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
Hey PI or anyone else, interested in going back and posting Preseason NCAA and ACC rankings/predictions? This great! But NCSU still has tons of work to do. I do not see an easy game left on our schedule. But winning home games plus one (or 2!) road games gets us in good position going into the ACCT.
Duke at Miami tonight. If Duke can win they’ll be close to creeping back in. Both are tied with us at 4 ACC losses, so one will fall back.
What’s important to remember is we aren’t the only team with tough schedules to finish out. I don’t see anyone good enough to win out, unless UVA beats us tomorrow. Then they probably become the team to beat. So its a huge game for UVA as well as us. This is exciting.
Duke getting killed at Miami does not help our chances for the double bye. UVA is the only remaining team on our schedule ranked ahead of us. Wining 4 of our last 7 seems possible but my persistent pessimism refuses to let me get excited, yet. Go Pack!
Ok Clemson is ranked ahead of us too. Half-Heimers, dementia, senior moments are all too real for me.
I think the Miami win helped us. Now both Duke and Miami are Q1 wins. Both are in the NET top 30
UVA starts as 7.5 point favorite
My favorite PI headline of the year
If anyone had predicted that could happen pre-season, they’d have been laughed at.