1. NC State’s previous staff offered Forestville (Md.) Bishop McNamara senior small forward Qayden Samuels on July 23, 2024.
Samuels didn’t tweet it out and it didn’t get much attention, but in light of recent events, his recruitment looms as a large possibility for new coach Will Wade and staff.
Samuels proved to be an elite scorer this week at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Rock Hill, S.C., and earned first-team All-Camp honors. He averaged 26.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game — which led the camp in both categories — and shot 54.2 percent from the field and 37.1 percent on three-pointers (13 of 35).
The Wolfpack could have sent multiple assistant coaches to the event while Wade is in his last days of his show cause status. Instead, general manager Andrew Slater held things down Wednesday and Thursday.
Samuels is different than former NC State standout T.J. Warren, but they both have a thirst to score. Samuels wants to go for 20-30 points and knows how to do it. Drives to the basket, three-point shots or working angles, he manufactures points. He’s not as big as Warren was height wide — maybe three inches shorter at 6-foot-5 — but he has enough weight and strength to get things down inside. Warren was/is the master of the mid-range touch shots, but Samuels appears to be a better shooter than Warren was at the same age.
The reason for the heightened attention on Samuels is that his older sister Qadence Samuels is transferring to the NC State women’s hoops program. NC State also apparently has offered younger sister Candace Samuels, who is ranked No. 19 in the class of 2027 by ESPN’s HoopGurlz.
What helped some with Qadence Samuels is that older brother Qwanzi Samuels Jr. played with former NCSU player Casey Morsell at Washington (D.C.) St. John’s High. Morsell let the family know how good NC State is to attend, and she’s expected to move to Raleigh on June 19.
Qwanzi Jr. played at Florida Gulf Coast, George Washington and IUPUI, with his college career ending in 2024. He was able to watch Qayden play at the NBPA Camp.
Samuels has offers from NC State, Alabama. Clemson, Connecticut, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kansas, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan, Providence, Rutgers, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Villanova, Virginia Tech, Washington, West Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason.
2. Some other long-term targets will be interesting to follow moving forward, especially senior power forward Latrell Allmond.
Allmond also had a productive NBPA Camp, averaging 18.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, and he shot 55.2 percent from the field and a shocking 40.7 percent on three-pointers (11 of 27). Allmond is about 6-8 and looks to be in the best shape of his young career.
The origin story for Allmond, as some long-time followers know is that he’s from Southern Pines, N.C., and repeated the eighth grade at The O’Neal School. He was on the varsity and I had heard about a younger player, but didn’t know the whole story. It turned out to be Allmond, and after some eighth-grade clips of his at camps, I did what I call a “fishing expedition” and went to see The O’Neal School at Burlington (N.C.) Christian in a game where some were worried about sleet that night.
Allmond started and had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and made two three-pointers and I knew he was going to be a major recruiting target.
The story took a turn when he joined Team Loaded’s traveling team organization on the adidas circuit, which is run by Ty White. Allmond joined White and Dennis Parker at Richmond (Va.) John Marshall in the ninth grade. Playing with John Marshall High at a June event prior to the ninth grade, he showed out in front of then assistant coach Levi Watkins. Allmond thought with NC State reaching out to his camp, it meant an offer, and excitedly tweeted it out. It wasn’t an offer, but there was no reason to correct the situation because Allmond was going to be a major factor for the Wolfpack.
That is the backdrop, with the one change is that Parker has transferred from NC State to Radford, and White has gone to Petersburg (Va.) High, which means Allmond will likely be at a new high school next year. Wade knows Coach White well from his days at Virginia Commonwealth.
What hasn’t happened yet is Wade and his staff renewing the recruiting process with Allmond. The adidas 3SSB event will be in Rock Hill starting July 9, and it will be interesting to see if Wade is front and center for Allmond.
Georgetown, Tennessee, NC State and Louisville had done early work. Indiana with new assistant coach Kenny Johnson is making up ground. The key with Allmond, who grew up a UNC fan, is that the Tar Heels haven’t offered.
Allmond has high-major offers from NC State, Cincinnati, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, LSU, Louisville, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Rutgers, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Virginia and Washington.
3. The debate over CP3 senior wings teammates Cole Cloer of Greensboro (N.C.) Caldwell Academy and Kohl Rosario of Hudson (N.C.) Moravian Prep.
Both were at the NBPA Camp, and for NC State purposes, Cloer remains a key priority in the class of 2026. To give context, Rosario has exploded in the recruiting realm with the theory of going into the class of 2025. North Carolina, Duke, Oregon, Kansas, Miami (Fla.), Indiana and Florida State, are some of the contenders.
When Wade got hired, it seemed plausible that Rosario would get evaluated heavily, due in part to being teammates with Cloer on CP3. The fact that Rosario has passed by Cloer in some individual eyes has been a fascinating debate.
