Sometimes trends just tend to hit people over the head, and one that has become clear this offseason is just how many perimeter players are in the transfer portal with recruiting ties to this region.
NC State doesn’t have any scholarships, but if they did, the options are growing each and every day. In a way, it’s not new, especially with wings. NCSU has fortified its slots the last few years with transfers from C.J. Bryce (UNCW), Devon Daniels (Utah), Allerik Freeman (Baylor), Sam Hunt (North Carolina A&T) and Thomas Allen (Nebraska). Also, to a certain extent with Braxton Beverly, who took classes at Ohio State and originally was slotted to sit out a year as a transfer. All but Daniels on that list went to high schools within 2 ½ hours of Raleigh.
Former coach Mark Gottfried got the transfer train revved up when he was able to bring in Ralston Turner (LSU), Trevor Lacey (Alabama), Terry Henderson (West Virginia) and Torin Dorn (Charlotte).
Wings dominated the transfer market this week. NC State has offered Santa Clara transfer Trey Wertz, who has two years of eligibility remaining. Former NC State point guard Justin Gainey landed Wertz for Santa Clara, and former NCSU head coach Herb Sendek hung on to him after Gainey departed for Arizona. Two years later, Wertz is a proven three-point sniper, who shot 40 percent from long range last year, and Gainey has made the move from Arizona to Marquette, where he’ll likely try to recruit Wertz.
NC State, Arizona, Butler, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Stanford, Virginia, Xavier and Vanderbilt made Wertz’s original top 11.
Former Concord, N.C., native Charles Minlend Jr. has become a hot graduate transfer after averaging double figures all three years at San Fransisco. He had 19 schools jump on him, including seven from the West Coast but also NC State.
Durham, N.C., product Trey Murphy III might be drawing the most excitement among college coaches. The Rice transfer with two years of eligibility would be an easy player for NC State to jump in on. The 6-8 wing is a quality three-point shooter and one college assistant coach passed along this week they thought “he could be a pro” when it’s all said and done. That’s high praise considering he was a 6-5 skinny shooter at Cary (N.C.) Academy. His dad played at ECU and Murphy is tight with incoming signee Josh Hall.
Former Huntersville (N.C.) North Mecklenburg combo guard Davion Mintz entered the portal Friday as a graduate transfer out of Creighton. He missed the 2019-20 season due to a high ankle sprain, but is a proven performer. He averaged 9.7 points, 3.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game in 2018-19. He shot 34.7 percent from three-point land and had 21 points in a 106-104 overtime loss vs. Marquette and 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a 66-59 overtime loss at Villanova.
Former Charlotte (N.C.) Independence guard Jamarius Burton and former Raleigh Ravenscroft wing Ian DuBose are off the board for NC State. Burton, the Wichita State transfer, is picking among Texas Tech, Ohio State, Xavier, Marquette and Seton Hall. DuBose is a graduate transfer from Houston Baptist who picked Wake Forest.
Another wing in the news, but not a college transfer, is JaDun Michael of The Burlington School in Burlington, N.C. He signed with Wichita State, who convinced him to reclassify to 2020. However, Michael would be just 17 years old at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. He would overlap in skill set with NCSU freshman Dereon Seabron, with Michael a better outside shooter and Seabron taller and more versatile defensively.
The glut of college transfers will make it interesting on what happens with prep players. Will the prep players get squeezed out, which has slowly been happening, or will colleges also go the other way. Do prospects like junior wing Lucas Taylor of Wake Forest (N.C.) Heritage or junior wing A.J. Smith of Charlotte (N.C.) Hickory Ridge get emphasized knowing they are the “Trey Wertz types” of the future. Get them down out of high school in order to not have to recruit them in two years.
Hall really could end up holding all the keys on whether NC State even will add a player this spring. There’s always rumors about players, first starting with redshirt sophomore forward A.J. Taylor and then working through Daniels and D.J. Funderburk testing the NBA Draft waters. Beverly took a turn in the transfer rumor chair, but that got dampened pretty quickly.
Talking this week to a source who knows Hall and his family (and it will be their decision), any talk that he isn’t pondering the NBA is naïve. We have confirmed with multiple sources that the people with power in the NBA have been talking to Hall throughout the winter. Whether or not due to the coronavirus, it’s going to be harder for Hall to lock in where he could get drafted. The one wildcard is if the start of the college basketball season is in doubt a few months from now. Some NBA agents are telling players to turn pro just in case the season gets affected next year.
In the end, our source thought Hall would end up playing for NC State. He also predicted that Hickory (N.C.) Moravian Prep teammate Shakeel Moore would maybe come off the bench at the start of the season, but be the point guard by the middle portion of the schedule.
