1. I kind of expected a calmer offseason in men’s basketball, but I think I’m going to be wrong.
That doesn’t mean it will have a negative connotation, but you get the sense that two things are pulling the Wolfpack program at the moment.
• NC State still feels immense pressure to win again next year and could burn it down and gamble that portal additions will build it back up.
• The Wolfpack might just do some trimming with the roster and not have to get more than say four players in the portal this offseason.
Regardless of the scenario, the roster needs to get stabilized and figured out and fast. Junior center Ebenezer Dowuona announced Thursday he’d be in the portal, than rumors have started flying about power forward Jack Clark, who has one year of eligibility left. Then there is the wild card situation of senior center Dusan Mahorcic having lingering knee injuries that could affect him until December, plus he’ll need a waiver from the NCAA. A simple solution to that would be to have a “NIL scholarship” similar to where quarterback Jack Chambers and guard Chandler Zavala got what was needed to cover their expenses and be apart of Wolfpack football.
The news of Mahorcic and Dowuona guarantees that a center will get added. There is zero chance that NC State would go into the 2023-24 season with D.J. Burns and Isaiah Miranda as the top two centers. Getting a third player would protect them against Mahorcic’s decision and if Miranda isn’t ready for prime time.
Getting a point guard to replace Jarkel Joiner was always the plan. Sophomore Breon Pass, freshman L.J. Thomas and incoming freshman Treymane Parker are not ready for that role.
Finding a replacement for Terquavion Smith on the wing has always been the plan at that spot. Casey Morsell and a portal guard will need a creative and fast point guard to play with.
NC State will have Temple transfer Damian Dunn unofficially visit Friday, and he’s a solid college guard, who has been through the wars. He played his first three years at Kinston (N.C.) High, but at that time, lacked the explosiveness and pure shooting ability to be a sure-fire high-major prospect. After four years at Temple, the development has been made. There was never any doubt after Temple great Aaron McKie got fired as the coach, that NC State would be in the mix with Dunn. He also has family in the Raleigh area.
Dunn has tasted a lot of losing over the last four years, going 52-56. He was injured in 2019-20 and the Owls had a limited 16-game schedule in 2020-21. In many ways, his career is similar to what Clark faced at La Salle.
Then there is the curious case of what NC State will do with Dontrez Styles, who is also from Kinston High. He is scheduled to unofficially visit Monday, but he has been to NC State numerous times in the past dating back to his freshman year of high school. He also can return to NC State unofficially any time he has free time being 25 minutes down the road at North Carolina. He knows Smith and Pass well from his CP3 traveling team days, and he’s also played with former NCSU guards Cam Hayes and Shakeel Moore. He will know everything about being a NC State basketball. Styles also knows coach Kevin Keatts and assistant coach Levi Watkins well.
Styles was a classic case of NC State doing everything right in his recruitment with the hope that he could be a Torin Dorn kind of small ball power forward, but then North Carolina offered. That was that.
If Styles picks NC State in the future it will essentially mean three things:
A.) NC State has some serious depth problems at power forward due to transfers and decides Styles is the best portal option for depth.
B.) The last two years at North Carolina were an aberration and he can be the player NC State thought he could be in the class of 2021. Nobody recruited Styles harder than NC State.
C.) He is bypassing another college that he knows for sure he could serious playing time.
UNC listed Styles at 6-6 and 210 pounds and he played more than 10 minutes in just 10 games this season, and only appeared in 15 contests. His big moment was getting nine points and six rebounds in a 100-67 win over The Citadel on Dec. 13, 2022.
Styles got in for 10-plus minutes in six games his freshman year, and had nine points and three rebounds in 25 minutes against Baylor in a 93-86 overtime win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 19. Three of UNC’s starters had at least four fouls, and Styles had four fouls himself.
Some in Chapel Hill, N.C., think it was a simple situation where coach Hubert Davis preferred Puff Johnson, and that Styles, who was recruited by assistant coach Steve Robinson, who was let go after Roy Williams retired, just never got a true chance.
2a. Rivals.com expanded the rankings in the class of 2025 to a top 250 recently, putting a spotlight on a handful of prospects from the state of North Carolina.
