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NC State Basketball

Kevin Keatts Presser after win over #10 UNC : BULLETED

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6 years ago

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NC State knocked off their rival, #10 ranked North Carolina Tar Heels, 95-91 in overtime. Kevin Keatts met with the media to discuss the victory. Above is the full press conference and below is a summary of what he had to say (in bulleted form)…

 

  • Give UNC credit. Unbelievable game.Played a great team with great tradition on their home court. Credit to our guys. Fought until the end. Whoever got stops at the end was going to win. Our guys dd.
  • Great effort from Markell Johnson. Outstanding. 20 points and 11 assists. Al Freeman shot it well going 7-7 from 3.
  • Great culture win. Great team win.
  • Markell is great player. Happy with 15 assists and no points. Love that, but need him, on this particular team, to score the ball also.
  • Keatts teams are better at the end because they are in better shape than everyone else. Carolina was in shape but team conditioning kicked in at the end of the game.
  • Guys are learning how to fight. Talked in the locker room about regardless of what happens we are getting off rest of the day, tomorrow and Monday. Give 40 minutes of best effort in this game. Didn’t know it would be an OT game.
  • Team is realizing if they play together and stay together they can be successful.
  • Not worried about individual teams in the league, more worried about being in the race. Stay the course, focus on next opponent.
  • Lineup is game to game. Figures out lineups in the flow of the game but also how guys play in practice. Abu will be fine, Lennard will be fine. Carolina just spreads you out. Putting Theo Pinson at the 4 is a tough matchup for post guys.
  • Usually team gets ice cream wherever they win, but going back to Raleigh to get it so they can celebrate with the fans and give business to the locals.
  • Media doesn’t believe it, but this team is better shooting than they’ve shown in some games. Getting guys in right spots is key. A good passing team is a good shooting team. Guys get open, get feet set and they shoot it well.
  • Proud of beating Duke and Carolina but also proud of the other 3 league wins.
  • Markell’s return helped everyone. Pressure is off Al Freeman and Beverly because they don’t have to handle it as much.
  • This is not the same team that lost by 50 some last year and this is not the same Carolina team. Every game is a different game in this league.
  • Important to give guys tremendous offensive confidence. Tell them to shoot it when they feel it. All that’s asked is that they defend. You don’t have to do everything right, but you have to play hard and team is starting to believe in that.
  • Playing well late in games is (IMO) conditioning. Some may say otherwise. But its the ability to stay focused and execute. Having back to back road wins is unbelievable.
  • Team is heading to bell tower.
  • Coming into the game, UNC is good in 3 areas. Transition, shooting and rebounding. Wanted to take 2 of the 3 of those away and thought that if we could we could win.
  • Markell is so dangerous when he’s aggressive on the pick and roll. Today he was aggressive.
  • Theo played great. Luke Maye played great. They have a great team.
  • Got back from Pitt at 2:30am. Thursday was jsut a film day. Yesterday practice was an hour and half. Team looked confident in practice.

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NC State Basketball

Former NC State Forward Ernest Ross Commits to UTSA

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4 hours ago

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May 11, 2024

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Former NC State Forward Ernest Ross has committed to UTSA for his final year of eligibility.

 

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Ross played in 14 games this year, averaging 3.4 minutes per contest. After playing in 34 games last season, averaging 11.4 minutes per contest, Ross saw his participation dip to a career low this season, but that didn’t for a second break his infectious personality. On the sideline, you could count on Ross every single game to be the heart and soul of the Wolfpack on the bench. To watch a player who played as little as he did, care as much as he did, makes me super proud that this young man represented NC State so well.

Ross was a consensus 4-star player in the 2021 recruiting class, with 247Sports ranking him as the #60 overall player nationally. ESPN ranked him as the #5 overall player in the state of Florida.

 

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NC State Basketball

Georgia Center Transfer Frank Anselem-Ibe Visited NC State this Week

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3 days ago

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May 8, 2024

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Georgia Transfer Center Frank Anselem-Ibe (6’10″/215) was in for a visit to NC State yesterday, according to a source.

Anselm-Ibe was at Georgia the past two seasons, and was at Syracuse the two before that.

Back in 2020, Anselm-Ibe was a 4-Star prospect out of Prolific Prep in Georgia. 247Sports ranked him as the #18 player in the state of Georgia.

Anselm-Ibe hit the Portal on April 30th.

ECU Power Forward Transfer Ezra Ausar took an Official Visit to NC State a little over a week ago, and while things were looking good at first, at this point, it seems like things have reached a point of radio silence. From what I’m hearing, NC State would definitely take Ausar, but they aren’t going to wait for him either.

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

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4 days ago

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May 7, 2024

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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

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

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1 week ago

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May 3, 2024

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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

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