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VIDEO: Kevin Keatts’ Presser after NC State Beat Maine 82-63

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Head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media in his postgame press conference after NC State’s 82-63 victory over Maine yesterday. The video is ABOVE and a billeted breakdown is BELOW.

  • Controlled the tempo in the first half. They did a great job of
    moving the ball around, burying the clock in the second half, and limiting our possessions.
  • This is a very good game for us because we want to try and get out and run as much as we can. Playing in the ACC, teams will try and get you more into a half-court game. I think we can take this tape and learn from it. I give these guys credit. This group of men has never played against a pressured offense. When you’re a pressure team and you deny passing lanes, you get back cut a few times. Overall, I think it will be a good learning experience for us. We will be able to chop the tape up and show what we need to get better at.
  • I’m excited. Never take a win for granted. Extremely happy that we are 4-0 right now.
  • I don’t look ahead. I only prepare for the appointments ahead of us. We have a new group of guys. When you think about it as I said before, we have only three guys that wore NC State uniforms and some of these things have helped us. All of the games will help us. As the schedule goes on, I think we will see some tougher competition, but I’ve liked the teams that we have played and what we have gotten out of it. Playing Maine today with their style will really help us when we get into the ACC.
  • Our zone offense was fine. We made more shots in the first half than we did in the second half behind the three-point line, but I thought it was fine. We got everything we wanted out of it. We missed some shots in the second half and we missed some open looks, but I was fine with it.
  • The first three of the four games we have come out of the gate fast. We did some good things and we knew in the last couple of days that we were going to have some breakdowns. We knew that we were going to have some backdoor cuts on us based on the way we deny the passing lane. For the most part we handled it well even though we had some breakdowns.
  • We’re probably going to have some type of walk-on trial. If you asked our guys, they wouldn’t want to add another guy. They like the fact they get the chance to play. I like the balance of our team right now. I don’t think anybody is playing over 25 minutes in the first four games. It’s worked out pretty well for us so far, but we probably will add a couple guys to the roster sooner or later. Sacha (Killeya-Jones. Sitting out this year after transferring from Kentucky) is the only guy that practices with us, and Manny (Bates) is out because of a shoulder injury.
  • We had originally signed a really big group of freshmen and I didn’t want to have five or six freshmen. Tough to win with freshman. He was available and I’ve known Eric (Lockett) for quite a long time. With his versatility, he’s a guy in college last year who averaged about 14 points a game. He reminds me a lot of Torin Dorn. He can do a little bit of everything.
  • C.J. Bryce is starting to fill the stat sheet in a similar way that he did in Wilmington.
  • Devon Daniels is starting to play a little bit better, especially in the last game. Then you have Dorn and Lockett. We’ve got four or five guys that are all similar size that can do some different stuff.
  • I like our intensity, but I thought we were flat a little bit at times. I give credit to Maine. Anytime we were in a situation where they were playing five out, they drove our post guys away from the basket and were able to reverse the ball.
  • I like our effort. Our effort has been great. We just played with a different team that didn’t want to run with us. When you look at those guys, they didn’t want to push much in transition. They got in transition when they had it, but they just didn’t try to push it in transition.
  • I’m excited about this game, probably more than the rest of them. When you get the chance to play in the ACC, you’ve got all different types of teams. We’ll face someone who plays similar basketball, not identical, but similar.

Matthew is Publisher and Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He is also the Lead Pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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NC State Basketball

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

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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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NC State Basketball

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

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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.

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NC State Basketball

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

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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:

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NC State Basketball

Guard Mike O’Connell Announces He Will Play His Final Year of Eligibility at NC State

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Guard Michael O’Connell announced today that he will be playing his final year of eligibility at NC State next season.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Michael O’Connell (@michaeloc_12)

Today was the final day graduate players could enter the Portal.

This past season, O’Connell averaged 5.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Wolfpack, starting 22 of the 41 games he played in.

O’Connell took over as NC State’s starting Point Guard on January 30th in a win against Miami.

He only scored in double figures in 9 of his 41 games this season, but 6 of those came in postseason play (5 in the ACC Tournament). O’Connell took things to another level in the ACC Tournament, playing aggressive on the offensive end, looking for his shot, and attacking the rim.

NC State played it’s best basketball of the season when O’Connell was running the show. He ranked 3rd in the ACC in Assist/Turnover Ratio (2.5).

Heading into next season, with a lineup filled with new faces, having the calming presence of a veteran leader like O’Connell is reassuring.

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