Power Forward Ernest Ross announced this morning that he is returning to NC State for his final year of eligibility.
Last Friday, Ross committed to UTSA after entering the Transfer Portal on April 17th, but it looks like he had a change of heart over the past couple of days.
NC State has been in desperate need to add a Big out of the Portal. They have hosted ECU’s Ezra Ausar and Georgia’s Frank Anselem-Ibe, but neither of them have found a home yet. With the addition of Ross, NC State has added depth in the Frontcourt, and unless something changes, their roster is full with 13 scholarship players.
Ross played in 14 games this past season, averaging 3.4 minutes per contest. After playing in 34 games last season, averaging 11.4 minutes per contest, Ross saw his participation dip to a career low this season, but that didn’t for a second break his infectious personality. On the sideline, you could count on Ross every single game to be the heart and soul of the Wolfpack on the bench. To watch a player who played as little as he did, care as much as he did, makes me super proud that this young man represented NC State so well.
Ross was a consensus 4-star player in NC State’s 2021 recruiting class, with 247Sports ranking him as the #60 overall player nationally. ESPN ranked him as the #5 overall player in the state of Florida.
If MJ Rice is still on the team and he’s not starting over Kam Woods, it’ll be shocking. If Rice is elsewhere and they don’t pick up a guy in the portal to start over Woods, it’ll be shocking. If there are no additional portal additions and they don’t start Dennis Parker Jr. over Woods, it’ll be shocking. If DPJ is somehow unable to go and they don’t start Paul McNeil over Woods, it’ll be shocking
Woods hasn’t given any indication that he’s worth playing more than a handful of minutes per game at the ACC level.
You don’t have to worry about Kam Woods anymore. He hit the transfer portal today.
How Jon Rothstein still gets a paycheck, I don’t know.