Santa Clara PG Christian Hammond heading to Raleigh for a visit. Calls NC State “an amazing school”

NC State will be hosting their first transfer portal visitor today in Christian Hammond.

New Wolfpack head coach Justin Gainey, a former point guard himself, understands the position well, and it’s why he’s prioritizing it as he builds his roster.

Hammond will arrive on Saturday and stay through Sunday to tour the NC State and Raleigh. We asked him what was drawing him to NC State, and he told us…

“NC State is an amazing school with great basketball culture, and Coach Gainey and the staff are great people.”

As we were tracking down info on Hammond from the Santa Clara side, we learned that he had a great relationship with his head coach, who just so happens to be NC State’s former coach, Herb Sendek. Sendek also happens to be Justin Gainey’s coach when he was at NC State.

So, it’s very likely that Hammond’s trust and interest in Gainey and NC State were sparked by Sendek. And it’s also very likely that Gainey has an intimate understanding of what Hammond brings to the table, what kind of kid he is and how he’d fit in the new system being built at NC State.

NC State had a Zoom call that we heard went “really well” with Tennessee combo guard Bishop Boswell, and now they’re hosting another guard in Hammond. So how would the two fit if State were to land both?

While both are guards, they are very different types. Hammond is more of your scoring PG. He’s big at 6’4 and likes to get into the teeth of the defense with a nice midrange game and the ability to find the open man. He’s also a very good 3pt shooter at 39%.

Meanwhile, Boswell, who came out of HS as a PG, has played mostly at the 2 for Tennessee. I’d assume coming in that Hammond would be your lead guard and Boswell would slot over when needed.

As for Hammond’s career, he emerged as the Broncos’ clear leader last season,  averaging 15.6 points, 3.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists per game. He shot an efficient 48.4% from the field, 39.3% from three, and 78.7% from the free-throw line, leading the team in scoring (fifth in the WCC) with 27 double-figure games and 10 outings of 20+ points, including a career-high 27 against Nevada.

Hammond earned First Team All-WCC and helped Santa Clara reach the WCC Tournament final (where he scored 24 vs. Gonzaga) before a first-round NCAA loss to Kentucky. He finished with 532 points (24th-most in program history) in only 2 seasons.