Connect with us

NC State Basketball

Quick Hits: Miami

Published

9 years ago

on

Thursday night NC State travels down to Coral Gables to take on their second straight opponent in the state of Florida. The Miami Hurricanes have been a surprise team in the ACC thanks in large part to two transfers in PG Angel Rodriguez and SG Sheldon McClellan. Rodriguez is a steady presence at point and is familiar with the Pack as his cousin Javi Gonzales played for the Wolfpack a few years ago. Sheldon McClellan is a transfer from Texas and leads the Hurricanes in scoring averaging 15.4 points per game. These two players are the keys to Miami’s attack, much like Ralston Turner and Trevor Lacey are for the Pack.

Our guards must be up to the task of keeping Rodriguez out of the paint as he is adept in slithering his way around defenders with his quick first step. He also has a nice scoring touch as he went for 25 against UVA and 24 versus the Blue Devils. It will be interesting to see how Lacey will handle the assignment against Rodriguez if Cat is unable to play. Turner will be matched up with McClellan who uses many of the same moves to score as does Turner. Both players are also the same height and weight roughly the same as each other. Most important for Ralston is to defend without fouling! It is imperative that he is on the floor for the Pack as we need his offensive fire power to stay effective offensively. All too often Ralston seems to pick up the idiotic foul 35 feet from the basket. He cannot do this if we are going to win.

Not only will our guards have their hands full but so will our big men. Miami has a monster underneath named Tonye Jekiri. Standing 7 feet tall the big man is averaging 7.9 points per game and 10 rebounds per for good measure. Not only is Jekiri long but he is extremely active. He uses outstanding lateral movement and his length to claim countless rebounds, against BC he pulled down 15. Anya, Washington, and Abu must put a body on Jekiri to knock him off balance, trying to out jump him will not work.

Offensively we must be disciplined and stay within the offense. Versus FSU we ran our sets efficiently and ran our lead up to 17 points; however, following that we became sloppy which allowed FSU back into the game. In order to come away with another great win on the road we must stick to the offense for 40 minutes. Miami plays a similar style to us in the way they love to push the ball up the court. We must be smart and not fuel the fire with careless turnovers. Points off turnovers will be an all important statistic and will be a major factor in which team walks away with a win.

Will NC State be able to win two consecutive games on the road? Tune in Thursday at 8PM on the ACCN/Raycom to find out.

Related Topics:
1 Comment
Subscribe
Notify of
1 Comment
newest
oldest most Upvoted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
Wolfer96
Wolfer96
9 years ago

This is a very winnable game for the Wolfpack but also one that we can lose quite easily. Miami is very well coached and as they showed in the duke game they have the ability to play at a very high level. Freeman really surprised me in the FSU game. He was always a good rebounder but in the FSU game he went up against some tall defenders and used the pump fake effectively for the first time all season. I love that Freeman is showing improvement as the season progresses. Keys to game: – keep short leash on Kyle… Read more »

0

NC State Basketball

NC State Women’s Basketball Ranks 8th in ESPN’s Way-Too-Early 2024-25 Preseason Top-25

Published

9 hours ago

on

May 7, 2024

By

ESPN released their updated Way-Too-Early Preseason Top-25 for the 2024-25 Women’s Basketball season, and NC State ranked 8th.

8. NC State Wolfpack

The dynamic backcourt that took the Wolfpack to their first Final Four since 1998 returns. Aziaha James (16.8 PPG), Saniya Rivers (12.5 PPG) and Zoe Brooks (9.0 PPG) are enough to keep NC State near the top of a highly competitive ACC. How well a new mix of bigs fits in will determine if the Wolfpack are good enough to win the conference and contend for a trip to Tampa. The experience of River Baldwin and Mimi Collins can’t be replaced, so how well 6-5 recruit Lorena Awou adapts to the college game and 6-4 Boston University transfer Caitlin Weimar, the Patriot League player of the year and two-time defensive player of the year, adjusts to the upgrade in competition will have a big impact on NC State’s season. Previous ranking: 8

(ESPN)

ACC Teams in the Top-25

4. Notre Dame

8. NC State

11. Duke

12. Louisville

17. UNC

18. FSU

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

The Roster for the NC State Men’s Basketball Team is all but Set Heading into 2024-25

Published

4 days ago

on

May 3, 2024

By

NC State does have 1 scholarship available, and could still add a player out of the Transfer Portal. With that being said, the roster for the Men’s Basketball team is pretty much set for the 2024-25 season.

Non-graduates had to enter the Transfer Portal by April 30th, and Graduates had to enter by May 1st. Jayden Taylor and Michael O’Connell both made public announcements that they were returning, but the closure of entrance to the Portal means that Breon Pass, Ben Middlebrooks, Dennis Parker Jr. and MJ Rice are all set to return next season.

In a world where the Transfer Portal has all but become free agency in College Basketball, with some players switching schools on an annual basis, it’s encouraging that Kevin Keatts not only recruited a Top-10 Transfer Class, but also recruited a majority of the eligible players to stay. Three players that could transfer entered the Portal (I’m not counting Mohamed Diarra in these numbers, who opted to go pro), while 6 opted to continue running with the Wolfpack.

As a result, below is a breakdown of the roster for the NC State Men’s Basketball team heading into 2024-25, realizing the Wolfpack could still add one player (this team is deep).

1 year of Eligibility 

Guard Michael O’Connell
Guard Marcus Hill
Guard Breon Pass
Guard/Forward Jayden Taylor
Forward/Guard Dontrez Styles
Forward Ben Middlebrooks
Center Brandon Huntley-Hatfield

2 Years of Eligibility

Guard/Forward MJ Rice
Guard Mike James
Guard Jordan Snell (Walk-On)
Guard KJ Keatts (Walk-On)

3 Years of Eligibility 

Guard/Forward Dennis Parker Jr.

4 Years of Eligibility 

Guard Paul McNeil
Guard Trey Parker

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

NC State’s Men’s Basketball 2024 Transfer Class Ranks in the Top-10 Nationally

Published

5 days ago

on

May 2, 2024

By

NC State’s Men’s Basketball team has picked up 4 players from the Transfer Portal this offseason, and the class ranks 10th nationally according to ON3, and 15th nationally according to 247Sports.

ON3

247Sports

NC State’s 2024 4-Man Transfer Class

Center Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (Louisville)

Guard/Forward Dontez Styles (Georgetown)

Guard Mike James (Louisville)

Guard Marcus Hill (Bowling Green)

NC State still has a chance to move up in the rankings. East Carolina Power Forward Ezra Ausar just wrapped up an Official Visit to NC State, and things are looking good for the Wolfpack. ON3 ranks Ausar as the #67 overall player in the Portal, and the #15 Power Forward.

Continue Reading

NC State Basketball

WATCH: Andy Katz’s Offseason Convo with NC State’s Kevin Keatts

Published

5 days ago

on

May 2, 2024

By

Andy Katz is beginning to make his rounds for his Offseason Convo series, and he took the time to meet with NC State Head Coach Kevin Keatts.

In their conversation, Keatts talked about what this run has meant to Raleigh and the Wolfpack fans, how it has helped sell the program the way it deserves to be in recruiting, and even how it helped and hurt in the world of the Transfer Portal.

Check out the conversation below:

Continue Reading