NC State lands Jerry Deng, a 6’9 athletic wing from FSU with NBA potential, who shot 37% from 3pt range

Surprise, surprise.

While everyone was tracking Darrion Williams, Derrion Reid, James Scott, and Terrance Arceneaux, Will Wade pulls off a major get, bringing in 6’9 Jerry Deng from FSU.

NEWS: Florida State transfer forward Jerry Deng has committed to NC State, he tells @On3sports.

The 6-9 sophomore averaged 7.0 points in 15.4 minutes per game this year. Scored 16 points on UNC this season. https://t.co/9dqhJNp7V6 pic.twitter.com/YW2mrnRNsQ

— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) April 25, 2025

Jerry Deng is a HUGE pickup for the Pack. Not only is he a very athletic and bouncy 6’9, but he’s a very capable outside shooter, converting on 37% of his threes this past season. To put that into perspective, it would have led NC State last season for guys who made 25 3s or more (Styles shot 36% and Parker/McNeil both shot 35%).

Deng, out of Norcross, GA, got his start at Hampton University and was just a 2 star kid heading into his freshman season. He was only 6’7, but he did have offers from Georgetown and ECU.

Now at 6’9 and coming off of a freshman year where he scored 10 points, collected 4 boards and knocked down 39% of this 3s, then transferring to FSU for his sophomore season and averaging 7 points and 2 boards (while shooting 37% on 119 attempts from 3), Deng really is a late bloomer who is showcasing NBA type talent heading into his junior season.

Wolfpack Nation let’s work!!🐺🐺#committed #gopack ❤️🖤 pic.twitter.com/BRFqQXOkg7

— Jerry Deng (@J15clip) April 25, 2025

Deng has 2 years to play and was ranked as a 4 star transfer.

This gives Wade a wing who can spread the floor, defend multiple positions and also give a ton of length around the rim. To this point, Deng has really spent most of his time around the 3 point line, but it’s likely Wade is going to challange him to show new dimensions to his game (which flashed late in his FSU career.

As Deng got more minutes late in the season, he started to really showcase his potential. He scored in double figures in 4 of FSU’s final 5 games. He shot 12-27 from 3 and dropped 16 points on UNC during that stretch.

Deng wasn’t on any big boards and there wasn’t really any indication that NC State was in on him. However, it’s becoming pretty clear that Will Wade is operating in an airtight compartment. There are no leaks, however, we were told this past week that the roster we’re assuming NC State will end up with, will likely be way off. We weren’t sure if that meant the guys who we are gunning for are going elsewhere and we’ll need to settle. Or if there will be big time surprises like we are seeing here with Deng.

How much of the info we are hearing is smoke? Is NC State’s main targets not even being talked about right now? If Deng is any indication, we are potentially going to see more of these seemingly ‘out of nowhere’ commits in the near future.