1. I made the goal on Nov. 1 to see as many of the top basketball players in the state of North Carolina by Jan. 1. I’ll end up close at the conclusion of the John Wall Holiday Invitational this week, which is fine. We’ll put the over/under on teams to see in 2022 at about six programs.
More importantly, what I’ve learned is that there might be players with some nice offers and possibly being ranked, but have a long ways to go in being able to help a program like NC State, right away. It goes back to the same theme — does NC State have the patience to wait around two years to develop a player? That is the million dollar question especially when trying to form a team with junior shooting guard Robert Dillingham looming in the horizon.
Off air, Joe Giglio of 99.9 FM and I talked about the transfer portal and NC State, and he touched on it on the air Wednesday. We mentioned that the portal can change teams quickly, with Wake Forest a shining example, at least for now. They’ve added transfers from Oklahoma, Indiana State, Colorado Ole Miss/Virginia Tech and East Tennessee State in the last two years and are 11-1 this season.
Former NC State coach Mark Gottfried made transfers cool again in Raleigh, landing Alex Johnson (Cal-State Bakersfield), Ralston Turner (LSU), Trevor Lacey (Alabama), Terry Henderson (West Virginia) and Torin Dorn (Charlotte).
Current NC State coach Kevin Keatts was hired and right away brought in Allerik Freeman (Baylor), Sam Hunt (North Carolina A&T), Devon Daniels (Utah), C.J. Bryce (North Carolina-Wilmington) and Braxton Beverly (Ohio State). Freeman and Hunt were eligible as graduate transfers and Beverly needed multiple waiver attempts from the NCAA to be eligible. Now, Bryce and Daniels wouldn’t have to sit out a year.
The key is to get good transfers in and this season with the lack of depth on the roster, it’s more obvious than ever. Here is a look back at the transfers under Keatts, with what they did at their previous college and then at NC State.
Sam Hunt: He started off at Jacksonville and then made his way home to North Carolina A&T. He averaged 12.7 points and shot 38.3 percent from the field and 35.4 percent on three-pointers in 2016-17. He made the move to NC State and averaged 5.5 points in 16.1 minutes per game and shot 42.2 percent form the field and 41.8 percent from beyond the arc.
Allerik Freeman: The Charlotte native picked NC State over Pittsburgh, and then surprisingly helped the Wolfpack reach the NCAA Tournament in 2017-2018. He averaged 9.4 points and shot 42.8 percent from the field and 38.9 percent on three-pointers during his last season at Baylor. He jumped up to a career-high 16.1 points and 4.2 rebounds in 34.4 minutes per game at NC State. He shot 38.6 percent from the field and 38.5 percent on three-pointers.
Braxton Beverly: He sometimes isn’t looked at as a transfer, but he attended summer school at Ohio State. He was the rare player — at that time — to get a waiver by the NCAA to play at NC State. It took a third appeal and he missed the first few games of his freshman season. He went on to start 88 of 121 games at NC State and he averaged 8.4 points and 2.5 assists per game. and shot 38.6 from the field and 37.0 percent on three-pointers. He transferred to Eastern Kentucky for his “super senior” year.
Devon Daniels: Daniels and Utah parted ways and he needed a new home. Enter NC State. He averaged 9.9 points per game and shot 57.1 percent from the field at Utah. In his three years at NCSU, he averaged 11.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, and shot 44.8 percent form the field and 32.2 percent on three-pointers. He got injured 12 games into his senior year.
C.J. Bryce: The 6-5 wing from Charlotte helped UNCW reach the NCAA Tournament twice, and he followed Keatts to NC State. He averaged 17.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 34.3 minutes per game for the Seahawks. After sitting out a season, he went on to start 59 of 64 games at NCSU. He averaged 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds, and shot 45.5 percent from the field and 34.0 percent on three-pointers for the Wolfpack.
