1. No point in dancing around the issue, but will NC State coach Kevin Keatts be back?
If you had asked me a week ago, I would have said 75-25 in favor of yes. The loss to Boston College didn’t help and maybe pushed it to 65-35, but the key to the situation is to avoid getting embarrassed at home against North Carolina on Saturday. What does that mean? Maybe not trailing by 20-plus points most of the game like the first meeting in Chapel Hill.
Keatts has four years left on his deal, has dealt with injuries and has had the residual affect of COVID and the NCAA cloud. It also helps that outside of a couple of potential candidates there isn’t a situation where you know who could replace him.
When NC State fired Mark Gottfried during the season, the two obvious candidates from the jump were VCU’s Will Wade and UNC-Wilmington’s Keatts.
Plus, the market of coaches isn’t exactly brimming right now with coaching candidates, unless people at NC State are all-in on Arch Miller, who will probably get hired by someone this offseason (perhaps Arizona State?).
The roster could be devastated if Keatts gets fired with players leaving. Class of 2022 signees Shawn Phillips and L.J. Thomas would like ask out of their letter of intents and junior shooting guard Robert Dillingham of Hickory, N.C., would decommit.
The next coach could basically have freshman shooting guard Terquavion Smith and a bunch of new transfers to fill out the roster in a worst-case scenario.
More importantly what is needed to change the program besides good health. If NC State can’t have star power, then the next step is having a Noah’s Arc roster of two of everything. Injuries have wrecked any voyage in that direction.
The first part is stabilizing the roster. Find out fast what the plans are with redshirt sophomore guard Dereon Seabron and redshirt junior center Manny Bates. If they want to play professionally somewhere in the world next year, then NC State needs to know fast. Pin-pointing how many scholarships are available is of utmost importance.
Having Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy senior guard Judah Mintz’s recruitment resolved by early April will also help in knowing how many transfers NC State can land this spring.
The third order of business is to land an experienced point guard, and if he can play off the ball some, that would be a nice bonus. Entering the season relying on just sophomore point guard Cam Hayes was a mistake, which was compounded by Hayes going through a regression.
It seems too much for Thomas to take on that role as a freshman, and same for Mintz. It would be repeating trying to replace Markell Johnson with then freshman Hayes and Shakeel Moore, with a touch of Braxton Beverly mixed in.
Bates’ future will impact the need of landing a physical post player to pair with Phillips and sophomore Ebenezer Dowuona. Seeing 7-0, 240-pound center Quinten Post of Boston College go 9 of 10 from the field for 18 points — the second highest point total of season for Mississippi State transfer — was eye-opening.
2. NC State has one verbal commitment in the class of 2023 in Wake Forest (N.C.) Heritage High quarterback Lex Thomas. Maybe that grows by one or two in the next month, which should be a busy recruiting period now that recruits can come visit during spring practices.
Here’s a look at five players who have pretty advanced recruitments compared to their peers.
• 1. Javonte Vereen, tight end, Havelock (N.C.) High: He’s ranked the No. 9 overall player in the state of North Carolina by Rivals.com and a four-star prospect. NC State was first to offer him, and that usually means something. Georgia has also offered, but is full of tight ends it appears. Louisville, Maryland, Duke and Boston College have also offered from the ACC, and he unofficially visited the Terrapins.
• 2. Keith Sampson, defensive lineman, New Bern (N.C.) High: Sampson came out with a top five, but has kept expanding it. No player in the state has had as many unofficial visits, and that will continue in the next several weeks. Sampson has a trip to Florida State lined up March 4-5, and Clemson on March 12. He’ll check out South Carolina on March 19 and NC State on March 25. UNC is back in the picture again and he’ll head to Chapel Hill on March 26.
• 3. Nathan Leacock, wide receiver, Raleigh Millbrook: The super fast 6-4 Leacock got his first offer from NC State last June and he is a Wolfpack legacy. He has been steadily collecting offers ever since — Kentucky, Boston College, Duke, Tennessee, West Virginia, Louisville, Virginia Tech, etc. He easily has seen NC State the most.
