1. Portal magic part I.
It’s becoming clear that NC State will probably bring in four players, which means an extra scholarship will be free in the future. Dereon Seabron is the obvious choice because few believe he won’t be turning professional when the June 1 deadline occurs.
NC State has Ole Miss forward Luis Rodriguez for an official visit until probably mid-Saturday afternoon.
Rodriguez is from Los Angeles and it appeared he was going to be a lock to transfer to USC, but then NC State hired Ole Miss assistant coach Levi Watkins and plans changed. Watkins arranged for Rodriguez to quickly check out Raleigh and usually the college a recruit first checks out post-transferring is where he attends.
Rodriguez attended Woodstock (Conn.) Academy and picked Ole Miss over UMass and Illinois. He struggled his freshman year and then got hurt and only played six games in 2019-20.
Rodriguez moved into the starting lineup carved out a niche as a role player for the Rebels. This past year, he fell out of the lineup at Tennessee on Jan. 5, and then was spotty on when he would start or not. He did play over 28 minutes in 12 SEC games, some off the bench.
To watch Rodriguez, I picked the Ole Miss at Auburn game Feb. 23. I had seen him play against Marquette earlier in the season and even used that game as an example of what the portal can do in a past The Run Down.
Watching the Ole Miss and Auburn game, it was clear what Rodriguez’s role with the Wolfpack would be. There really isn’t a past player that plays like him, but there are two players who played a key role, that could be dubbed “The adult in the room.” He had 12 points, six rebounds and shot 2 of 3 on three-pointers in a 77-64 loss to Auburn. He played some defensively against future top five NBA Draft pick Jabari Smith.
When wing C.J. Williams was a senior in 2011-12, and when center Lennard Freeman was a senior in 2017-18, they knew what it was like to be that steady calm influence.
Rodriguez plays good defense, he’s athletic and he can hit the occasional three-pointer. I will maintain he’s a small-ball small forward, which makes sense considering the other targets. He averaged 6.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in 26.9 minutes from the field and shot just 35.3 percent from the field. He had 15 points this season at LSU, and he had 15 points against Missouri a year ago to mark his career-high’s.
2. Portal magic part II.
NC State is expected to bring in Memphis transfer Landers Nolley on April 15-17 for an official visit. He’ll be visiting Texas A&M this weekend, but one source like NC State’s chances. That would be quite a victory in the sense of Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams is who signed him at Virginia Tech, and he played with Tyrece Radford with the Hokies, who followed Williams to the Aggies. Then the reality of the situation is TAMU seems to be top five in throwing NIL money around, at least in football recruiting.
Nolley’s recruitment was kind of legendary in its own way in high school coming out of Hampton (Ga.) Langston Hughes High in the class of 2018. He originally was from Chicago — went to Curie High his first two years — and he blew up during the July evaluation period while playing with Team Loaded NC. He ended up getting ranked No. 49 overall in the country.
NC State had gotten a commitment from guard Jamie Lewis on June 8, 2017, which was shocking at the time, and then eventually the two sides parted ways Sept. 7. Nolley and Lewis were not best friends forever and played together on Team Loaded NC. That hurt NC State the first time around and he cancelled his mid-September official visit to Raleigh.
Nolley then picked Georgia over Virginia Tech on Oct. 7, but that commitment lasted about 18 hours. He finally picked the Hokies for good Oct. 15.
The next speed bump is Nolley didn’t have his academics in order and was a non-qualifier his freshman year at Virginia Tech. The Hokies reached the Sweet 16 and Williams landed a big contract with Texas A&M, but Nolley elected to stay under new coach Mike Young.
Nolley’s start at Virginia Tech went really well, and then it didn’t. Back that season in 2019-20, the ACC had conference games to start the year off. He poured in 30 points and Virginia Tech topped Clemson 67-60. He then had 22 points in shocking win over Michigan State in the Maui Invitational. Young was hailed as a miracle worker for about two months.
