The commitment of three-star guard LJ Thomas from Bull City Prep in Durham, N.C., came together quickly over the past week.
There has long been speculation around those who followed NC State’s recruiting that the Pack was more focused on taller wing, but realistically the Pack has few options left on that board. Four-star Jett Howard, who officially visited in September, is expected to officially commit to Michigan, per sources, this coming week.
NC State is also considered a long shot with four-star Rylan Griffen from Richardson (Texas) High, although one source thought that Griffen would end up an adidas-sponsored school which might offer some hope for the Wolfpack.
From everyone we have talked with, there is general agreement that despite Thomas’ ranking and rating, he is a quality ACC-caliber basketball player. There are some who legitimately believe Thomas could be the best prospect playing in the 2022 class in the state of North Carolina. One source we spoke with felt that Thomas could prove similar to Pack sophomore guard Cam Hayes but perhaps even better.
We know from sources that other schools which may have recruited or evaluated Thomas at times similarly felt in that he was a good player, and he has earned strong marks for his work ethic.
It should be noted that Thomas is a bit older for his class. He was originally supposed to be in 2021, and could conceivably enroll as early as this spring if there was a mutual agreement between NC State and Thomas to do so. The fact though that he is older may have played in role in some of the rankings for him. Ironically, four-star center commit Shawn Phillips Jr. is young for the class.
His stock was also hurt slightly by an injured finger on his shooting hand which seemed to bother and affect his shot over the summer.
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As we noted on the State of Basketball message board, there is a potential (expectation might be a better but we are hesitant to use that since we are talking about the NCAA) that we will have further clarity on the timeline for IARP to handle the cases in front of them, including NC State’s, early next week and possibly as soon as Monday.
We spoke with a source recently who noted that there was news being anticipated soon on that front, although we had a sense their hope was that there might be more finality than what appears to be coming.
This source noted that despite the longevity of which IARP has taken for a decision, that even in reflection NC State probably had no other alternative given what was in front of them. That became especially apparent after what this source called was “a nasty letter,” written by a member of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions in response to NC State’s aggressive reply to the original NCAA notice of allegations.
That left a clear picture to many that the Wolfpack was not likely to get a fair hearing in front of that committee.
As for what is ultimately expected to be handed down remains uncertain since IARP is a brand new entity. Memphis’ case is ahead of NC State’s in the pecking order and thus we will have a far better understanding once the Tigers hears what happens to them.
There is some optimism around Raleigh that perhaps the summer decision of Creighton’s NCAA case, handled by the Committee on Infractions, offers hope. The case involved a former assistant coach in Preston Murphy, who left in 2019. Murphy was issued a show-cause, and the school faced sanctions related to recruiting activities and scholarship numbers, but it avoided the most severe penalty of postseason ban.
As the source noted, with none of the principals in the NC State case around Raleigh any longer, and have not been for almost five years, the Creighton case offers optimism that a postseason ban might be avoided.
There has long been speculation around those who followed NC State’s recruiting that the Pack was more focused on taller wing, but realistically the Pack has few options left on that board. Four-star Jett Howard, who officially visited in September, is expected to officially commit to Michigan, per sources, this coming week.
NC State is also considered a long shot with four-star Rylan Griffen from Richardson (Texas) High, although one source thought that Griffen would end up an adidas-sponsored school which might offer some hope for the Wolfpack.
From everyone we have talked with, there is general agreement that despite Thomas’ ranking and rating, he is a quality ACC-caliber basketball player. There are some who legitimately believe Thomas could be the best prospect playing in the 2022 class in the state of North Carolina. One source we spoke with felt that Thomas could prove similar to Pack sophomore guard Cam Hayes but perhaps even better.
We know from sources that other schools which may have recruited or evaluated Thomas at times similarly felt in that he was a good player, and he has earned strong marks for his work ethic.
It should be noted that Thomas is a bit older for his class. He was originally supposed to be in 2021, and could conceivably enroll as early as this spring if there was a mutual agreement between NC State and Thomas to do so. The fact though that he is older may have played in role in some of the rankings for him. Ironically, four-star center commit Shawn Phillips Jr. is young for the class.
His stock was also hurt slightly by an injured finger on his shooting hand which seemed to bother and affect his shot over the summer.
•••
As we noted on the State of Basketball message board, there is a potential (expectation might be a better but we are hesitant to use that since we are talking about the NCAA) that we will have further clarity on the timeline for IARP to handle the cases in front of them, including NC State’s, early next week and possibly as soon as Monday.
We spoke with a source recently who noted that there was news being anticipated soon on that front, although we had a sense their hope was that there might be more finality than what appears to be coming.
This source noted that despite the longevity of which IARP has taken for a decision, that even in reflection NC State probably had no other alternative given what was in front of them. That became especially apparent after what this source called was “a nasty letter,” written by a member of the NCAA’s Committee on Infractions in response to NC State’s aggressive reply to the original NCAA notice of allegations.
That left a clear picture to many that the Wolfpack was not likely to get a fair hearing in front of that committee.
As for what is ultimately expected to be handed down remains uncertain since IARP is a brand new entity. Memphis’ case is ahead of NC State’s in the pecking order and thus we will have a far better understanding once the Tigers hears what happens to them.
There is some optimism around Raleigh that perhaps the summer decision of Creighton’s NCAA case, handled by the Committee on Infractions, offers hope. The case involved a former assistant coach in Preston Murphy, who left in 2019. Murphy was issued a show-cause, and the school faced sanctions related to recruiting activities and scholarship numbers, but it avoided the most severe penalty of postseason ban.
As the source noted, with none of the principals in the NC State case around Raleigh any longer, and have not been for almost five years, the Creighton case offers optimism that a postseason ban might be avoided.