Wyatt Walker: The post player from Samford averaged 12.9 points and 9.7 rebounds his last healthy year at the school in 2016-17. He got hurt two games into his junior year and left for NC State with two years of eligibility. He ended up using one of those years and started all but one game and averaged 4.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 17.9 minutes per game. he shot 58.1 percent from the field.
Eric Lockett: The Florida International graduate transfer had a hard time finding his playing rhythm at NC State. He had averaged 14.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in 37.0 minutes per game at FIU in 2017-18. He dropped to 4.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game in Raleigh. He played in 25 games (starting two), and missed some time due to a suspension following an arrest involving a former girlfriend. The charges were dropped and he returned to the roster, but struggled to find his niche.
Blake Harris: This one stung for the way it ended. The Missouri transfer was able to get a waiver and play at the start of his sophomore year at NC State. He had averaged 3.8 points and 3.1 assists in 13.9 minutes per game at Missouri in 2017-18. The Chapel Hill, N.C., native transferred home and played in 30 games in 2018-2019 for the Wolfpack. He averaged 3.1 points and 1.5 assists in 9.5 minutes per game. Where it stung is that he waited until the start of the 2019-20 season, so his scholarship couldn’t be filled that year. He eventually transferred to North Carolina A&T, where he played one year.
Sacha Killeya-Jones: The Kentucky transfer from Chapel Hill, N.C. never played for NC State. He was the No. 24 recruit in the country by Rivals.com in the class of 2016. He averaged 3.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game his second year at Kentucky. Killeya-Jones was behind academically and needed a waiver, but before that was decided by the NCAA, he departed the NC State program.
Danny Dixon: The 6-10 center played his first two years at George Mason, and then made the move to Missouri-Kansas City. He averaged 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 19.7 minutes for UMKC in 32 games (16 starts). He played in 19 games for NC State and averaged 1.4 points and 1.0 rebound in 5.7 minutes per game in 2019-20.
Pat Andree: The 6-8 Lehigh transfer battled through some nagging injuries, but never found his jumper at NC State. He played three years at Lehigh, and averaged 12.9 points and 6.2 rebounds in his last season in 2018-19. He shot 45.2 percent from the field and 41.9 percent on three-pointers. He dipped to 30.2 percent on field goals at NC State, and 32.6 percent on three-pointers en route to averaging 4.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per game. He started five of 27 games during his lone season at NC State in 2019-20.
Thomas Allen: The 6-1 guard from Garner (N.C.) High, who played his senior year at Wolfeboro (N.H.) Brewster Academy, originally signed with NC State and coach Mark Gottfried. He then got out of his letter of intent and went to Nebraska due to assistant coach Kenya Hunter. When the latter left for Georgetown, Allen also departed and ended up going back home to NCSU. He averaged 8.7 points and 2.0 assists in 30.2 minutes per game at Nebraska, where he stated 25 of 29 games his sophomore year. He shot 43.6 percent form the field and 36.4 percent on three-pointers. Allen averaged 7.4 points in 26.4 minutes his first year at NC State and shot 37.9 percent from three-point land. He suffered a season-ending injury in 2020-21. Allen is averaging 1.8 points in 11.7 minutes per game this season.
Greg Gantt: The 6-8 Gantt considered NC State out of high school, but the Wolfpack didn’t make his final list of schools. The Fayetteville (N.C.) Trinity Christian product signed with Providence, where he started 12 games and played in 53. He averaged 4.0 points and 3.1 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per game last year for the Friars. He elected to transfer to NC State, but has been out this season with a sports hernia.
Casey Morsell: The 6-3 wing from the DMV area played his first two years at Virginia. He started 16 out of 53 games he played in, and averaged 4.2 points and 1.5 rebounds a contest. He shot 32.4 percent form the field and 20.3 percent on three-pointers. He transferred to NC State and was off to a solid started before spraining his ankle. He’s currently trying to find his role off the bench, and is averaging 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 26.6 minutes per game. He is shooting 36.7 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from beyond the arc in 10 games (seven starts).