Nolley had 29 points and Virginia Tech surprised NC State 72-58 on Jan. 11, 2020. From that game-on, other than an outburst against Boston College, it got ugly for both Nolley and Virginia Tech.
Nolley shot 22 of 95 for 23.2 percent over last eight games at VT, and the Hokies lost six of them. Nolley shot sub-40 percent in 13 of the final 16 games — 12 of them losses — and the divorce was quick following the season with Young. He finished averaging 15.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and shot 37 percent from the field and 31.6 percent on three-pointers, and was used as a small ball power forward.
Nolley then transferred to Memphis and things went relatively well, but the Tigers ended up going to the NIT. He averaged 13.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, and he improved to 41.5 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from the three-point line.
Memphis brought in Emoni Bates and Miami (Fla.) transfer Earl Timberlake and Nolley was coming off the bench to start the season in Nov. Add in wing Lester Quinones and it was a crowded situation. He’d start a few games and then go right back to the bench, but always played 20-plus minutes (sans three games).
I picked out the Memphis at Houston game Feb. 12 to watch, as I already saw them play each other in the AAC title game. Nolley was 1 of 6 from the field for two points in the title game, but I knew he played well in the road game Feb. 12.
Nolley showed he was pretty good defensively against the Cougars in the regular season, and while his percentages have never been good, he shoots a beautiful jumper. It’s certainly a conundrum.
What also happened in that game is he got the start over Timberlake and by then Bates wasn’t a factor. Nolley started the last 12 games and the Tigers went 9-3 during that stretch and reached the NCAA Tournament, falling to Gonzaga. Nolley went 1 of 6 from the field and had seven points against the Zags.
Nolley and Rodriguez did play each other on Dec. 4. Neither did much, combining to go 2 of 10 from the field, with the Rebels winning the game.
Nolley is different than former NC State player Devon Daniels, who slashed more to the basket, but in terms of presence on the team and defensive skills, it could be an apt comparison for their roles at NC State.
It’s becoming clear that NC State will probably bring in four players, which means an extra scholarship will be free in the future. Dereon Seabron is the obvious choice because few believe he won’t be turning professional when the June 1 deadline occurs.
NC State has Ole Miss forward Luis Rodriguez for an official visit until probably mid-Saturday afternoon.
Rodriguez is from Los Angeles and it appeared he was going to be a lock to transfer to USC, but then NC State hired Ole Miss assistant coach Levi Watkins and plans changed. Watkins arranged for Rodriguez to quickly check out Raleigh and usually the college a recruit first checks out post-transferring is where he attends.
Rodriguez attended Woodstock (Conn.) Academy and picked Ole Miss over UMass and Illinois. He struggled his freshman year and then got hurt and only played six games in 2019-20.
Rodriguez moved into the starting lineup carved out a niche as a role player for the Rebels. This past year, he fell out of the lineup at Tennessee on Jan. 5, and then was spotty on when he would start or not. He did play over 28 minutes in 12 SEC games, some off the bench.
To watch Rodriguez, I picked the Ole Miss at Auburn game Feb. 23. I had seen him play against Marquette earlier in the season and even used that game as an example of what the portal can do in a past The Run Down.
Watching the Ole Miss and Auburn game, it was clear what Rodriguez’s role with the Wolfpack would be. There really isn’t a past player that plays like him, but there are two players who played a key role, that could be dubbed “The adult in the room.” He had 12 points, six rebounds and shot 2 of 3 on three-pointers in a 77-64 loss to Auburn. He played some defensively against future top five NBA Draft pick Jabari Smith.
When wing C.J. Williams was a senior in 2011-12, and when center Lennard Freeman was a senior in 2017-18, they knew what it was like to be that steady calm influence.
Rodriguez plays good defense, he’s athletic and he can hit the occasional three-pointer. I will maintain he’s a small-ball small forward, which makes sense considering the other targets. He averaged 6.6 points and 5.5 rebounds in 26.9 minutes from the field and shot just 35.3 percent from the field. He had 15 points this season at LSU, and he had 15 points against Missouri a year ago to mark his career-high’s.
