CHARLOTTE — NC State coach Kevin Keatts will be incorporating six new players, and it could be even more this season.
Six newcomers will play for sure, and the door has been opened a bit for Kansas transfer forward MJ Rice to possibly rejoin the team.The coaches will await to see if North Carolina A&T transfer guard Kam Woods can get an NCAA waiver. Woods has previously played at Troy and Aggies prior to arriving at NC State.
“The scary thing is that I’m comfortable with it,” said Keatts on rehabbing the roster with transfers. “Do I want to bring in seven guys from the NCAA transfer portal? Absolutely not. I think it is an exciting time.”
Keatts sees a trend where more guys from the prep ranks end up at strong mid-major programs, as high major schools take transfers.
“So many guys define how good they are by playing Power Five, instead of going to places they can play,” Keatts said.
NC State will be looking for a new leading scorer for the 10th straight season, including each year of Keatts’ tenure. The last time a player was the back-to-back leading scorer was C.J. Leslie in 2011-12 and 2012-13.
Shooting guard Terquavion Smith led the Wolfpack in scoring last year with 17.9 points per game, but gave up his last two years of eligibility to turn professional. He went undrafted but is part of the Philadelphia 76ers this season, giving NC State three NBA players — Dennis Smith (Brooklyn Nets) and Dereon Seabron (New Orleans Pelicans).
Senior center DJ Burns returns at 12.5 points per game, and senior wing Casey Morsell averaged 12.5 per contest last year for the Wolfpack.
“Maybe he [Burns] can be the leading scorer or guy who's leading or Casey Morsell,” Keatts said. “It's an opportunity. In today's world, you're going to lose some really good basketball players, and you've got to figure out what you're going to do.”
Butler junior guard transfer Jayden Taylor averaged 12.9 points per game last year, the most of the transfers, if Woods isn’t in the mix.
To work on team chemistry, the players and coaches have tried to practice at PNC Arena on days NC State has a home football game and then tailgate together. The Wolfpack also went on a trip to Wilmington, N.C., for some fun.
Last year, the team had an overseas trip, so it was easier to incorporate newcomers a year ago. NCAA rules don’t allow overseas trips each offseason. Keatts said he played his entire roster sans Burns against Georgia in the Wolfpack's "secret scrimmage."
NC State has key roles to fill at power forward and point guard this season. Freshman Dennis Parker and Missouri junior transfer Mohamed Diarra are options at power forward.
“There are moments he [Parker] looks like a freshman, but more often, he looks like he belongs,” Keatts said. “He’s energetic, can run the floor and play multiple positions. He could be a really good defender.”
Keatts sees the point guard spot “by committee.” Stanford junior transfer Michael O’Connell was brought in to help solidify the spot.
"One of my committee [players] at point guard will be D.J. Burns," Keatts half-joked. "Someone else will dribble the ball up and he'll post up way beyond the three-point line and he'll find someone cutting. I'm not going into the season thinking anybody will play 35 minutes a game."
Rice was a prolific scorer in high school but it didn’t work out at Kansas. He hasn’t been on the Wolfpack team since perhaps late August. Keatts said he is starting the process of returning to NC State.
“MJ is back working out with our strength coach, Pat Murphy, and trying to get him into some type of basketball shape. Certainly, you've seen him multiple times and he can play multiple positions. He's physical and can defend and everything else, so it would be very good to have him back into the rotation. There's no timetable.”
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