• 4. Darion Rivers, offensive tackle, West Charlotte High: Has NC State recruited Rivers long? No, but it’s clear that getting an offer at Junior Day on Jan. 29 was special to the 6-7, 250-pounder. There is some confusion that he could be getting recruited as a defensive end, and he shows a lot of promise at that position, NC State wants him at offensive tackle. He doesn’t have any other offers, at least for now, and that also could push him to committing early.
• 5. CJ Jacobsen, tight end, Meridian (Idaho) Rocky Mountain High: NC State offered Jacobsen on Jan. 14, so he hasn’t been recruited for a long time. However, he plans to unofficially visit NC State in March, and that just shows how serious he is about the Wolfpack. Louisville, BYU, Utah State and Colorado State are in the mix. Utah would be significant competition if the Utes ever offer.
3. After sweeping through the state of North Carolina to see the quartet of four top 25 sophomore players, it’s easy to see how they would complement each other in various ways if they picked the same college.
Sophomore power forward Sarah Strong and Sanford Grace Christian is playing Charlotte Victory Christian for the NCHSAA 1A state title game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Mount Olive College.
Strong combines good vision, basketball IQ and an unselfish demeanor, and is probably around 6-foot-1 or 6-2. She has great hands and range out to three-point land. The daughter of NC State small forward Danny Strong, she’ll need to improve her conditioning, but it’s easy to see why she’s ranked No. 5 overall by ESPN.com’s HoopGurlz.
Center Blanca Thomas is longer at 6-4 or 6-5 and is used as a finisher for Charlotte Catholic, which is playing in the NCHSAA 4A playoffs. She is built in some ways to NC State center Elissa Cunane, and she’ll continue to get stronger and add weight in the coming years. HoopGurlz has her at No. 6 overall in the country and it’s easy to see why.
Thomas just shoots over mortal foes, and then blocks or alters shots on the other end. She seems to have a nice touch out to about 16 feet, but wasn’t asked to shoot jumpers, and why should she? She’s a layup machine. Thomas did show she’s comfortable moving the ball to teammates in the high post and could be a good entry-feeder to a low-post complement.
Bethel (N.C.) North Pitt sophomore point guard Zamareya Jones is the show-stopper and ranked No. 23. It shows that it doesn’t matter where you grow up, the hoops culture is contagious. The perception before watching her is that she is too small. Some have her at 5-4 and she says 5-6. I do believe her with the 5-6.
The theory has always been regardless of gender that if you are a smaller point guard, you need to shoot really well from the three-point arc. She could improve on her outside shooting, but the form seemed good.
Where Jones is gifted is her vision, hoops IQ and flair. The old coaching saying is “she is playing chess when everyone else is playing checkers” on the court.
Jones also plays with an edge that helps her dig in defensively and get steals. She applies good on the ball pressure. Her height certainly doesn’t seem to be hurting her recruitment, which shows how good she is in the various areas of the game. If there was ever any girls basketball player poised to do well in NIL, it would seemingly be Jones.
North Pitt narrowly fell to No. 1 seed St. Pauls in the NCHSAA 2A playoffs.
Center Ella Hobbs has gone in a different direction with her prep career, and we’ll have her story out early next week. The 6-3 or so Hobbs attended Concord (N.C.) Robinson High last year, but is now playing for 1 of 1 Prep Academy in Huntersville, N.C., which is the program Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball created. The twist is that she’s still attending Robinson High academically. Her older brother Daevin Hobbs, who plays tight end and defensive end at Robinson High at 6-6 and 240 pounds, was just offered by Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
Hobbs is also a finisher inside with a soft touch, and she seemed very accurate with her mid-range game. She could be a quality pick-setter for her teammates with her sturdy frame. Some might wonder if she could one day play power forward, but that would come down to her foot quickness. Hobbs might overlap with Thomas on certain aspects of being a center. She is ranked No. 16 overall in the country.