Cloer has more long-term potential due to being 6-6 with a good wingspan and the potential of being a good long-range shooter, but at the moment he is streaky. Rosario is a gifted athlete who gets to the rim and can make enough jumpers to keep a defense honest, but needs improvement.
The two reflected their strengths and weaknesses at the NBPA Camp. Rosario averaged 14.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, and shot 51.9 percent from the field and 20.8 percent on three-pointers (5 of 24). Cloer played three out of the five games and averaged 11.0 points and 4.7 rebounds and got 44.8 percent from the field and 5 of 16 on three-pointers. He showed his impressive upside by making 4 of 8 on three-pointers en route to 22 points and six rebounds vs. Team Jones on Wednesday. He showed the inconsistency by going scoreless vs. Team Winslow on Thursday, and then didn’t play Friday.
NC State has reached out to Cloer, and it looks like NC State, North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida, have done the most work of late. Maybe Wake Forest too.
Cloer will officially visit Florida, and Tennessee is also pushing for a date in September. NC State football doesn’t have that one big home football game before the November signing period. Wade has seen what LSU football can do with basketball recruiting, and same for when he was at Clemson. He’s also been at several schools, where he didn’t look for a home football game bump.
NC State will have East Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Campbell and Georgia Tech at home before the November signing period. If the Wolfpack continue to do some version of Primetime With The Pack in October, that is another opportunity.
There was an Internet myth that both of Cloer’s parents went to UNC, and that is half right. His mother went to North Carolina for undergrad and graduate school, and his father went to East Carolina. His uncle attended NC State for a year or two, and five of Cloer’s cousins went to NCSU.
Cloer’s older brother played football at Cornell, and both of his older brothers are close friends with Payton Wilson and Bryse Wilson, playing sports together at Hillsborough (N.C.) Orange High.
Cloer will be on a plane for Colorado Springs, Colo., this weekend for USA Basketball under-19 squad tryouts. Seven players who completed their freshman year of college, 11 from the class of 2025, including NC State’s Matt Able, and Cloer is one of 13 players from the class of 2026. Recently offered senior point guard Deron Rippey Jr. of Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., will also be trying out.
UNC coach Hubert Davis will be one of the training camp coaches.
Samuels didn’t tweet it out and it didn’t get much attention, but in light of recent events, his recruitment looms as a large possibility for new coach Will Wade and staff.
Samuels proved to be an elite scorer this week at the NBPA Top 100 Camp in Rock Hill, S.C., and earned first-team All-Camp honors. He averaged 26.4 points and 9.8 rebounds per game — which led the camp in both categories — and shot 54.2 percent from the field and 37.1 percent on three-pointers (13 of 35).
The Wolfpack could have sent multiple assistant coaches to the event while Wade is in his last days of his show cause status. Instead, general manager Andrew Slater held things down Wednesday and Thursday.
Samuels is different than former NC State standout T.J. Warren, but they both have a thirst to score. Samuels wants to go for 20-30 points and knows how to do it. Drives to the basket, three-point shots or working angles, he manufactures points. He’s not as big as Warren was height wide — maybe three inches shorter at 6-foot-5 — but he has enough weight and strength to get things down inside. Warren was/is the master of the mid-range touch shots, but Samuels appears to be a better shooter than Warren was at the same age.
The reason for the heightened attention on Samuels is that his older sister Qadence Samuels is transferring to the NC State women’s hoops program. NC State also apparently has offered younger sister Candace Samuels, who is ranked No. 19 in the class of 2027 by ESPN’s HoopGurlz.
What helped some with Qadence Samuels is that older brother Qwanzi Samuels Jr. played with former NCSU player Casey Morsell at Washington (D.C.) St. John’s High. Morsell let the family know how good NC State is to attend, and she’s expected to move to Raleigh on June 19.
Qwanzi Jr. played at Florida Gulf Coast, George Washington and IUPUI, with his college career ending in 2024. He was able to watch Qayden play at the NBPA Camp.
Samuels has offers from NC State, Alabama. Clemson, Connecticut, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Illinois, Kansas, Louisville, Maryland, Michigan, Providence, Rutgers, Syracuse, Tennessee, Texas, Villanova, Virginia Tech, Washington, West Virginia, Virginia Commonwealth and George Mason.
2. Some other long-term targets will be interesting to follow moving forward, especially senior power forward Latrell Allmond.
Allmond also had a productive NBPA Camp, averaging 18.4 points and 6.0 rebounds per game, and he shot 55.2 percent from the field and a shocking 40.7 percent on three-pointers (11 of 27). Allmond is about 6-8 and looks to be in the best shape of his young career.
