Connect with us

NC State Basketball

USF, Chris Perry Could Be Pack’s First Test

Published

9 years ago

on

NC State vs. USF
4pm | PNC Arena | ESPNU

The USF Bulls come to Raleigh Sunday, as both teams will put their undefeated records on the line. USF is coming off of an overtime victory against UAB and NC State handily beat Jacksonville in a physical contest that had a couple of flagrant fouls called on the Dolphins.

Sunday will be NC State’s first test of the season, especially our post defense, as the Bull’s have prized big man Chris Perry. Perry was an ESPN Top 100 recruit and played an important role as a freshman in route to averaging close to 9 points and 5 rebounds per contest. He was also named to the American Athletic Conference All-Rookie team a year ago.

Standing at 6-8 242 pounds Perry has the physical strength and skills to give State problems. Perry has started the season off on a good note currently averaging 19 points and 8 rebounds a game, while shooting 58 percent from the field. If State wants to beat the Bulls they will have to limit Perry. I am sure Perry will see a variety of looks out of the Pack.

Undoubtedly BeeJay will be matched up with Perry throughout the game. This will be a great matchup within the game to keep an eye on. It will be important for Beejay to play great ground defense, and not be bated into fouls. Perry has shown an adequate touch from the charity stripe this season, connecting on 76 % of his attempts. Anya must move his feet and keep Perry in-front of him and not be to eager to block his shot. Last game BeeJay set the single game record for blocks; however, the Bull’s will use the pump fake to play into BeeJay’s pension to block shots.

A tactic that we will likely see in this game is for State to occasionally send a double team to keep Perry uncomfortable. As good as Perry has been, he hasn’t shown the ability to pass effectively out of the double team and has registered 0 assists on the season. The guards can make life difficult for Perry as well by pressuring the ball and not allowing clean entry passes.

This is an exciting matchup for State. It will be a great barometer at just how good our post defense can be. Early on this season they have yet to be tested by a low post scorer; however, it’s likely the guys are equally excited to face a team that has a post attack. Gottfried and his staff should be anxious to see how his group responds defensively against an inside attack, especially since the ACC has some talented big men right now. We don’t have to look far as both Duke and UNC have had great success inside the paint early this season.

Overall USF is coming in with a 3-0 record on the season and coming off an emotional 2pt overtime win over UAB. There’s no questions that the Bulls are going to be ready. Will the Pack?

Tip-Off is slated for 4PM at the PNC and can be seen on ESPNU

 

 

Related Topics:
Click to comment
Subscribe
Notify of
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

NC State Basketball

Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar Commits to NC State

Published

24 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

2 days 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

3 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