More importantly, what I’ve learned is that there might be players with some nice offers and possibly being ranked, but have a long ways to go in being able to help a program like NC State, right away. It goes back to the same theme — does NC State have the patience to wait around two years to develop a player? That is the million dollar question especially when trying to form a team with junior shooting guard Robert Dillingham looming in the horizon.
Off air, Joe Giglio of 99.9 FM and I talked about the transfer portal and NC State, and he touched on it on the air Wednesday. We mentioned that the portal can change teams quickly, with Wake Forest a shining example, at least for now. They’ve added transfers from Oklahoma, Indiana State, Colorado Ole Miss/Virginia Tech and East Tennessee State in the last two years and are 11-1 this season.
Former NC State coach Mark Gottfried made transfers cool again in Raleigh, landing Alex Johnson (Cal-State Bakersfield), Ralston Turner (LSU), Trevor Lacey (Alabama), Terry Henderson (West Virginia) and Torin Dorn (Charlotte).
Current NC State coach Kevin Keatts was hired and right away brought in Allerik Freeman (Baylor), Sam Hunt (North Carolina A&T), Devon Daniels (Utah), C.J. Bryce (North Carolina-Wilmington) and Braxton Beverly (Ohio State). Freeman and Hunt were eligible as graduate transfers and Beverly needed multiple waiver attempts from the NCAA to be eligible. Now, Bryce and Daniels wouldn’t have to sit out a year.
The key is to get good transfers in and this season with the lack of depth on the roster, it’s more obvious than ever. Here is a look back at the transfers under Keatts, with what they did at their previous college and then at NC State.
Sam Hunt: He started off at Jacksonville and then made his way home to North Carolina A&T. He averaged 12.7 points and shot 38.3 percent from the field and 35.4 percent on three-pointers in 2016-17. He made the move to NC State and averaged 5.5 points in 16.1 minutes per game and shot 42.2 percent form the field and 41.8 percent from beyond the arc.
Allerik Freeman: The Charlotte native picked NC State over Pittsburgh, and then surprisingly helped the Wolfpack reach the NCAA Tournament in 2017-2018. He averaged 9.4 points and shot 42.8 percent from the field and 38.9 percent on three-pointers during his last season at Baylor. He jumped up to a career-high 16.1 points and 4.2 rebounds in 34.4 minutes per game at NC State. He shot 38.6 percent from the field and 38.5 percent on three-pointers.
Braxton Beverly: He sometimes isn’t looked at as a transfer, but he attended summer school at Ohio State. He was the rare player — at that time — to get a waiver by the NCAA to play at NC State. It took a third appeal and he missed the first few games of his freshman season. He went on to start 88 of 121 games at NC State and he averaged 8.4 points and 2.5 assists per game. and shot 38.6 from the field and 37.0 percent on three-pointers. He transferred to Eastern Kentucky for his “super senior” year.
Devon Daniels: Daniels and Utah parted ways and he needed a new home. Enter NC State. He averaged 9.9 points per game and shot 57.1 percent from the field at Utah. In his three years at NCSU, he averaged 11.7 points and 4.9 rebounds per game, and shot 44.8 percent form the field and 32.2 percent on three-pointers. He got injured 12 games into his senior year.
C.J. Bryce: The 6-5 wing from Charlotte helped UNCW reach the NCAA Tournament twice, and he followed Keatts to NC State. He averaged 17.4 points, 5.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists in 34.3 minutes per game for the Seahawks. After sitting out a season, he went on to start 59 of 64 games at NCSU. He averaged 12.3 points and 5.3 rebounds, and shot 45.5 percent from the field and 34.0 percent on three-pointers for the Wolfpack.
Wyatt Walker: The post player from Samford averaged 12.9 points and 9.7 rebounds his last healthy year at the school in 2016-17. He got hurt two games into his junior year and left for NC State with two years of eligibility. He ended up using one of those years and started all but one game and averaged 4.8 points and 4.5 rebounds in 17.9 minutes per game. he shot 58.1 percent from the field.
