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NC State Basketball

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

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9 months ago

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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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Matthew is Publisher and Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He is also the Lead Pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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NC State Basketball

NC State Women’s Basketball To Play in the Jimmy V Classic for the 5th Time

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2 weeks ago

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August 24, 2024

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NC State’s Women’s Basketball team will be playing in the 2024 Jimmy V Classic on December 15th at Louisville at 1pm on ABC.

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Because the game will be against the Cardinals, it will serve as the Wolfpack’s ACC opener.

Here’s a look at the other matchups in the Women’s Jimmy V Classic.

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This marks the 5th time that the NC State Women’s Basketball team has played in the Jimmy V Classic: UConn (2002), Texas (2003), Tennessee (2004), South Carolina (2020).

The Wolfpack are 8-8 all-time against Louisville, but are currently on a 5-game winnings streak against the Cardinals.

ESPN ranks NC State 8th in their Way-Too-Early 2024-25 Preseason Top-25, and they rank Louisville 12th. The Wolfpack finished 4th in the AP Poll last season, and the Cardinals finished 30th.

 

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NC State Basketball

Date/Time/Network Info Released for NC State’s Final Four Rematch vs. Purdue

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2 weeks ago

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August 24, 2024

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Back at the end of July, it was reported that NC State’s Men’s Basketball team would play Purdue this upcoming season in the Rady Children’s Invitational, in a rematch from last year’s Final Four.

Now we know the time, date and network.

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The game will be on November 28th at 3pm. The game will be televised on FS1. The games will be played in Liontree Arena in San Diego.

BYU and Ole Miss will be the other two teams playing in the tournament.

Last year, BYU finished right outside the Top-25, and Ole Miss is ranked 22nd in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early Top-25. Purdue is ranked 16th in those rankings as well.

The inaugural tournament took place last year, with Iowa, Oklahoma, Seton Hall and USC.

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NC State Basketball

NC State Head Coach Kevin Keatts Opens a Piano Bar in Downtown Wilmington

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3 weeks ago

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August 17, 2024

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NC State Head Coach Kevin Keatts has opened a Piano Bar called Tempo 33 in Downtown Wilmington.

Tempo 33 had a soft launch on Wednesday, and officially opened to the public tonight.

The piano bar, which includes live entertainment, an expansive bar and upscale, contemporary seating areas, will only open on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. It’s on the top floor of the Roudabush building, above Yosake and The Husk on S. Front St. (Link)

Keatts and his business partner Clayton Gsell had been looking for the perfect location, and finally found a home.

The Wolfpack head coach has roots in Wilmington, serving as the Head Men’s Basketball coach for UNCW from 2014-17.

 

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NC State Basketball

Canadian Transfer Ismael Diouf is on Campus and Ready to Roll

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3 weeks ago

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August 17, 2024

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Back on June 24th, NC State landed a massive pickup when Canadian Forward Ismael Diouf (6’9″/215) transferred to run with the Wolfpack. I have confirmed with a source that Diouf is on campus, enrolled for classes, and will start Monday.

There was never any concern here. Diouf’s delay in arrival was simply a matter of processing paperwork.

Diouf played collegiate ball at Laval in Quebec City.

This past season, Diouf averaged 10.1 points and 6.2 rebounds for Laval, and then went on to average 18.3 points and 11.7 rebounds in the Final 8 Tournament, where the Victors won the National Championship. Diouf earned the MVP title in the Tournament.

Wolfpack Assistant Coach Levi Watkins ran point on Diouf’s recruitment.

Diouf has 2-years of eligibility remaining. He was the #1 Draft Pick this year in CEBL, but didn’t sign with the team, making him eligible to still play college ball.

According to a source, the staff believes Diouf is very talented, and will play and contribute this season.

 

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