#11 seed NC State and #6 seed Texas Tech will tipoff tonight in the 1st Round of the NCAA Tournament at 9:40pm. Who are the “experts” picking?
CBSSports
Gary Parrish, Matt Norlander, David Cobb, Dennis Dodd and Josh Nagel picked the Red Raiders. Jerry Palm, Kyle Boone, Chip Patterson, Cameron Salerno and Tim Doyle picked the Wolfpack.
Yahoo!
All three of the experts over at Yahoo! (Woken, Mendoza and Myerberg) picked the Red Raiders.
Sporting News
The Sporting News has Texas Tech winning 82-73.
Action Network
Action Network has the Wolfpack losing 70-75.
KenPom
Texas Tech 76-73. (37% chance of victory)
Bart Tovik
Texas Tech 76-71 (34% chance of victory)
ESPN Analytics
ESPN gives the Wolfpack a 37.5% chance of winning.
ESPN
ESPN has NC State defeating Texas Tech being the 7th most likely upset in the first round.
Texas Tech hits its 3s, takes care of the ball and seldom puts opponents on the line. Those last two strong points aren’t deal-breakers for NC State, which doesn’t rely too heavily on takeaways or free throws. What the Wolfpack do emphasize is the scoring of DJ Horne and DJ Burns Jr., along with the on-ball defense of Casey Morsell. To be sure, the Red Raiders are a clear favorite. Then again, so was North Carolina in the ACC title game. (ESPN)
NC State’s Men’s Basketball team has picked up 4 players from the Transfer Portal this offseason, and the class ranks 10th nationally according to ON3, and 15th nationally according to 247Sports.
Andy Katz is beginning to make his rounds for his Offseason Convo series, and he took the time to meet with NC State Head Coach Kevin Keatts.
In their conversation, Keatts talked about what this run has meant to Raleigh and the Wolfpack fans, how it has helped sell the program the way it deserves to be in recruiting, and even how it helped and hurt in the world of the Transfer Portal.
Today was the final day graduate players could enter the Portal.
This past season, O’Connell averaged 5.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Wolfpack, starting 22 of the 41 games he played in.
O’Connell took over as NC State’s starting Point Guard on January 30th in a win against Miami.
He only scored in double figures in 9 of his 41 games this season, but 6 of those came in postseason play (5 in the ACC Tournament). O’Connell took things to another level in the ACC Tournament, playing aggressive on the offensive end, looking for his shot, and attacking the rim.
NC State played it’s best basketball of the season when O’Connell was running the show. He ranked 3rd in the ACC in Assist/Turnover Ratio (2.5).
Heading into next season, with a lineup filled with new faces, having the calming presence of a veteran leader like O’Connell is reassuring.
ECU Transfer Power Forward Ezra Ausar (6’9″/240) was on an Official Visit to NC State yesterday, and according to analysts at ON3 and 247Sports, things are trending in the right direction for the Wolfpack.
Jamie Shaw of ON3 submitted a prediction for Ausar to eventually commit to NC State yesterday morning.
Cory Smith of 247Sports submitted a crystal ball projection for Ausar to run with the Wolfpack this morning.
Ausar just wrapped up his Sophomore season in Greenville, averaging 11.4 points and 4.7 rebounds, shooting 51.4% from the field. As a Freshman, he was named to the AAC All-Freshman Team, averaging 9.8 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Ausar is a consensus 4-Star prospect in the Transfer Portal, and ON3 ranks him as the #60 overall player in the Portal and the #10 Power Forward.
Originally from Atlanta, Ausar played his Senior Season of High School at Liberty Heights Athletic Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. ON3 ranked Ausar as a 4-Star prospect coming out of high school, the #94 overall player nationally, and the #2 player in the state of North Carolina.
Ausar has visited Seton Hall, Georgia Tech, met over Zoom with Georgetown, and had an in-home visit with Utah. John Calipari and his staff at Arkansas have been in touch with Ausar, as well as Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Arizona State, West Virginia, Iowa State and St. John’s. (Link)
At this point, it’s good news that Ausar has no visits scheduled after the visit to NC State.
Ausar has 2 years of eligibility remaining, and NC State currently has 1 scholarship remaining.
YANIC KONAN NIEDERHÄUSER – Take a look 6-10 Power Forward – Transfer