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NC State Basketball

Kevin Keatts Presser After Wake Forest: BULLETED

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4 years ago

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Head Coach Kevin Keatts met with the media in his post game press conference after NC State’s 91-82 victory over Wake Forest today. You can watch it here, or check out the bulleted breakdown below.

  • Our guys did a tremendous job of coming in here on the road and getting a good road win.
  • We played really good basketball the last 4 halves…dating back to the second half of the Memphis game and then the entire Wisconsin game.
  • Six guys in double digit figures…shows you how balanced we are.
  • Manny Bates was tremendous.
    • 8 points and blocked a lot of shots.
  • Happy with what we have with our rotation.
    • Everybody that’s playing in the game is contributing.
  • We’re going to get our first ice cream of the year (Road Win). So, I’m excited about that.

On historically struggling to win at Wake Forest…

  • We’ve had some success in here. My last 2 out of 3 years, we’ve been able to win.
  • It’s a tough place to play.
  • Had a chance last year, but we were without Markell Johnson.

Success from 3…

  • We shot the ball well from 3.
    • 12 for 22.
  • Was a little mad because I thought we passed up on some shots that we could have made.
    • Jericole had a 3 in the corner that I thought he should have taken.
    • Same thing with C.J. Bryce.
  • We’ve been putting a lot of work on making shots.
  • We expected when we came into this game that we could see a mixture of man-to-man and that 3-2 matchup, so we spent a lot of time the last few days on making shots from behind the arc.

Jericole Hellems…

  • If you guys would do me a favor and obviously keep Jericole Hellems and his family in your prayers, it would mean a lot to us.
  • I didn’t see what happened.
  • I was able to talk to him, and I told him to hang in there. He was talking. He was communicating with those guys. After I leave you guys, I’m going to go by and check on him.
  • It was hard for me the last 28 seconds of the game, because it was hard for me to focus on the game knowing that we had one of our kids hurt.

Where they are at now…

  • I love the way we’re playing.
  • With this team, it has been a little bit slow developing roles.
  • They’re starting to understand their roles and how to play.

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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

Published

6 hours 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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NC State Basketball

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

Published

1 day ago

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May 2, 2024

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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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1 day ago

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May 2, 2024

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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

Published

2 days ago

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May 1, 2024

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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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