Connect with us

NC State Basketball

Basketball Preview: NC State’s Senior Leadership May Take Them Far

Published

6 years ago

on

Senior leadership is something you really don’t hear too much about in college basketball anymore. In the age of ‘one and done’ and guys leaving early to go play overseas,  it’s becoming rare that a guy with that type of make-up sticks around.

However, every March the phrase starts to get a little more run. It’s no coincidence either. Experience trumps talent in college basketball. It always has and it always will. Sure, you will still have a ‘one and done’ squad like Kentucky snatch a championship every now and again, but it’s not the norm. Seniors bring something no underclassman can ever give you. They bring you 3 years of work. 3 years of preparation. 3 years of punishing their bodies. They sit there, starting at that 4th and final year, motivated to make it all worth something.

Not all seniors end up capitalizing, but the more they’ve invested the more they will focus. They bring a sense of urgency that you can’t coach and wisdom that only game minutes can give you.

NC State enters this season with many believing that they are young and inexperienced. But if you look closer you’ll see a team that has more experience than we’ve seen in Raleigh in a long time. In fact, between Lennard Freeman, Sam Hunt, Malik Abu and Al Freeman, the Wolfpack has 15 years of college experience. That’s right. Three of NC State’s seniors are 5th year guys.

Let’s look at the last few seniors (from the Gottfried Era) that NC State has had on their roster and then look at how those teams finished.

Beejay Anya (2016/17) – No postseason
No seniors (2015/16) – No postseason
Ralston Turner (2014/15) – Sweet 16
Jordan Vandenberg (2013/14) – NCAA 2nd round
Scott Wood (2012/13) – NCAA 2nd round
CJ Williams and Richard Howell (2011/12) – NCAA Sweet 16

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that when you saw strong senior leaders, you also saw good results. Just look.

The only outlier here is last season when Beejay Anya was a senior and the team didn’t make the postseason. I also think of all the seniors on this list, he was the only one who had no real leadership qualities (at least that he showed). His quarrels with the coaching staff and a certain sect of the team made that apparent. Other than that instance, where there was leadership, there was success.

While Hunt and Al Freeman may be new to the program, it doesn’t take away their four years in a college basketball program and it certainly doesn’t take away the fact that this is their last go-round. With those two, the always hungry, always focused Lennard Freeman, and Malik Abu, who decided to stick around one more season to reach his full potential, this Wolfpack team might end up being a little better and a little hungrier than everyone is expecting.

 

Related Topics:

NC State Basketball

Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar Commits to NC State

Published

10 hours ago

on

April 26, 2024

By

Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar (6’4″) has verbally committed to NC State for her final year.

Weimar took an Official Visit to NC State a little over a week ago.

She is the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, and has been named Defensive Player of the Year the past two years. She has earned 1st Team Patriot League Honors the past two seasons.

This year, Weimar averaged 18.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. As a Junior, she averaged 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds. She shot 55.5% this year, and 59.7% last year.

With the exodus of River Baldwin, picking up a commitment from Weimar is massive.

With the addition of Weimar, NC State now has 2 scholarships available heading into the 2024-25 season.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill Commits to NC State!

Published

1 day ago

on

April 25, 2024

By

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill (6’4″/185) has committed to NC State!

Hill took an Official Visit to NC State this past weekend.

This past season, Hill averaged 20.5 points and 5.0 rebounds per game for the Falcons. He earned 1st Team All-MAC honors. Even though he was only at Bowling Green one season, he had one of the best seasons in school history, scoring 698 points, which ranks 5th all-time in program history for a single season.

For his first two years of collegiate ball, Hill played for Southern Union State College (JUCO) in Alabama. In 2022-23, Hill earned 3rd Team NJCAA All-American honors, and ranked as the #32 overall Junior College prospect.

247Sports ranks Hill as a 4-Star Transfer Prospect, and the #81 overall player in the Transfer Portal, and the #11 Shooting Guard.

Even though 247Sports and ON3 consider Hill a Shooting Guard, NC State is recruiting him as a Point Guard.

Hill is the 4th player to transfer to NC State this offseason, joining Louisville’s Brandon Huntley-Hatfield & Mike James, and Georgetown’s Dontrez Styles.

With the addition of Hill, NC State now has 1 scholarship remaining for next season.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

NC State’s Mohamed Diarra Will Not Return to NC State for Final Season

Published

2 days ago

on

April 24, 2024

By

NC State Forward Mohamed Diarra will not be returning to NC State for his final season of eligibility. Rather, he will give 100% of his focus to pursuing his professional career.

Image

Diarra is declaring for the NBA Draft, and will explore that possibility as far as it goes, but the likelihood of him playing professionally in his home country of France are high.

Diarra was a significant player for NC State all season long, averaging 6.3 points and 7.8 rebounds (team high), but his impact in March was tremendous, recording 10+ rebounds in 7 of the Wolfpack’s 10 postseason games, and five of those performances were double-doubles.

Wolfpack fans will always remember the grit and mental toughness that Diarra put on display in the NCAA Tournament, playing game-after-game while fasting for Ramadan.

The Wolfpack’s frontcourt just got a little bit thinner. In the past two weeks, NC State has lost Diarra and Ernest Ross.  Ben Middlebrooks is returning, and Brandon Huntley-Hatfield transferred in from Louisville. Dontrez Styles transferred in from Georgetown, and while he is more of a Small Forward, in certain lineups, he could play the Small 4 position. With all that being said, I fully expect NC State to try to find another post player in the Transfer Portal with Diarra’s exodus now official.

With Diarra not returning in 2024, NC State now has 2 scholarships available for next season.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

Published

4 days ago

on

April 23, 2024

By

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) has announced his commitment to NC State!

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Tipton Edits (@tiptonedits)

This past year, James averaged 12.6 points per game (3rd on the team) and 5 rebounds. He’s extremely physical and aggressive, taking 47% of his field goal attempts at the rim (making 46%). As a result, he draws a lot of fouls, ranking 10th in the ACC in Fouls Drawn, and 4th in Free Throw Rate. James made opponents pay this year when they put him on the line, making 81.8% from the charity stripe, which ranked 15th in the ACC.

James shot the ball better as a Redshirt Freshman, than he did this past season. His Effective Field Goal Percentage in 2022-23 was 55.8%, which ranked 19th in the ACC, and his True Shooting Percentage of 59.6% ranked 14th.

News broke about James entering the Transfer Portal back on March 25th, and NC State was quick to reach out. Kevin Keatts and his staff recruited the former 4-star prospect out of high school heavily, but he ultimately chose the Cardinals.

After redshirting his first year in Louisville due to torn achilles, James has been a starter for the Cardinals the past two years.

He does have the ability to knock down a three, making 34.8% for his career.

James has 2 years of eligibility remaining. With James’ commitment, NC State currently has 1 scholarship available for next season.

Continue Reading