The prize has always been left tackle David Sanders of Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day, who has been ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 by most. He dropped to No. 2 in Rivals.com and from all accounts it is a toss-up with defensive end Elijah Griffin, who is a 6-foot-4 and 261-pounder from Savannah (Ga.) Christian. That would be the alma mater of NC State center Dylan McMahon.
NC State has done an excellent job of getting Sanders on campus and to games over the last year. He did have to adjust to a new offensive line coach with Garett Tujague getting hired. He unofficially visited UNC on Jan. 20, and is going to Georgia this weekend. After watching him twice this past season, his ability to protect the quarterback is impressive and he has a nasty streak. And trust me, if he wanted to be a really good college defensive end, he all the markers at that position. His build is similar to D.J. Humphries, who was the last touted offensive lineman at Charlotte Mallard Creek in the class of 2012, and signed with Florida. Lineman are usually tricky to evaluate, with other highly touted past stars including Robert Crisp of Raleigh Athens Drive and Xavier Nixon of Fayetteville (N.C.) Jack Britt coming to mind. Crisp (NC State) was ranked No. 13 in the class of 2010, and Nixon (Florida) was ranked No. 37 in the class of 2009.
Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley defensive end Bryce Davis checks in at No. 30, and like Sanders, I was able to watch him play twice this season. He’s aggressive and quick off the edge, and is always productive. He has 16 offers and is growing into his 6-4, 230-pound frame. The Wolfpack offered him and he’s been to a game this fall.
Winston-Salem (N.C.) Mount Tabor wide receiver Shamarius Peterkin is ranked No. 54, which backs up the buzz he’s been getting. He played a variety of positions at Mount Tabor and also was a standout on the basketball court. He has 14 scholarship offers, including NC State.
Pittsboro (N.C.) Northwood defensive end Gus Ritchey is ranked No. 102 overall, and he’s going to be an interesting situation. He’s been on fire again and is up to 14 offers, including one from NC State. What makes him is interesting is that NC State views him at tight end, while others like him on the defensive line at 6-3 and 225 pounds. With him local, he’s always around the program, and will be at NC State today.
NC State is in terrific early shape with defensive lineman Christopher Isaiah Campbell, who is ranked No. 191 overall. The Snow Hill (N.C.) Greene Central High standout is 6-5 and 265 pounds and is now up to nine scholarship offers, including one from NC State. He’s related to past Wolfpack standout DeMario Pressley. He has been a semi-regular visitor to NC State.
Monroe (N.C.) High athlete Jordan Young is ranked No. 195 and he also has an NC State offer. Young appears to be more of a slot receiver and then is a ballhawk on defense. He is slender at 6-0 and 165 pounds, so his future might be on offense, but he was productive on both sides of the ball last fall. He’s been to NC State as recently as Jan. 20.
Fayetteville (N.C.) Trinity Christian wide receiver Fonzy Smith is ranked at No. 240, and he might be the surprise on the list. North Carolina has offered and NC State has shown interest, but that should change over the next year. The 6-2, 175-pounder is a playmaker, and while Trinity Christian is more known for hoops, he’s got a chance to blow up over the next year.
The three in-state offers in the class of 2025 that NC State has made to unranked players include Walkertown (N.C.) High quarterback Bryce Baker and wide receivers Je’rel Bolder of Marshville (N.C.) Forest Hills and Arrion Concepcion of Charlotte Chambers.
2b. The other news that happened involving the class of 2025 is that NC State has essentially learned who Notre Dame is going to go after.
Sometimes you need to know who the enemy is going to be, and that proved true with Notre Dame landing offensive linemen Sam Pendleton of Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan and Sullivan Absher of Belmont (N.C.) South Point in the class of 2023, and then followed up with tight end Jack Larsen of Charlotte Catholic in the class of 2024.
The timing of this past week? The best recruiting marketing gimmick in college football is Notre Dame doing its “Pot of Gold” scholarship offers for St. Patrick’s Day. Notre Dame handed out at least 70 scholarship offers for the class of 2025, and three of them went to players NC State wants, and a fourth scholarship offer happened this week, so post-Pot of Gold.
Sanders, Davis and Young were all offered on Pot of Gold day, and then Ritchey was offered Wednesday after an unofficial visit.