2. Portal magic part II.
NC State is expected to bring in Memphis transfer Landers Nolley on April 15-17 for an official visit. He’ll be visiting Texas A&M this weekend, but one source like NC State’s chances. That would be quite a victory in the sense of Texas A&M coach Buzz Williams is who signed him at Virginia Tech, and he played with Tyrece Radford with the Hokies, who followed Williams to the Aggies. Then the reality of the situation is TAMU seems to be top five in throwing NIL money around, at least in football recruiting.
Nolley’s recruitment was kind of legendary in its own way in high school coming out of Hampton (Ga.) Langston Hughes High in the class of 2018. He originally was from Chicago — went to Curie High his first two years — and he blew up during the July evaluation period while playing with Team Loaded NC. He ended up getting ranked No. 49 overall in the country.
NC State had gotten a commitment from guard Jamie Lewis on June 8, 2017, which was shocking at the time, and then eventually the two sides parted ways Sept. 7. Nolley and Lewis were not best friends forever and played together on Team Loaded NC. That hurt NC State the first time around and he cancelled his mid-September official visit to Raleigh.
Nolley then picked Georgia over Virginia Tech on Oct. 7, but that commitment lasted about 18 hours. He finally picked the Hokies for good Oct. 15.
The next speed bump is Nolley didn’t have his academics in order and was a non-qualifier his freshman year at Virginia Tech. The Hokies reached the Sweet 16 and Williams landed a big contract with Texas A&M, but Nolley elected to stay under new coach Mike Young.
Nolley’s start at Virginia Tech went really well, and then it didn’t. Back that season in 2019-20, the ACC had conference games to start the year off. He poured in 30 points and Virginia Tech topped Clemson 67-60. He then had 22 points in shocking win over Michigan State in the Maui Invitational. Young was hailed as a miracle worker for about two months.
Nolley had 29 points and Virginia Tech surprised NC State 72-58 on Jan. 11, 2020. From that game-on, other than an outburst against Boston College, it got ugly for both Nolley and Virginia Tech.
Nolley shot 22 of 95 for 23.2 percent over last eight games at VT, and the Hokies lost six of them. Nolley shot sub-40 percent in 13 of the final 16 games — 12 of them losses — and the divorce was quick following the season with Young. He finished averaging 15.5 points and 5.8 rebounds per game and shot 37 percent from the field and 31.6 percent on three-pointers, and was used as a small ball power forward.
Nolley then transferred to Memphis and things went relatively well, but the Tigers ended up going to the NIT. He averaged 13.1 points and 4.1 rebounds per game, and he improved to 41.5 percent from the field and 38.7 percent from the three-point line.
Memphis brought in Emoni Bates and Miami (Fla.) transfer Earl Timberlake and Nolley was coming off the bench to start the season in Nov. Add in wing Lester Quinones and it was a crowded situation. He’d start a few games and then go right back to the bench, but always played 20-plus minutes (sans three games).
I picked out the Memphis at Houston game Feb. 12 to watch, as I already saw them play each other in the AAC title game. Nolley was 1 of 6 from the field for two points in the title game, but I knew he played well in the road game Feb. 12.
Nolley showed he was pretty good defensively against the Cougars in the regular season, and while his percentages have never been good, he shoots a beautiful jumper. It’s certainly a conundrum.
What also happened in that game is he got the start over Timberlake and by then Bates wasn’t a factor. Nolley started the last 12 games and the Tigers went 9-3 during that stretch and reached the NCAA Tournament, falling to Gonzaga. Nolley went 1 of 6 from the field and had seven points against the Zags.
Nolley and Rodriguez did play each other on Dec. 4. Neither did much, combining to go 2 of 10 from the field, with the Rebels winning the game.
Nolley is different than former NC State player Devon Daniels, who slashed more to the basket, but in terms of presence on the team and defensive skills, it could be an apt comparison for their roles at NC State.
