Basketball Recruiting

NC State is in the Mix for 4-Star Center Najai Hines

Published

5 months ago

July 22, 2025

NC State Head Coach Will Wade said a couple of weeks ago that he still wanted to add to the Wolfpack’s frontcourt prior to the start of the 2025 season.

Four-star 2026 center Najai Hines (6’10”, 255 lbs) could end up meeting that need.

Currently, Hines is a consensus four-star prospect in the 2026 recruiting class, with 247Sports ranking him as the No. 38 overall player nationally, the No. 4 center, and the No. 2 player in the state of New Jersey.

The surge up the rankings is a recent phenomenon, as up until this past season, Hines was a dual-sport athlete at South Garner, earning 10+ offers to play tight end on the football field from schools like South Carolina, West Virginia, ECU, App State, and others.

This past season, Hines transferred back home to New Jersey to play for Plainfield, finally deciding to focus solely on basketball, leaving behind his football cleats.

Hines exploded this past year, earning New Jersey MaxPreps High School Basketball Player of the Year honors after averaging 18.8 points, 16.9 rebounds, and 3.5 blocks per game.

Despite his success on the hardwood, college offers to play basketball didn’t immediately follow. As a result, Hines has reclassified to the 2026 class and plans to play an additional season at a prep school.

Hines has generated a lot of buzz on the AAU circuit this offseason with the NY Rens, with many schools interested in recruiting him for 2026. However, a few programs are ready to pull the trigger for 2025.

NC State is one of those teams.