That doesn’t mean it will have a negative connotation, but you get the sense that two things are pulling the Wolfpack program at the moment.
• NC State still feels immense pressure to win again next year and could burn it down and gamble that portal additions will build it back up.
• The Wolfpack might just do some trimming with the roster and not have to get more than say four players in the portal this offseason.
Regardless of the scenario, the roster needs to get stabilized and figured out and fast. Junior center Ebenezer Dowuona announced Thursday he’d be in the portal, than rumors have started flying about power forward Jack Clark, who has one year of eligibility left. Then there is the wild card situation of senior center Dusan Mahorcic having lingering knee injuries that could affect him until December, plus he’ll need a waiver from the NCAA. A simple solution to that would be to have a “NIL scholarship” similar to where quarterback Jack Chambers and guard Chandler Zavala got what was needed to cover their expenses and be apart of Wolfpack football.
The news of Mahorcic and Dowuona guarantees that a center will get added. There is zero chance that NC State would go into the 2023-24 season with D.J. Burns and Isaiah Miranda as the top two centers. Getting a third player would protect them against Mahorcic’s decision and if Miranda isn’t ready for prime time.
Getting a point guard to replace Jarkel Joiner was always the plan. Sophomore Breon Pass, freshman L.J. Thomas and incoming freshman Treymane Parker are not ready for that role.
Finding a replacement for Terquavion Smith on the wing has always been the plan at that spot. Casey Morsell and a portal guard will need a creative and fast point guard to play with.
NC State will have Temple transfer Damian Dunn unofficially visit Friday, and he’s a solid college guard, who has been through the wars. He played his first three years at Kinston (N.C.) High, but at that time, lacked the explosiveness and pure shooting ability to be a sure-fire high-major prospect. After four years at Temple, the development has been made. There was never any doubt after Temple great Aaron McKie got fired as the coach, that NC State would be in the mix with Dunn. He also has family in the Raleigh area.
Dunn has tasted a lot of losing over the last four years, going 52-56. He was injured in 2019-20 and the Owls had a limited 16-game schedule in 2020-21. In many ways, his career is similar to what Clark faced at La Salle.
Then there is the curious case of what NC State will do with Dontrez Styles, who is also from Kinston High. He is scheduled to unofficially visit Monday, but he has been to NC State numerous times in the past dating back to his freshman year of high school. He also can return to NC State unofficially any time he has free time being 25 minutes down the road at North Carolina. He knows Smith and Pass well from his CP3 traveling team days, and he’s also played with former NCSU guards Cam Hayes and Shakeel Moore. He will know everything about being a NC State basketball. Styles also knows coach Kevin Keatts and assistant coach Levi Watkins well.
Styles was a classic case of NC State doing everything right in his recruitment with the hope that he could be a Torin Dorn kind of small ball power forward, but then North Carolina offered. That was that.
If Styles picks NC State in the future it will essentially mean three things:
A.) NC State has some serious depth problems at power forward due to transfers and decides Styles is the best portal option for depth.
B.) The last two years at North Carolina were an aberration and he can be the player NC State thought he could be in the class of 2021. Nobody recruited Styles harder than NC State.
C.) He is bypassing another college that he knows for sure he could serious playing time.
UNC listed Styles at 6-6 and 210 pounds and he played more than 10 minutes in just 10 games this season, and only appeared in 15 contests. His big moment was getting nine points and six rebounds in a 100-67 win over The Citadel on Dec. 13, 2022.
Styles got in for 10-plus minutes in six games his freshman year, and had nine points and three rebounds in 25 minutes against Baylor in a 93-86 overtime win in the second round of the NCAA Tournament on March 19. Three of UNC’s starters had at least four fouls, and Styles had four fouls himself.
Some in Chapel Hill, N.C., think it was a simple situation where coach Hubert Davis preferred Puff Johnson, and that Styles, who was recruited by assistant coach Steve Robinson, who was let go after Roy Williams retired, just never got a true chance.
2a. Rivals.com expanded the rankings in the class of 2025 to a top 250 recently, putting a spotlight on a handful of prospects from the state of North Carolina.
