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Rothstein (CBS) hearing NC State could play PG heavy, be one of ACC’s fastest teams

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6 years ago

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Jon Rothstien (CBS college basketball reporter) tweeted out something we found pretty interesting a couple days ago.

Instead of just retweeting this, we wanted to dive into it just a bit. Rothstein has great sources and wouldn’t tweet this if who he was hearing it from someone on (or close to) the staff. So there is no question about its authenticity, it’s more about what this might hint at for this year’s team.

If you watched Kevin Keatts’ team last season, then you know he likes to play small and fast. The 6’5 Torin Dorn played most of his minutes at the 4 and found a ton of success there. However, this year Keatts has a group of more versatile bigs (Funderburk, Steere, Walker).

This means there may be times when Keatts might feel comfortable shifting Dorn to the 3. If he does that, he’ll also be shifting freshman Jerricole Hellems to the 3 (he is likely being groomed for the ‘Dorn role.’) In this scenario the Pack is now busting at the seems with guards. You’d now have Markell, Beverly, Blake Harris, Devon Daniels, Eric Lockett, and CJ Bryce vying for the remaining 2 guard spots.

Now that scenario is probably not happening a majority of the time. Usually, you’ll see Walker at center and Dorn as the PF. This means that a combination of Johnson, Beverly, Harris, Daniels, and Bryce will fill out the 1 through 3 spots. If this tweet is correct and Keatts goes with Johnson, Beverly, and Harris (the 3 PGs) you’d be sitting Devon Daniel, CJ Bryce, and Eric Lockett.

If you ask us, this is very unlikely. Daniel and Bryce are two extremely important pieces for Keatts. Daniels is by far the best scorer on this team and Bryce is the quintessential Keatts-guy. He’s played for him at UNC-W, he defends multiple positions, he is a great decision maker and is a valuable slasher from the wing. And then there is Eric Lockett, who you’d be wrong to discount as an after thought. From everything we’re hearing, the staff is loving Lockett and he’s going to get minutes on this team.

So what scenarios can we actually expect to see the 3 PGs on the court together?

Our guess is that you might see it when there is foul trouble, or when NC State is in a late game situation and they need elite ball-handling. What we are saying is, don’t read this tweet and bank on seeing that lineup a bunch this season.

Obviously, Keatts wants to prepare for anything, so practicing a lineup with the 3 PGs is worth it. The bigger takeaway here is that Keatts options are nearly unlimited. He has two (sometimes 3) deep high-level talent at every position, so he may look to get creative early in the season.

And as far as speed? Rothstein hints that this 3 PG lineup makes NC State one of the fastest teams in the ACC? We’d argue that this is the fastest team in the ACC with their expected starting lineup of Markell Johnson, Devon Daniels, CJ Bryce, Torin Dorn and Wyatt Walker.

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Dof87
Dof87
5 years ago

I could see us using 3 to do some zone busting.

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NC State Basketball

Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar Commits to NC State

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2 days ago

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April 26, 2024

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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.

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NC State Basketball

Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill Commits to NC State!

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2 days ago

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April 25, 2024

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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.

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NC State Basketball

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

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4 days ago

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April 24, 2024

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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.

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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.

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NC State Basketball

Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

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5 days ago

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April 23, 2024

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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.

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