NC State Men’s Basketball put out this video today to give a peek into what summer workouts have been like. They did an unbelievable job with the video, and even got head coach Mark Gottfried’s take on how the summer has gone. Here’s the video and all of Gottfried’s QUOTES are transcribed underneath it.
“I think they have worked pretty hard. The nice thing about the new NCAA rules, is that it gives us a chance to work with them a little bit in the summer. It’s helpful. It’s good for our young guys to learn what we are doing and what we are talking about and what we are doing every day. They get to learn what a practice might be like, even though we shorten them in the summertime. Overall I think it’s good for the guys to be in the gym with us, working on their skills, trying to develop, and making sure they are getting better individually as players.”
“I think when you look at Trevor and Ralston, you have two veteran guys. Guys that played a lot of college basketball games. Those guys are hard to replace. We have some guys who I think are eager and willing and ready to step in there, but they have a lot to prove. It’s always hard when you lose veteran guys who have scored a lot, defended a lot at our level. They know what’s going on at our level. So we have some younger guys that are ready to step in there.”
“I think Torin Dorn and Shaun Kirk have done really well. In the summertime we are just throwing a ton at them. Torin transferred in and we do things differently here. It’s just a good learning opportunity. When you throw so much at them, you can tell they are dizzy with all the information. But when they settle in, and start to get what you’re talking about, both those guys have done pretty good. They are learning a lot & I think they’ve both done pretty well in the summer.”
“I think Terry Henderson, kind of like Ralston, is a quiet leader. He’s not a guy that talks a whole lot, as far as that goes. He plays really hard and plays the game the right way. His leadership is a little bit more by example, and by the way he plays. He had a good off season last year when he didn’t play. He’s had a good spring and summer. I think the other players have a lot of confidence in him, and think that he can step in here and be a really good player for us. We’re excited to get him started, and get him going here at NC State.”
“I think Lennard is doing pretty good. He’s recovering and we are going to make sure that we are real cautious with him. We want to make sure that he’s fully healthy and ready to go, and that might be mid-September, and maybe even October, before we release him to practice and play. It gives the other guys more opportunities in practice and in these summer drills. When one guy is down, someone else has to step up, whether it’s BeeJay or Malik, and even playing some different guys at the Forward position. We’ve played Cody a lot at the Forward position this summer. It’s giving other guys more of an opportunity. But obviously we need Lennard back healthy and at full strength. We learned last year what a key and valuable contributor he was to our team.
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)
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.
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.
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.
This group looks a lot leaner and more athletic minus maybe Anya. Hoping to see some good highlight reels this season.