The prize has always been left tackle David Sanders of Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day, who has been ranked either No. 1 or No. 2 by most. He dropped to No. 2 in Rivals.com and from all accounts it is a toss-up with defensive end Elijah Griffin, who is a 6-foot-4 and 261-pounder from Savannah (Ga.) Christian. That would be the alma mater of NC State center Dylan McMahon.
NC State has done an excellent job of getting Sanders on campus and to games over the last year. He did have to adjust to a new offensive line coach with Garett Tujague getting hired. He unofficially visited UNC on Jan. 20, and is going to Georgia this weekend. After watching him twice this past season, his ability to protect the quarterback is impressive and he has a nasty streak. And trust me, if he wanted to be a really good college defensive end, he all the markers at that position. His build is similar to D.J. Humphries, who was the last touted offensive lineman at Charlotte Mallard Creek in the class of 2012, and signed with Florida. Lineman are usually tricky to evaluate, with other highly touted past stars including Robert Crisp of Raleigh Athens Drive and Xavier Nixon of Fayetteville (N.C.) Jack Britt coming to mind. Crisp (NC State) was ranked No. 13 in the class of 2010, and Nixon (Florida) was ranked No. 37 in the class of 2009.
Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley defensive end Bryce Davis checks in at No. 30, and like Sanders, I was able to watch him play twice this season. He’s aggressive and quick off the edge, and is always productive. He has 16 offers and is growing into his 6-4, 230-pound frame. The Wolfpack offered him and he’s been to a game this fall.
Winston-Salem (N.C.) Mount Tabor wide receiver Shamarius Peterkin is ranked No. 54, which backs up the buzz he’s been getting. He played a variety of positions at Mount Tabor and also was a standout on the basketball court. He has 14 scholarship offers, including NC State.
Pittsboro (N.C.) Northwood defensive end Gus Ritchey is ranked No. 102 overall, and he’s going to be an interesting situation. He’s been on fire again and is up to 14 offers, including one from NC State. What makes him is interesting is that NC State views him at tight end, while others like him on the defensive line at 6-3 and 225 pounds. With him local, he’s always around the program, and will be at NC State today.
NC State is in terrific early shape with defensive lineman Christopher Isaiah Campbell, who is ranked No. 191 overall. The Snow Hill (N.C.) Greene Central High standout is 6-5 and 265 pounds and is now up to nine scholarship offers, including one from NC State. He’s related to past Wolfpack standout DeMario Pressley. He has been a semi-regular visitor to NC State.
Monroe (N.C.) High athlete Jordan Young is ranked No. 195 and he also has an NC State offer. Young appears to be more of a slot receiver and then is a ballhawk on defense. He is slender at 6-0 and 165 pounds, so his future might be on offense, but he was productive on both sides of the ball last fall. He’s been to NC State as recently as Jan. 20.
Fayetteville (N.C.) Trinity Christian wide receiver Fonzy Smith is ranked at No. 240, and he might be the surprise on the list. North Carolina has offered and NC State has shown interest, but that should change over the next year. The 6-2, 175-pounder is a playmaker, and while Trinity Christian is more known for hoops, he’s got a chance to blow up over the next year.
The three in-state offers in the class of 2025 that NC State has made to unranked players include Walkertown (N.C.) High quarterback Bryce Baker and wide receivers Je’rel Bolder of Marshville (N.C.) Forest Hills and Arrion Concepcion of Charlotte Chambers.
2b. The other news that happened involving the class of 2025 is that NC State has essentially learned who Notre Dame is going to go after.
Sometimes you need to know who the enemy is going to be, and that proved true with Notre Dame landing offensive linemen Sam Pendleton of Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan and Sullivan Absher of Belmont (N.C.) South Point in the class of 2023, and then followed up with tight end Jack Larsen of Charlotte Catholic in the class of 2024.
The timing of this past week? The best recruiting marketing gimmick in college football is Notre Dame doing its “Pot of Gold” scholarship offers for St. Patrick’s Day. Notre Dame handed out at least 70 scholarship offers for the class of 2025, and three of them went to players NC State wants, and a fourth scholarship offer happened this week, so post-Pot of Gold.
Sanders, Davis and Young were all offered on Pot of Gold day, and then Ritchey was offered Wednesday after an unofficial visit.
