NC State Basketball
Wolfpack, Yurtseven fight off Nittany Lions 85-78 (w/ Box Score)
Omer Yurtseven had a career day and the Wolfpack broke out of their shooting funk as they downed Penn State 85-78 in the ACC/Big Ten challenge.
NC State shot 44% from the floor and 63% from beyond the arc in this one. That is a far cry from the ice-cold shooting we saw in the last two games. The state lines might lend a little credence to the theory that the Wolfpack’s shooting woes are a product of their rigorous early-season schedule.
Omer Yurtseven finished with a team-high 19 points (6-7 from the floor, 3-3 from beyond the arc), Al Freeman went for 17, Sam Hunt went for 14 (4-5 from 3pt range), and Lennard Freeman pitched in 10 ,
The story of this game was the play of sophomore big man Omer Yurtseven. He coupled his 19 points with 11 boards and really was the deciding factor.
After a lost year last season, and a slow start this year, Yurt has finally started to show the reason he was billed a sure-fire NBA prospect when he came over from Turkey. Part of it is his increased confidence, but the other part of it is that NC State has finally started to learn how to use him.
As an agile 7 footer with good hands and good footwork, you’d think he’d be a monster with his back to the basket. At this point, that’s not the case. But put him in a pick and pop situation, or let him face you up and all of the sudden Yurtseven is nearly unstoppable. The Penn State bigs were forced to choose. Sink down to stop the drive, or follow Yurt to the top of the key. They chose to sink and they paid.
It wasn’t just Yurtseven draining shots in this one, Sam Hunt sparked the Pack early on after they came out flat and went down 11-0 and freshman Lavar Batts also unexpectedly knocked down two 3s.
The Pack did lose the battle of the boards 43-35, but they won the turnover battle, forcing 18 and only committing 14.
At the end of the day, this was a quality win for Keatts and company. Penn State will be a middle of the pack Big Ten team this year and could make a run at the tournament.
Next up is South Carolina State on Saturday.
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.
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.
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.
Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James (6’5″/200) has announced his commitment to NC State!
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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.