NC State doesn't normally bring in players mid-semester, but the enticing talent of center Isaiah Miranda combined with having a scholarship available led to the Wolfpack signing.
Miranda, who has previously declared for the NBA Draft without formally hiring an agent, has also entered the NCAA transfer portal Tuesday. The departure has been expected for weeks, with the Wolfpack landing post players Mohamed Diarra from Missouri and Ben Middlebrooks from Clemson. Miranda's formal declaration to enter the portal frees up a scholarship to land a point guard transfer for the last spot on the roster.
The 7-foot-1, 225-pounder from Pawtucket, R.I., became eligible for the Vanderbilt game Dec. 17 in Chicago, but it became clear that Miranda wasn't going to be ready.
As weeks went by, and even the eventual season-ending injury to Dusan Mahorcic, Miranda was headed for a redshirt year. The God-given ability was evident, but the adjustment to college basketball proved too difficult.
Now, with his departure, Miranda joins the likes of Sacha Killeya-Jones, Jalen Lecque and Josh Hall as top 50 players who signed with NC State, but never played a minute. Killeya-Jones was dismissed from the team during his redshirt year, and Lecque and Hall entered the NBA Draft after a post-graduate year.
Rivals.com ranked Miranda the No. 30 overall player in the country in the class of 2022. He picked up at least 20 offers in the recruiting process. He played last year at Springfield (Mass.) Commonwealth High, and then was expected to play as a post-graduate at Southern California Academy in Santa Clarita, Calif. He averaged 20 points and 12 rebounds per game a year ago.
Miranda narrowed his list to UCLA, USC, Oregon, Rhode Island, Louisville, Georgetown, Connecticut and Texas on Sept. 2. The only school he has officially visited was the Cardinals.
Despite those odds, assistant coach Joel Justus and head coach Kevin Keatts kept trying. He ended up picking the Wolfpack in early December.
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