If you had asked me a week ago, I would have said 75-25 in favor of yes. The loss to Boston College didn’t help and maybe pushed it to 65-35, but the key to the situation is to avoid getting embarrassed at home against North Carolina on Saturday. What does that mean? Maybe not trailing by 20-plus points most of the game like the first meeting in Chapel Hill.
Keatts has four years left on his deal, has dealt with injuries and has had the residual affect of COVID and the NCAA cloud. It also helps that outside of a couple of potential candidates there isn’t a situation where you know who could replace him.
When NC State fired Mark Gottfried during the season, the two obvious candidates from the jump were VCU’s Will Wade and UNC-Wilmington’s Keatts.
Plus, the market of coaches isn’t exactly brimming right now with coaching candidates, unless people at NC State are all-in on Arch Miller, who will probably get hired by someone this offseason (perhaps Arizona State?).
The roster could be devastated if Keatts gets fired with players leaving. Class of 2022 signees Shawn Phillips and L.J. Thomas would like ask out of their letter of intents and junior shooting guard Robert Dillingham of Hickory, N.C., would decommit.
The next coach could basically have freshman shooting guard Terquavion Smith and a bunch of new transfers to fill out the roster in a worst-case scenario.
More importantly what is needed to change the program besides good health. If NC State can’t have star power, then the next step is having a Noah’s Arc roster of two of everything. Injuries have wrecked any voyage in that direction.
The first part is stabilizing the roster. Find out fast what the plans are with redshirt sophomore guard Dereon Seabron and redshirt junior center Manny Bates. If they want to play professionally somewhere in the world next year, then NC State needs to know fast. Pin-pointing how many scholarships are available is of utmost importance.
Having Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy senior guard Judah Mintz’s recruitment resolved by early April will also help in knowing how many transfers NC State can land this spring.
The third order of business is to land an experienced point guard, and if he can play off the ball some, that would be a nice bonus. Entering the season relying on just sophomore point guard Cam Hayes was a mistake, which was compounded by Hayes going through a regression.
It seems too much for Thomas to take on that role as a freshman, and same for Mintz. It would be repeating trying to replace Markell Johnson with then freshman Hayes and Shakeel Moore, with a touch of Braxton Beverly mixed in.
Bates’ future will impact the need of landing a physical post player to pair with Phillips and sophomore Ebenezer Dowuona. Seeing 7-0, 240-pound center Quinten Post of Boston College go 9 of 10 from the field for 18 points — the second highest point total of season for Mississippi State transfer — was eye-opening.
2. NC State has one verbal commitment in the class of 2023 in Wake Forest (N.C.) Heritage High quarterback Lex Thomas. Maybe that grows by one or two in the next month, which should be a busy recruiting period now that recruits can come visit during spring practices.
Here’s a look at five players who have pretty advanced recruitments compared to their peers.
• 1. Javonte Vereen, tight end, Havelock (N.C.) High: He’s ranked the No. 9 overall player in the state of North Carolina by Rivals.com and a four-star prospect. NC State was first to offer him, and that usually means something. Georgia has also offered, but is full of tight ends it appears. Louisville, Maryland, Duke and Boston College have also offered from the ACC, and he unofficially visited the Terrapins.
• 2. Keith Sampson, defensive lineman, New Bern (N.C.) High: Sampson came out with a top five, but has kept expanding it. No player in the state has had as many unofficial visits, and that will continue in the next several weeks. Sampson has a trip to Florida State lined up March 4-5, and Clemson on March 12. He’ll check out South Carolina on March 19 and NC State on March 25. UNC is back in the picture again and he’ll head to Chapel Hill on March 26.
• 3. Nathan Leacock, wide receiver, Raleigh Millbrook: The super fast 6-4 Leacock got his first offer from NC State last June and he is a Wolfpack legacy. He has been steadily collecting offers ever since — Kentucky, Boston College, Duke, Tennessee, West Virginia, Louisville, Virginia Tech, etc. He easily has seen NC State the most.
