24 more shots (75 to 51) than the Canes.
Joiner’s toughness and poise when the game gets to critical moments is such a big part of our ability to win these close ones. What a huge difference having that experience. ZERO turnovers! AGAIN!. Only 4 turnovers for the entire team! Add the constant offensive pressure applied by Smith and you got yourself a basketball team.
Thought we were in trouble when Dusan went down.
Really thought the season was going south when we lost our second starter.
Then Gantt showed up and played well, giving us a chance.
And now Ross outplayed Gantt!
BEST WIN OF THE SEASON!!
Another ‘toughness’ win for the Pack! This time with Ross gettin into it! Seems like KK has a nice rotation going.
This was a key win against one of the top 2 or 3 teams in the conference.
No doubt. That’s a type of win that builds grit. Ross was huge. I thought we were doomed to lose when we seemed unable to hit a shot for that stretch in the second half. There was one point where we failed to get the rebound 4 times before Miami decided to then hit their shot. I did not think that game would go our way but in true Cardiac Pack spirit, they somehow found a way to win. To Miami’s credit, they were clutch and didn’t seem to miss a shot (and crucial ones at that) especially toward the… Read more »
I keep feeling every game so far that we’ve won is vital and I’m going to say, a road win at Georgia Tech would be real nice for us. I believe this stretch has been huge, but we need to keep churning these Ws out. Maybe I’m just not satisfied. And the way our players have been playing, I get a sense they aren’t satisfied either. I get a sense something is clicking right now. Something nice.
“when we hungry, we eat”
Julius Hodge.