Eric Lockett: The Florida International graduate transfer had a hard time finding his playing rhythm at NC State. He had averaged 14.3 points and 6.5 rebounds in 37.0 minutes per game at FIU in 2017-18. He dropped to 4.4 points and 2.9 rebounds in 15.5 minutes per game in Raleigh. He played in 25 games (starting two), and missed some time due to a suspension following an arrest involving a former girlfriend. The charges were dropped and he returned to the roster, but struggled to find his niche.
Blake Harris: This one stung for the way it ended. The Missouri transfer was able to get a waiver and play at the start of his sophomore year at NC State. He had averaged 3.8 points and 3.1 assists in 13.9 minutes per game at Missouri in 2017-18. The Chapel Hill, N.C., native transferred home and played in 30 games in 2018-2019 for the Wolfpack. He averaged 3.1 points and 1.5 assists in 9.5 minutes per game. Where it stung is that he waited until the start of the 2019-20 season, so his scholarship couldn’t be filled that year. He eventually transferred to North Carolina A&T, where he played one year.
Sacha Killeya-Jones: The Kentucky transfer from Chapel Hill, N.C. never played for NC State. He was the No. 24 recruit in the country by Rivals.com in the class of 2016. He averaged 3.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game his second year at Kentucky. Killeya-Jones was behind academically and needed a waiver, but before that was decided by the NCAA, he departed the NC State program.
Danny Dixon: The 6-10 center played his first two years at George Mason, and then made the move to Missouri-Kansas City. He averaged 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 19.7 minutes for UMKC in 32 games (16 starts). He played in 19 games for NC State and averaged 1.4 points and 1.0 rebound in 5.7 minutes per game in 2019-20.
Pat Andree: The 6-8 Lehigh transfer battled through some nagging injuries, but never found his jumper at NC State. He played three years at Lehigh, and averaged 12.9 points and 6.2 rebounds in his last season in 2018-19. He shot 45.2 percent from the field and 41.9 percent on three-pointers. He dipped to 30.2 percent on field goals at NC State, and 32.6 percent on three-pointers en route to averaging 4.4 points and 2.4 rebounds in 14.0 minutes per game. He started five of 27 games during his lone season at NC State in 2019-20.
Thomas Allen: The 6-1 guard from Garner (N.C.) High, who played his senior year at Wolfeboro (N.H.) Brewster Academy, originally signed with NC State and coach Mark Gottfried. He then got out of his letter of intent and went to Nebraska due to assistant coach Kenya Hunter. When the latter left for Georgetown, Allen also departed and ended up going back home to NCSU. He averaged 8.7 points and 2.0 assists in 30.2 minutes per game at Nebraska, where he stated 25 of 29 games his sophomore year. He shot 43.6 percent form the field and 36.4 percent on three-pointers. Allen averaged 7.4 points in 26.4 minutes his first year at NC State and shot 37.9 percent from three-point land. He suffered a season-ending injury in 2020-21. Allen is averaging 1.8 points in 11.7 minutes per game this season.
Greg Gantt: The 6-8 Gantt considered NC State out of high school, but the Wolfpack didn’t make his final list of schools. The Fayetteville (N.C.) Trinity Christian product signed with Providence, where he started 12 games and played in 53. He averaged 4.0 points and 3.1 rebounds in 21.4 minutes per game last year for the Friars. He elected to transfer to NC State, but has been out this season with a sports hernia.
Casey Morsell: The 6-3 wing from the DMV area played his first two years at Virginia. He started 16 out of 53 games he played in, and averaged 4.2 points and 1.5 rebounds a contest. He shot 32.4 percent form the field and 20.3 percent on three-pointers. He transferred to NC State and was off to a solid started before spraining his ankle. He’s currently trying to find his role off the bench, and is averaging 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds in 26.6 minutes per game. He is shooting 36.7 percent from the field and 34.3 percent from beyond the arc in 10 games (seven starts).
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