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NC State’s Wes Moore is 1 of 4 Finalists for Naismith Coach of the Year Award

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NC State Women’s Basketball Coach Wes Moore is 1 of 4 Finalists for the 2019 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Basketball Coach of the Year Award, along with Lisa Bluder (Iowa), Kim Mulkey (Baylor) and Vic Schaefer (Mississippi State).

Beginning March 22, 2019, fans will be able to support their favorite finalist by visiting naismithtrophy.com/vote until April 3, to cast their ballot. The fan vote will account for five percent of the overall final vote. The 2019 Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s College Coach of the Year will be announced on April 6, and the winner will be honored at their school at a later date.

“Each of these coaches has what it takes to win the Werner Ladder Naismith Women’s Coach of the Year honor,” said Stacy Gardella, vice president of brand marketing at WernerCo. “We look forward to watching these coaches inspire their teams throughout the tournament.”

About the finalists:

Lisa Bluder, Iowa
• Bluder led her team to the program’s first Big Ten Tournament title since 2001.
• Her Hawkeyes have a record of 26-6.
• With 35 years total of coaching experience, she has led the Hawkeyes to 18 postseason appearances in
her 19 years coaching at Iowa.
• Bluder’s Hawkeyes are the No. 2 seed in the Greensboro Region of the NCAA Tournament.

Wes Moore, N.C. State
• Moore guided his team to be the only remaining undefeated team in women’s or men’s basketball until
the team’s faceoff with North Carolina on Feb. 3, breaking a streak of 21 consecutive wins.
• He is the first coach in history to advance three different teams to the NCAA Tournament at the Division
I, II and III levels.
• His team has a record of 26-5 and 12-4 in the conference.
• Moore’s Wolfpack are the No. 3 seed in NCAA Tournament’s Greensboro Region.

Kim Mulkey, Baylor
• In her 19th year as head coach, Mulkey led her team to its 10th regular season and 10th Big 12
Tournament championship title.
• Her Bears hold a record 31-1 this season.
• Earning the No. 1 ranking in the final Associated Press (AP) Top 25 poll, her team has won 23 straight
games, currently the longest winning streak in the country.
• The Bears are seeded No. 1 in the Greensboro Region of the NCAA Tournament.

Vic Schaefer, Mississippi State University
• This season, Schaefer guided Mississippi State to the program’s first Southeastern Conference (SEC)
Tournament championship and its second regular-season SEC title.
• His Bulldogs have a 30-2 record with 15-1 conference standing and have been in the AP Top 25 for 93
straight weeks.
• Schaefer was honored with the SEC Coach of the Year, becoming just the sixth coach to have earned the
SEC honor multiple times.
• The Bulldogs are the No. 1 seed in the Portland Region in the NCAA Tournament. (Link)

Matthew is Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, and is in charge of business strategy. He is an NC State alum who majored in business. Matthew is also the lead pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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NC State Basketball

Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar Commits to NC State

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

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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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Louisville Transfer Guard Mike James Commits to NC State!

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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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