This week is usually the calm before the July 12 men’s basketball recruiting storm. The first evaluation period runs July 12-15 with the Under Armour Association finals taking place in Cartersville, Ga., the adidas Gauntlet Finale in Spartanburg, S.C., Nike Peach Jam in North Augusta, S.C., and Peach Invitational Tournament in Augusta, Ga., which has the Nike teams that didn’t qualify for Peach Jam.
There obviously was one ripple of news this week with senior center target Ian Steere of High Point (N.C.) Wesleyan Christian picking Creighton on Thursday. NC State had offered both Steere and Immanuel Bates of Fayetteville (N.C.) Northwood Temple Academy this past Sunday. The offers showed the increased desire to land some big men in the class of 2018. NC State loses post players Lennard Freeman and Abdul-Malik Abu for sure, with both entering their senior seasons. Sophomore center Omer Yurtseven is always a threat to join the professional ranks, and sophomore power forward Darius Hicks has to show he can handle the rigors of the ACC after having a difficult freshman campaign.
Steere is more college-ready as a freshman, but some believe Bates has more long-range potential and would fit NC State’s style better. Bates is long at 6-foot-9 and a gifted shot-blocker, but will need to add at least 20 pounds and isn’t an instinctive offensive player. He has slowly gotten better each year and his recruitment has reflected that. He has started with small programs and then broke through when Virginia Tech and Clemson both offered July 30, 2016.
With not a lot of big men in the class of 2018, Bates has been a nice winner of supply and demand. Getting two out of Bates, High Point Wesleyan Christian power forward Jaylen Hoard and Concord (N.C.) Cannon School power forward Jairus Hamilton would make for a good start to landing at least three bigs in the class of 2018. Hoard, who will be at Peach Jam in a return from France, and Hamilton are both small ball power forwards at probably 6-7 or 6-8 on a good day. Hamilton wants to play on the perimeter, but he struggled with his outside shooting this spring.
Bates is strictly a center and the need of a second center could be influenced on what happens to Yurtseven. Speaking of Yurtseven, the Wolfpack haven’t given up on him playing in August on the Italy trip. Yurtseven though is heavily involved with playing for his country of Turkey this summer.
Center David McCormack of Norfolk, Va., will be pursued regardless of what Bates ends up doing. The 6-8, 265-pounder will be ready to go from day one in the ACC, and he is one of four players that NC State has offered from Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy. The other three include senior wing Keldon Johnson, junior shooting guard Josh Nickelberry and junior point guard Ashton Hagans.
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NC State has a tough decision looming on class of 2017 point guard Braxton Beverly. He was originally going to Miami (Ohio), but then thought he could do better and ditched the Red Hawks. His gamble on himself paid off and he signed with Ohio State. The Buckeyes then went through a coaching change and the arrival of A.W. Hamilton as an assistant coach at NC State has brought a perfect storm to where he could land in Raleigh. Hamilton coached Beverly this past season at Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy, and both of them are originally from Kentucky.
The big questions are whether Beverly is good enough and does he fill a key need for the Wolfpack? That is what is getting sorted out now. The scenario is almost reminiscent of when guard Andrew Rowsey left North Carolina-Asheville and wanted the option of going to NC State. The 5-10, 180-pound Rowsey didn’t look the part, but had moxie and could stroke the deep ball with the best of them. NCSU ended up cancelling his official visit and he subsequently transferred to Marquette. Rowsey averaged 11.6 points in 20.8 minutes per game and shot 44.7 percent from three-point land to help Marquette reach the NCAA Tournament.
Beverly would provide further insurance against sophomore point guard Markell Johnson getting tripped up off the court, and one source said even with Beverly the pursuit of another point guard or combo guard would continue due to new coach Kevin Keatts “loving guards.”
Also factored in is the commitment of senior combo guard Jamie Lewis, who would play more off the ball than on it at NC State. Lewis needs a good and healthy month of July with adidas-sponsored Team Loaded NC traveling team, which is playing this weekend in Greensboro, N.C.
