We’ve been saying for several weeks now that Jericole Hellems of St. Louis (Mo.) Chaminade was favoring NC State and South Carolina and the only question was would other colleges join the recruiting party. Florida was rumored to be working hard for an official visit, but that never came to fruition.
What was different about Hellems’ recruitment was his timing. He officially visited NC State the last weekend of August and then checked out South Carolina during mid-September. Normally after a last visit, players make a decision, but in Hellems’ case, he waited another five weeks to sort through things and never visited a third school.
Hellems’ mother informed The Wolfpacker this morning that he will announce on his Twitter handle at 6 p.m. ET tonight. NC State will utilize the 6-7, 200-pound Hellems as a small ball power forward, giving them something different from senior center commits Ian Steere and Immanuel Bates of Fayetteville (N.C.) Northwood Temple Academy. Both Bates and Steere will be attending NCSU’s Primetime With The Pack tonight at Reynolds Coliseum.
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts and assistant coach Takayo Siddle have been working Hellems tirelessly since watching him play at the Nike Peach Jam in mid-July, where he blossomed from a mid-major recruiting target to a high major priority. At least 14 colleges offered him after Peach Jam.
Hellems dominated the week in North Augusta, S.C. He erupted for 22.4 points and seven rebounds per game, and shot 56.7 percent from the field and 50 percent on three-pointers (16 of 32), in seven contests at the Nike Peach Jam. It proved to be a huge jump from when he averaged 8.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in 16 regular season Nike Elite Youth Basketball League games.
The Wolfpacker also watched Hellems play in both April and July and saw the glaring difference in his development. Our post on July 14:
“Another guy NC State could start revving things up with is senior power forward Jericole Hellems of St. Louis (Mo.) Chaminade. He’s an undersized four at 6-7 and 195 pounds, but is athletic and having one hellacious week at Nike Peach Jam.”
Hellems came back down to earth during the next two evaluation periods, but his play at Peach Jam showed what he could be one day. Then it became a matter of when, not if, NC State would offer and it did on July 19.
Rivals.com moved him from unranked to No. 99 overall in the country in the class of 2018, and he could easily improve upon that with some added consistency to his game. Playing well on defense and with energy could be his immediate calling card during his freshman year of college.
NC State has already offered one of Hellems’ teammates on Bradley Beal Elite traveling team, junior center Francis Okoro, who is a big, strong low-post threat. There have been some rumblings about Okoro moving from the class of 2019 to 2018, but he is currently ranked No. 26 overall by Rivals.com in the class of 2019.
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NC State would technically have one scholarship available should Hellems selects the Wolfpack as expected. The way the coaches are recruiting, one could induce that it would take another three players between the class of 2018 or transfers in the spring, if they were the correct players. The Wolfpack could possibly be expecting sophomore center Omer Yurtseven to turn professional and likely to lose at least one other player to transfer. The coaches will have a good handle on available scholarships well before the April signing period.
In terms of the November signing period, Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy senior shooting guard Keldon Johnson and Washington (D.C.) Sidwell Friends senior small forward Saddiq Bey remain on the board. Keatts and assistant coach A.W. Hamilton went to see Johnson on Thursday night in the Mt. Airy, N.C., area for a scrimmage against Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy, where both Wolfpack coaches were head coaches at one point.
NCSU would have loved to have gained traction with four-star point guard Elijah Weaver of Oldsmar (Fla.) Christian, but Weaver is picking a college Monday and the Wolfpack appear to have run out of time on that one. Weaver visited USC, Florida, Oklahoma State and Ohio State, and the Trojans were the heavy favorite but have been ensnared in the FBI investigation, as has Oklahoma State. Ohio State perhaps filled up already and Weaver doesn’t seem all that interested in Florida. So, if there was ever a recruit that new/old schools could jump back in on, it had appeared to be him. However, Weaver is ready to choose before NC State and others could make a move.
What was different about Hellems’ recruitment was his timing. He officially visited NC State the last weekend of August and then checked out South Carolina during mid-September. Normally after a last visit, players make a decision, but in Hellems’ case, he waited another five weeks to sort through things and never visited a third school.
Hellems’ mother informed The Wolfpacker this morning that he will announce on his Twitter handle at 6 p.m. ET tonight. NC State will utilize the 6-7, 200-pound Hellems as a small ball power forward, giving them something different from senior center commits Ian Steere and Immanuel Bates of Fayetteville (N.C.) Northwood Temple Academy. Both Bates and Steere will be attending NCSU’s Primetime With The Pack tonight at Reynolds Coliseum.
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts and assistant coach Takayo Siddle have been working Hellems tirelessly since watching him play at the Nike Peach Jam in mid-July, where he blossomed from a mid-major recruiting target to a high major priority. At least 14 colleges offered him after Peach Jam.
Hellems dominated the week in North Augusta, S.C. He erupted for 22.4 points and seven rebounds per game, and shot 56.7 percent from the field and 50 percent on three-pointers (16 of 32), in seven contests at the Nike Peach Jam. It proved to be a huge jump from when he averaged 8.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game in 16 regular season Nike Elite Youth Basketball League games.
The Wolfpacker also watched Hellems play in both April and July and saw the glaring difference in his development. Our post on July 14:
“Another guy NC State could start revving things up with is senior power forward Jericole Hellems of St. Louis (Mo.) Chaminade. He’s an undersized four at 6-7 and 195 pounds, but is athletic and having one hellacious week at Nike Peach Jam.”
Hellems came back down to earth during the next two evaluation periods, but his play at Peach Jam showed what he could be one day. Then it became a matter of when, not if, NC State would offer and it did on July 19.
Rivals.com moved him from unranked to No. 99 overall in the country in the class of 2018, and he could easily improve upon that with some added consistency to his game. Playing well on defense and with energy could be his immediate calling card during his freshman year of college.
NC State has already offered one of Hellems’ teammates on Bradley Beal Elite traveling team, junior center Francis Okoro, who is a big, strong low-post threat. There have been some rumblings about Okoro moving from the class of 2019 to 2018, but he is currently ranked No. 26 overall by Rivals.com in the class of 2019.
***
NC State would technically have one scholarship available should Hellems selects the Wolfpack as expected. The way the coaches are recruiting, one could induce that it would take another three players between the class of 2018 or transfers in the spring, if they were the correct players. The Wolfpack could possibly be expecting sophomore center Omer Yurtseven to turn professional and likely to lose at least one other player to transfer. The coaches will have a good handle on available scholarships well before the April signing period.
In terms of the November signing period, Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy senior shooting guard Keldon Johnson and Washington (D.C.) Sidwell Friends senior small forward Saddiq Bey remain on the board. Keatts and assistant coach A.W. Hamilton went to see Johnson on Thursday night in the Mt. Airy, N.C., area for a scrimmage against Chatham (Va.) Hargrave Military Academy, where both Wolfpack coaches were head coaches at one point.
NCSU would have loved to have gained traction with four-star point guard Elijah Weaver of Oldsmar (Fla.) Christian, but Weaver is picking a college Monday and the Wolfpack appear to have run out of time on that one. Weaver visited USC, Florida, Oklahoma State and Ohio State, and the Trojans were the heavy favorite but have been ensnared in the FBI investigation, as has Oklahoma State. Ohio State perhaps filled up already and Weaver doesn’t seem all that interested in Florida. So, if there was ever a recruit that new/old schools could jump back in on, it had appeared to be him. However, Weaver is ready to choose before NC State and others could make a move.
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