• 4. Darion Rivers, offensive tackle, West Charlotte High: Has NC State recruited Rivers long? No, but it’s clear that getting an offer at Junior Day on Jan. 29 was special to the 6-7, 250-pounder. There is some confusion that he could be getting recruited as a defensive end, and he shows a lot of promise at that position, NC State wants him at offensive tackle. He doesn’t have any other offers, at least for now, and that also could push him to committing early.
• 5. CJ Jacobsen, tight end, Meridian (Idaho) Rocky Mountain High: NC State offered Jacobsen on Jan. 14, so he hasn’t been recruited for a long time. However, he plans to unofficially visit NC State in March, and that just shows how serious he is about the Wolfpack. Louisville, BYU, Utah State and Colorado State are in the mix. Utah would be significant competition if the Utes ever offer.
3. After sweeping through the state of North Carolina to see the quartet of four top 25 sophomore players, it’s easy to see how they would complement each other in various ways if they picked the same college.
Sophomore power forward Sarah Strong and Sanford Grace Christian is playing Charlotte Victory Christian for the NCHSAA 1A state title game at 3 p.m. Saturday at Mount Olive College.
Strong combines good vision, basketball IQ and an unselfish demeanor, and is probably around 6-foot-1 or 6-2. She has great hands and range out to three-point land. The daughter of NC State small forward Danny Strong, she’ll need to improve her conditioning, but it’s easy to see why she’s ranked No. 5 overall by ESPN.com’s HoopGurlz.
Center Blanca Thomas is longer at 6-4 or 6-5 and is used as a finisher for Charlotte Catholic, which is playing in the NCHSAA 4A playoffs. She is built in some ways to NC State center Elissa Cunane, and she’ll continue to get stronger and add weight in the coming years. HoopGurlz has her at No. 6 overall in the country and it’s easy to see why.
Thomas just shoots over mortal foes, and then blocks or alters shots on the other end. She seems to have a nice touch out to about 16 feet, but wasn’t asked to shoot jumpers, and why should she? She’s a layup machine. Thomas did show she’s comfortable moving the ball to teammates in the high post and could be a good entry-feeder to a low-post complement.
Bethel (N.C.) North Pitt sophomore point guard Zamareya Jones is the show-stopper and ranked No. 23. It shows that it doesn’t matter where you grow up, the hoops culture is contagious. The perception before watching her is that she is too small. Some have her at 5-4 and she says 5-6. I do believe her with the 5-6.
The theory has always been regardless of gender that if you are a smaller point guard, you need to shoot really well from the three-point arc. She could improve on her outside shooting, but the form seemed good.
Where Jones is gifted is her vision, hoops IQ and flair. The old coaching saying is “she is playing chess when everyone else is playing checkers” on the court.
Jones also plays with an edge that helps her dig in defensively and get steals. She applies good on the ball pressure. Her height certainly doesn’t seem to be hurting her recruitment, which shows how good she is in the various areas of the game. If there was ever any girls basketball player poised to do well in NIL, it would seemingly be Jones.
North Pitt narrowly fell to No. 1 seed St. Pauls in the NCHSAA 2A playoffs.
Center Ella Hobbs has gone in a different direction with her prep career, and we’ll have her story out early next week. The 6-3 or so Hobbs attended Concord (N.C.) Robinson High last year, but is now playing for 1 of 1 Prep Academy in Huntersville, N.C., which is the program Charlotte Hornets star LaMelo Ball created. The twist is that she’s still attending Robinson High academically. Her older brother Daevin Hobbs, who plays tight end and defensive end at Robinson High at 6-6 and 240 pounds, was just offered by Virginia Tech and West Virginia.
Hobbs is also a finisher inside with a soft touch, and she seemed very accurate with her mid-range game. She could be a quality pick-setter for her teammates with her sturdy frame. Some might wonder if she could one day play power forward, but that would come down to her foot quickness. Hobbs might overlap with Thomas on certain aspects of being a center. She is ranked No. 16 overall in the country.