NC State doesn’t have any scholarships, but if they did, the options are growing each and every day. In a way, it’s not new, especially with wings. NCSU has fortified its slots the last few years with transfers from C.J. Bryce (UNCW), Devon Daniels (Utah), Allerik Freeman (Baylor), Sam Hunt (North Carolina A&T) and Thomas Allen (Nebraska). Also, to a certain extent with Braxton Beverly, who took classes at Ohio State and originally was slotted to sit out a year as a transfer. All but Daniels on that list went to high schools within 2 ½ hours of Raleigh.
Former coach Mark Gottfried got the transfer train revved up when he was able to bring in Ralston Turner (LSU), Trevor Lacey (Alabama), Terry Henderson (West Virginia) and Torin Dorn (Charlotte).
Wings dominated the transfer market this week. NC State has offered Santa Clara transfer Trey Wertz, who has two years of eligibility remaining. Former NC State point guard Justin Gainey landed Wertz for Santa Clara, and former NCSU head coach Herb Sendek hung on to him after Gainey departed for Arizona. Two years later, Wertz is a proven three-point sniper, who shot 40 percent from long range last year, and Gainey has made the move from Arizona to Marquette, where he’ll likely try to recruit Wertz.
NC State, Arizona, Butler, North Carolina, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Stanford, Virginia, Xavier and Vanderbilt made Wertz’s original top 11.
Former Concord, N.C., native Charles Minlend Jr. has become a hot graduate transfer after averaging double figures all three years at San Fransisco. He had 19 schools jump on him, including seven from the West Coast but also NC State.
Durham, N.C., product Trey Murphy III might be drawing the most excitement among college coaches. The Rice transfer with two years of eligibility would be an easy player for NC State to jump in on. The 6-8 wing is a quality three-point shooter and one college assistant coach passed along this week they thought “he could be a pro” when it’s all said and done. That’s high praise considering he was a 6-5 skinny shooter at Cary (N.C.) Academy. His dad played at ECU and Murphy is tight with incoming signee Josh Hall.
Former Huntersville (N.C.) North Mecklenburg combo guard Davion Mintz entered the portal Friday as a graduate transfer out of Creighton. He missed the 2019-20 season due to a high ankle sprain, but is a proven performer. He averaged 9.7 points, 3.0 assists and 3.0 rebounds per game in 2018-19. He shot 34.7 percent from three-point land and had 21 points in a 106-104 overtime loss vs. Marquette and 19 points, eight rebounds and four assists in a 66-59 overtime loss at Villanova.
Former Charlotte (N.C.) Independence guard Jamarius Burton and former Raleigh Ravenscroft wing Ian DuBose are off the board for NC State. Burton, the Wichita State transfer, is picking among Texas Tech, Ohio State, Xavier, Marquette and Seton Hall. DuBose is a graduate transfer from Houston Baptist who picked Wake Forest.
Another wing in the news, but not a college transfer, is JaDun Michael of The Burlington School in Burlington, N.C. He signed with Wichita State, who convinced him to reclassify to 2020. However, Michael would be just 17 years old at the beginning of the 2020-21 school year. He would overlap in skill set with NCSU freshman Dereon Seabron, with Michael a better outside shooter and Seabron taller and more versatile defensively.
The glut of college transfers will make it interesting on what happens with prep players. Will the prep players get squeezed out, which has slowly been happening, or will colleges also go the other way. Do prospects like junior wing Lucas Taylor of Wake Forest (N.C.) Heritage or junior wing A.J. Smith of Charlotte (N.C.) Hickory Ridge get emphasized knowing they are the “Trey Wertz types” of the future. Get them down out of high school in order to not have to recruit them in two years.
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Hall really could end up holding all the keys on whether NC State even will add a player this spring. There’s always rumors about players, first starting with redshirt sophomore forward A.J. Taylor and then working through Daniels and D.J. Funderburk testing the NBA Draft waters. Beverly took a turn in the transfer rumor chair, but that got dampened pretty quickly.
Talking this week to a source who knows Hall and his family (and it will be their decision), any talk that he isn’t pondering the NBA is naïve. We have confirmed with multiple sources that the people with power in the NBA have been talking to Hall throughout the winter. Whether or not due to the coronavirus, it’s going to be harder for Hall to lock in where he could get drafted. The one wildcard is if the start of the college basketball season is in doubt a few months from now. Some NBA agents are telling players to turn pro just in case the season gets affected next year.
In the end, our source thought Hall would end up playing for NC State. He also predicted that Hickory (N.C.) Moravian Prep teammate Shakeel Moore would maybe come off the bench at the start of the season, but be the point guard by the middle portion of the schedule.
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