The origin story for Allmond, as some long-time followers know is that he’s from Southern Pines, N.C., and repeated the eighth grade at The O’Neal School. He was on the varsity and I had heard about a younger player, but didn’t know the whole story. It turned out to be Allmond, and after some eighth-grade clips of his at camps, I did what I call a “fishing expedition” and went to see The O’Neal School at Burlington (N.C.) Christian in a game where some were worried about sleet that night.
Allmond started and had 16 points and 12 rebounds, and made two three-pointers and I knew he was going to be a major recruiting target.
The story took a turn when he joined Team Loaded’s traveling team organization on the adidas circuit, which is run by Ty White. Allmond joined White and Dennis Parker at Richmond (Va.) John Marshall in the ninth grade. Playing with John Marshall High at a June event prior to the ninth grade, he showed out in front of then assistant coach Levi Watkins. Allmond thought with NC State reaching out to his camp, it meant an offer, and excitedly tweeted it out. It wasn’t an offer, but there was no reason to correct the situation because Allmond was going to be a major factor for the Wolfpack.
That is the backdrop, with the one change is that Parker has transferred from NC State to Radford, and White has gone to Petersburg (Va.) High, which means Allmond will likely be at a new high school next year. Wade knows Coach White well from his days at Virginia Commonwealth.
What hasn’t happened yet is Wade and his staff renewing the recruiting process with Allmond. The adidas 3SSB event will be in Rock Hill starting July 9, and it will be interesting to see if Wade is front and center for Allmond.
Georgetown, Tennessee, NC State and Louisville had done early work. Indiana with new assistant coach Kenny Johnson is making up ground. The key with Allmond, who grew up a UNC fan, is that the Tar Heels haven’t offered.
Allmond has high-major offers from NC State, Cincinnati, Florida State, Georgetown, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, LSU, Louisville, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Rutgers, Tennessee, Texas A&M, Virginia and Washington.
3. The debate over CP3 senior wings teammates Cole Cloer of Greensboro (N.C.) Caldwell Academy and Kohl Rosario of Hudson (N.C.) Moravian Prep.
Both were at the NBPA Camp, and for NC State purposes, Cloer remains a key priority in the class of 2026. To give context, Rosario has exploded in the recruiting realm with the theory of going into the class of 2025. North Carolina, Duke, Oregon, Kansas, Miami (Fla.), Indiana and Florida State, are some of the contenders.
When Wade got hired, it seemed plausible that Rosario would get evaluated heavily, due in part to being teammates with Cloer on CP3. The fact that Rosario has passed by Cloer in some individual eyes has been a fascinating debate.
Cloer has more long-term potential due to being 6-6 with a good wingspan and the potential of being a good long-range shooter, but at the moment he is streaky. Rosario is a gifted athlete who gets to the rim and can make enough jumpers to keep a defense honest, but needs improvement.
The two reflected their strengths and weaknesses at the NBPA Camp. Rosario averaged 14.8 points and 3.8 rebounds per game, and shot 51.9 percent from the field and 20.8 percent on three-pointers (5 of 24). Cloer played three out of the five games and averaged 11.0 points and 4.7 rebounds and got 44.8 percent from the field and 5 of 16 on three-pointers. He showed his impressive upside by making 4 of 8 on three-pointers en route to 22 points and six rebounds vs. Team Jones on Wednesday. He showed the inconsistency by going scoreless vs. Team Winslow on Thursday, and then didn’t play Friday.
NC State has reached out to Cloer, and it looks like NC State, North Carolina, Tennessee and Florida, have done the most work of late. Maybe Wake Forest too.
Cloer will officially visit Florida, and Tennessee is also pushing for a date in September. NC State football doesn’t have that one big home football game before the November signing period. Wade has seen what LSU football can do with basketball recruiting, and same for when he was at Clemson. He’s also been at several schools, where he didn’t look for a home football game bump.
NC State will have East Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Campbell and Georgia Tech at home before the November signing period. If the Wolfpack continue to do some version of Primetime With The Pack in October, that is another opportunity.
There was an Internet myth that both of Cloer’s parents went to UNC, and that is half right. His mother went to North Carolina for undergrad and graduate school, and his father went to East Carolina. His uncle attended NC State for a year or two, and five of Cloer’s cousins went to NCSU.
Cloer’s older brother played football at Cornell, and both of his older brothers are close friends with Payton Wilson and Bryse Wilson, playing sports together at Hillsborough (N.C.) Orange High.
Cloer will be on a plane for Colorado Springs, Colo., this weekend for USA Basketball under-19 squad tryouts. Seven players who completed their freshman year of college, 11 from the class of 2025, including NC State’s Matt Able, and Cloer is one of 13 players from the class of 2026. Recently offered senior point guard Deron Rippey Jr. of Blair Academy in Blairstown, N.J., will also be trying out.
UNC coach Hubert Davis will be one of the training camp coaches.
