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The full NC State Men’s Basketball 2015-16 schedule was released, and Shantel Jordan sat down with head coach Mark Gottfried to get him to breakdown the schedule. Watch the video below, or read the transcript underneath it.

Transcript

On how the non-conference games are scheduled…

“We try to every year to make sure that our schedule is going to be as competitive as possible.  We’re always going to play some teams from the other BCS conferences.  It’s good for us.  It’s exciting for our fans.  Then we also try to find those teams that aren’t in the BCS conferences who are going to have great records and great teams.  We go back and look over a 5-year period, and look at their average RPI, which players they are returning, and how strong they’re going to be.  We actually are trying to find those teams that are going to be very good, who might be 20-25 game type winning teams.  There’s a lot that goes into it, but at the end of the day, I think we’ve put together another schedule that is going to give us one of the more competitive schedules in the country.”

On playing Arizona St…

“I think it’s going to be exciting.  A lot of our fans remember Levi (Watkins), and he was with me for two years on my staff here.  He probably knows us, and knows what we do better than anybody.  I’ve actually laughed with him about the fact that he’s going to do a pretty good job with the scouting report.  They’re going to be a good team for us to play out of the Pac 12.  With the other two teams, Marquette and LSU, you have two talented really good teams.  It is a great tournament of us to be a part of, and getting to go to New York City, and play in the Barclays Arena where the Nets play in the NBA.  I think it’s going to be a fun couple of days.”

On the chance of a rematch with LSU…

“LSU lost the two big guys inside.  Both guys got drafted pretty high in the NBA draft.  The perimeter is going to mostly be the returning players.  Their guys around the basket now are different.  Ben Simmons, if he could have entered the NBA out of high school, I do believe would have been the #1 pick out of high school.  Extremely talented player.  If we end up playing them, we will be playing a talented team in LSU.”

On the ACC slate…

“I think with our schedule in the league, like everyone in our league, it’s a difficult schedule.  When you look at the way ours shook out, we’ve got UNC twice, Duke twice, Florida St. twice, who I think is going to be really good this year.  They’ve got all 5 starters back.  We play Wake Forest twice, which is a good rivalry game for us.  Then when you look past that, you see that we have to go on the road to Syracuse, to Notre Dame, to Virginia.  Now our schedule becomes one of the most difficult of the 15 teams in the league.  Sometimes if you have three in a row here, or two in a row there, sometimes you don’t know exactly how that’s going to play out.  Maybe you’re on a roll playing well, or maybe you’re not playing so well.  One thing different this year, than in years past, is that we only have one BYE in the schedule.  Last year we had two BYES, with two breaks in the schedule.  That will be a little bit different for us this year.  We won’t have that opportunity to get regrouped like we did a year ago.”

On the road challenges in league play…

“I think if you’re going to be a good team, a team that gets to play in the NCAA tournament, you have to be good at home and on the road.  We’ve been fortunate over the past couple of years to have some great road wins.  Last year specifically at Louisville, at North Carolina, those were big games for us.  We’ll see how it works out.  Every team is different.  Every team has to develop it’s own identity and ability to go on the road and win in a tough environment.”

On playing the top teams in the country…

“I like playing the tough teams in the ACC.  Sometimes there is a part of you that wishes your schedule was a little bit easier.   On the other hand, when you play a majority of the teams that are going to be towards the top of the conference, it makes the schedule harder, and also gives you the opportunity to beat good teams, and help our overall RPI.  At the end of the day, the goal is to be in the NCAA tournament, and eventually have a good high seed, and a good opportunity to advance.  If that means we have to play more games against the top half of the ACC, then I’m all for it.  At the end of the day, our goal is to be the best team we can be, get in the NCAA tournament, and have a chance to play for an NCAA championship.”

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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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2 days ago

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April 26, 2024

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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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Bowling Green Transfer Guard Marcus Hill Commits to NC State!

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3 days ago

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April 25, 2024

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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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4 days ago

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April 24, 2024

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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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5 days ago

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April 23, 2024

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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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