Lewis is transferring from Atlanta Westlake High to Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep, but one source didn’t think the ink was completely dry on that move. If he ends up at say Hargrave Military Academy, which has ties to up and down the Wolfpack coaching staff, then that will be a clear sign that they like what they viewed in July.
There obviously was one ripple of news this week with senior center target Ian Steere of High Point (N.C.) Wesleyan Christian picking Creighton on Thursday. NC State had offered both Steere and Immanuel Bates of Fayetteville (N.C.) Northwood Temple Academy this past Sunday. The offers showed the increased desire to land some big men in the class of 2018. NC State loses post players Lennard Freeman and Abdul-Malik Abu for sure, with both entering their senior seasons. Sophomore center Omer Yurtseven is always a threat to join the professional ranks, and sophomore power forward Darius Hicks has to show he can handle the rigors of the ACC after having a difficult freshman campaign.
Steere is more college-ready as a freshman, but some believe Bates has more long-range potential and would fit NC State’s style better. Bates is long at 6-foot-9 and a gifted shot-blocker, but will need to add at least 20 pounds and isn’t an instinctive offensive player. He has slowly gotten better each year and his recruitment has reflected that. He has started with small programs and then broke through when Virginia Tech and Clemson both offered July 30, 2016.
With not a lot of big men in the class of 2018, Bates has been a nice winner of supply and demand. Getting two out of Bates, High Point Wesleyan Christian power forward Jaylen Hoard and Concord (N.C.) Cannon School power forward Jairus Hamilton would make for a good start to landing at least three bigs in the class of 2018. Hoard, who will be at Peach Jam in a return from France, and Hamilton are both small ball power forwards at probably 6-7 or 6-8 on a good day. Hamilton wants to play on the perimeter, but he struggled with his outside shooting this spring.
Bates is strictly a center and the need of a second center could be influenced on what happens to Yurtseven. Speaking of Yurtseven, the Wolfpack haven’t given up on him playing in August on the Italy trip. Yurtseven though is heavily involved with playing for his country of Turkey this summer.
Center David McCormack of Norfolk, Va., will be pursued regardless of what Bates ends up doing. The 6-8, 265-pounder will be ready to go from day one in the ACC, and he is one of four players that NC State has offered from Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy. The other three include senior wing Keldon Johnson, junior shooting guard Josh Nickelberry and junior point guard Ashton Hagans.
•••
NC State has a tough decision looming on class of 2017 point guard Braxton Beverly. He was originally going to Miami (Ohio), but then thought he could do better and ditched the Red Hawks. His gamble on himself paid off and he signed with Ohio State. The Buckeyes then went through a coaching change and the arrival of A.W. Hamilton as an assistant coach at NC State has brought a perfect storm to where he could land in Raleigh. Hamilton coached Beverly this past season at Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy, and both of them are originally from Kentucky.
The big questions are whether Beverly is good enough and does he fill a key need for the Wolfpack? That is what is getting sorted out now. The scenario is almost reminiscent of when guard Andrew Rowsey left North Carolina-Asheville and wanted the option of going to NC State. The 5-10, 180-pound Rowsey didn’t look the part, but had moxie and could stroke the deep ball with the best of them. NCSU ended up cancelling his official visit and he subsequently transferred to Marquette. Rowsey averaged 11.6 points in 20.8 minutes per game and shot 44.7 percent from three-point land to help Marquette reach the NCAA Tournament.
Beverly would provide further insurance against sophomore point guard Markell Johnson getting tripped up off the court, and one source said even with Beverly the pursuit of another point guard or combo guard would continue due to new coach Kevin Keatts “loving guards.”
Also factored in is the commitment of senior combo guard Jamie Lewis, who would play more off the ball than on it at NC State. Lewis needs a good and healthy month of July with adidas-sponsored Team Loaded NC traveling team, which is playing this weekend in Greensboro, N.C.
Lewis is transferring from Atlanta Westlake High to Henderson (Nev.) Findlay Prep, but one source didn’t think the ink was completely dry on that move. If he ends up at say Hargrave Military Academy, which has ties to up and down the Wolfpack coaching staff, then that will be a clear sign that they like what they viewed in July.
