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STAFF RUMORS: Ole Miss assistant Al Pinkins Being Linked to Gainey’s Staff with Pipeline to Two Big Portal Targets

Lou Pascucci

Published

4 months ago

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With Justin Gainey now officially in place as the new head coach at NC State, attention has quickly turned to who he will bring in to help build his first staff.

One name that has been generating serious buzz behind the scenes is Al Pinkins. The former Wolfpack player and current Ole Miss assistant is rumored to be a strong candidate to join Gainey’s staff in Raleigh, and the buzz is starting to heat up with multiple outlets now floating his name.

Pinkins played at NC State during the 1996-97 season after transferring from Chipola Junior College. He has spent more than 20 years in coaching, with stops that include Middle Tennessee State, Ole Miss, LSU, Florida, Texas Tech, and Tennessee (but did not overlap with Gainey). He rejoined the Ole Miss staff in 2023 under Chris Beard.

Experience aside, Pinkins could bring immediate recruiting value to the Wolfpack. He has a strong pipeline to two players who could be of significant interest to NC State in this year’s transfer portal.

The first is his son, Patton Pinkins (Ole Miss). The 6-5 shooting guard may honestly have been one of the most underrated freshmen in the nation. An elite off-ball scorer with deep range, Patton appeared in all 35 games and made 20 starts. He averaged 9.3 points per game while shooting 42.2 percent from three-point range, which ranked second in program history for a single season. He still has three years of eligibility remaining.

Sound familiar? He’s a lot like Paul McNeil Jr., who is a 6’5 off-ball scorer who shot 42.7% from 3. P2 had more volume, but Pinkins had a more balanced attack with over half of his shots coming from inside the arc, while 75% of McNeil’s came from long range. All of that said, Paul McNeil’s 42.7% was a lot tougher than Pinkins. McNeil was draped with defenders all game, and many times was one of the top guys on the opposing team’s scouting reports. McNeil’s high elevation release and ability to hit 3s with hands in his face are why he’s being talked about in NBA circles while you may not have heard of Pinkins yet. What I’m saying is that if you somehow lose McNeil, Pinkins can fill that role to an extent (statistically), but it’s not what you’re hoping for. You’d be hoping NC State can land both as you can never have enough shot makers.

Here’s some more clips of Pinkins.

The second name you’d want to focus on if Pinkins is hired is Fayetteville, NC native James Scott.

The bouncy, athletic 6-10 big man played at Louisville before transferring to Ole Miss. NC State pushed hard to land Scott out of the portal last round, but he chose Ole Miss at the last minute. What was strange was how Ole Miss used him. Scott saw limited minutes early in the Rebels’ season but earned increased playing time down the stretch, which coincided with their strong finish and deep run in the SEC Tournament. (We’ll have a lot more on this fact if things heat up even more.)

Scott fits the profile of the type of 4 man Gainey will likely be targeting: Long, tall,  tough on the glass, athletic around the rim, and capable of contributing on offense.

If the hire comes together, it would not only add a coach with deep ACC and SEC experience plus ties back to the Wolfpack program, but it could also open the door to these two high-level portal targets as NC State looks to build an entire roster over the next couple of weeks.

NC State fans should be watching closely as Gainey continues to assemble his staff in the coming days (the portal opens tomorrow).

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