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WEDNESDAY PORTAL UPDATE: McNeil enters, NC State has a great Zoom call, Juke becoming a long shot

Lou Pascucci

Published

2 months ago

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Before we get going today, there’s a lot of confirmed news and some speculation in today’s column. But I think it’s important to understand that the portal is ever-evolving. There aren’t guys locked in, ready to commit when they enter (most of the time). They have favorites, but they are out there with their agents seeing what the market looks like and keeping their options open.

This is the reason that the list of names keeps shifting. We are working hard to learn as much as we can and relay that to you. Meanwhile, every other outlet is doing the same, so there will be some things they have that we don’t, and vice versa. Either way, we’ll point you to the info.

– NC State is hiring Anthony Goins. We wrote a full article on this one and will link it below. We love this hire as it pairs an elite offensive mind with Gainey’s defensive coordinator background. Goins is a Georgia assistant and will serve as NC State’s offensive coordinator.

– Paul McNeil Jr has entered the Portal. We also have an article on that one below. This one hurts as there was some hope NC State could keep him from entering with a nice offer. But Paul is going to gauge his value on the open market while keeping his options open in Raleigh. The NC State staff wants him back, is prioritizing him, and believes they have a shot to reel him back in.

– This hasn’t been made official yet, but with every other outlet putting it behind their paywall, and it being something we’ve been holding onto for weeks now, we’re going to predict that Patrick Stacy remains with NC State. We were trying to wait for the official word and role to be announced out of respect, but the cat was out of the bag. He’s been working behind the scenes with Gainey on roster construction since the hire.

– We have confirmed that NC State has met with Bishop Boswell, the transfer from Tennessee. The meeting apparently went really well, and I’m feeling more and more confident that Boswell will land here at NC State assuming Gainey and staff want him. This would be a great piece for the Pack, as he’s one of the nation’s top defenders and a good shooter who probably has some ceiling left on the offensive end. What role he would play will be dependent on how the roster shakes out. I initially was seeing him as having a larger role at lead guard than he had at Tennessee, but for that workout, you’d have to pair him with top-end, high usage scorers. That’s why I was hoping State kept Paul and landed Juke Harris from Wake. But that brings me to the next point…

– The Juke Harris dream took a hit last night when we were told Harris was a long shot for NC State. Now, I don’t think the door is FULLY closed here, but we were specifically told not to expect it. He is meeting today with Michigan, and some of the nation’s most elite programs are going to bid on him. The hope was that he wanted to stay close to home, but it’s now thought that he wants to prove himself outside of the ACC. This has been reported on other sites, but this is also something we got firsthand.

– NC State meeting with another high-end guard today?
We aren’t going to give the name as we have not yet confirmed it on our end. This is being reported by Noah Fleishman of On3, and it’s behind a paywall. Once we confirm it firsthand, we will add it to one of our updates.

– Eyes on this one (we posted this yesterday as well). I think NC State is going to give a look to another type of PG. One guy to keep an eye on is Preson Edmead of Hofstra. He’s a smaller, havoc-creating type guard that is near impossible to keep out of the paint. He’s 6’1, but is a pest with the basketball. He averaged 16 points and 4.4 assists while shooting 39% from 3. This kid is a spitting image of Ja’Kobi Gillespie (PG for Tennessee, who led them in scoring) and Zakai Zeigler (PG for Tennessee prior to Gillespie). These are small but tenacious guards who are lightning quick and can score it. This seemed to be the blueprint at lead guard for the Vols, and I wouldn’t be surprised for Gainey to try to replicate that. You haven’t heard his name on any of the other sites’ portal big boards, but that might change soon. He’s a rising sophomore with 3 years of eligibility. He entered the portal yesterday, and he was just followed by new NC State (potential) assistant Riley Collins.


– The names you’ve seen thus far from all outlets are a mix. Some are from intel from sources in or near the program, some are from sources on the agent side, and some are speculation based on former relationships and known fit. I just wanted to give you an update on two guys we’ve listed who we’ll be taking off the list for the time being.  The first is Siddiq White of Syracuse. He seems to fit the mold for Gainey. High-motor athlete at the 4 who is a hard worker and passionate type player from NC. The second is James Scott of Ole Miss. Wade’s staff loved him and almost landed him. He’s likely to enter again and I believed NC State would be in the mix if he did. I was wrong. I’m told neither of these guys are on the short list right now.

– NC State reportedly has contacted Kahmare Holmes, a Charlotte kid who averaged nearly 20 ppg for Wofford last year.

– NC State’s eventual roster will likely be filled with guys who haven’t even popped up on any early big board. As meetings happen, we’ll report them, but Friday is when in-person meetings are allowed. That’s when we start getting some more concrete names.

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