Inside 40 years of NC State basketball recruiting (part VII)

NC State basketball recruiting never had a dull moment after head coach Mark Gottfried took over in the spring of 2011.

From landing big names to some high profile misses to some late spring recruiting mixed in to fill out rosters, there was a little bit of everything.

The biggest recruiting victory proved to be when NC State topped North Carolina and Georgetown to land legacy recruit T.J. Warren in the class of 2012. Some veteran observers thought it was the first time NC State had defeated UNC on a recruit since David Thompson in the 1970s. Warren's career in Raleigh proved to be just two years, but he had a memorable one in getting his jersey honored.

Here is a look at NC State's recruiting classes from 2011-15.

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• Thomas De Thaey (6-8, 235, PF, Canarias Basketball Academy) From Dendermonde, Belgium

• Tyler Harris (6-7, 197, SF, Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict’s Prep) From Dix Hills, N.Y.

• Alex Johnson (5-10, 176, PG, Cal-State Bakersfield graduate transfer) From Toronto, Canada

• Jaqawn Raymond (6-3, 195, SG, Statesboro (Ga.) High)

Overview: The transition from head coach Sidney Lowe to Gottfried started with this class. Lowe signed Harris and Raymond, and Gottfried brought in De Thaey from Belgium and Johnson, who was the first graduate transfer the Wolfpack signed.

Of the four signees, Johnson had the most impact at NC State, playing a key bench role for a Sweet 16 squad. Harris and Raymond left after the season and De Thaey turned professional three games into his sophomore campaign.

Johnson played his first three years at Cal-State Bakersfield, where he averaged 9.3 points and 2.7 assists per game in 83 contests. He earned his degree and made the move to NC State, and he became a valuable reserve guard behind starters Lorenzo Brown and C.J. Williams. He averaged 4.4 points and 2.8 assists in 19.5 minutes per game in 37 contests. He shot 35.3 percent from three-point land for the Wolfpack.

Johnson has been playing minor league basketball since 2012, most often in the Canadian Basketball League.

Harris was the lone ranked recruit in the class. Rivals.com rated him No. 135 overall in the country. The younger brother of Tobias Harris of the Philadelphia 76ers, he had 35 points and 23 rebounds in 19 games played at NC State.

Harris transferred to Providence and then ended his career as a graduate transfer at Auburn. He averaged 10.8 points and 4.6 rebounds per game in 69 games at Providence.

Harris finished up playing for Bruce Pearl at Auburn. Pearl had coached Tobias Harris at Tennessee. Tyler Harris averaged 13.9 points and 7.7 rebounds per game in 30 contests for the Tigers. He played in the G-League following his college career.

Raymond verbally committed late in the spring to NC State, and Gottfried then signed him in April. He had just four points scored in 11 games for the Wolfpack.

He transferred to Middle Tennessee State, which had former NCSU star guard and assistant coach Monte Towe on the staff. Raymond averaged 6.5 points and 2.5 rebounds in 25.1 minutes per game at MTSU. He started 51 of the 104 games he played in, and notably he was part of the squad that upset No. 2 seed Michigan State 90-81 in the first round of the 2016 NCAA Tournament. He had 11 points in the win.

De Thaey, who Gottfried signed shortly after getting hired, had 38 points 28 rebounds in 22 career games at NC State. He played overseas — in his native Belgium from 2012-2017 — and most recently played for Leche Rio Breogan in Spain.

Interesting tidbits: Basketball was the Harris family business. Torrell Harris Sr. ended up having four of his six children attend college for free. Harris Sr. was a professional basketball agent that represented Hall of Famer George Gervin. Tobias Harris has become a star with the 76ers, and averaged 19.4 points and 6.8 rebounds this past season. Terry Harris finished playing at North Carolina A&T, and sister Tesia Harris played at St. John’s. NBA player Channing Frye is Tyler Harris’ first cousin … NC State had also signed center Joseph Uchebo out or Raleigh Word of God. The well-traveled native of Nigeria was ranked No. 96 overall in the class of 2011 by Rivals.com. However, he didn’t qualify academy, went to junior college, then played at Pittsburgh for two years and finished at Charlotte. He suffered a bad knee injury along the way, but still averaged 13.2 points and 11.5 rebounds per game for Charlotte in 2015-16 … Johnson had his proposal video go viral on YouTube.com after he got inspired by the movie “Love & Basketball.” It has over 6.5 million views.

• Tyler Lewis (5-11, 168, PG, Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy) From Statesville, N.C.

• Rodney Purvis (6-4, 195, SG, Raleigh Upper Room Christian)

• Ralston Turner (6-5, 209, SF, LSU transfer) From Muscle Shoals, Ala.

• T.J. Warren (6-8, 230, SF, Wolfeboro (N.H.) Brewster Academy) From Durham, N.C.

Overview: Maybe the most hyped class in NC State history was Gottfried’s first full one.

Warren, Purvis and Lewis were all McDonald’s All-American’s and highly regarded prep prospects. Rivals.com ranked Purvis at No. 12 overall in the country, Warren was at No. 17 and Lewis checked in at No. 48.

Gottfried also knew Turner from when he was in high school before Turner signed with LSU, and he became the first of several key transfers that Gottfried signed. Rivals.com ranked Turner at No. 142 overall in the class of 2010.

Warren was named to the ACC All-Freshman squad — 12.1 points and 4.2 rebounds a contest while shooting 62.2 percent, second highest in a season in school history — but then he lost 15 pounds and became the scoring whiz everyone had projected he’d be out of high school. The son of former NC State wing Tony Warren Sr., “Tony Buckets” became all the rage his sophomore year.

The Durham, N.C., native had a magical 2013-14 season, where he averaged 24.9 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, and he shot 52.5 percent from the field. He led the ACC in scoring, was seventh in rebounds per game, first in field-goal percentage and fourth in steals per game (2.0). His 24.9 points a contest his sophomore year ranked fifth all-time in school history for a single season, and his 871 points scored were the most ever by a Wolfpacker in one year.

Warren twice scored over 40 points in back-to-back games — 41 against Pittsburgh and 42 against Boston College. Virginia was the lone ACC team to hold him to single digits (four points). Warren powered NC State down the stretch to finish 9-6 and reach the NCAA Tournament, where the Wolfpack topped Xavier but then lost to Saint Louis.

Warren was a consensus second-team All-American and ACC player of the year for willing the Wolfpack into the NCAA Tournament. He went on to become the No. 14 overall pick to the Phoenix Suns in the 2014 NBA Draft.

He played his first five years with the Suns and then landed with the Indiana Pacers, who were coached by former NCSU star point guard Nate McMillan. He has averaged 15.2 point and 4.1 rebounds per contest in 322 career NBA games (226 starts).

Turner had averaged 10.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game in 60 contests at LSU. He shot 34.6 percent from three-point land, which he improved upon at NC State.

After redshirting in 2012-13, Turner became a solid starter for the Wolfpack. He averaged 11.7 points and 2.9 rebounds, and shot a respectable 36.9 percent from beyond the arc in Raleigh in his 72 games played (58 starts). His eight made threes against Tennessee was one off a school record, and his 94 treys as a senior is fourth most in one year for a NC State player.

Turner helped the Wolfpack reach the NCAA Tournament in 2013-14, and was the second-leading scorer on the Sweet 16 squad of 2014-15. He tried his hand at the G-League and overseas until retiring in 2017.

The pass-first Lewis averaged 3.9 points and 2.6 assists per game in 70 career contests at NC State (20 starts). He transferred to Butler and started 39 out of 63 games with the Bulldogs. He averaged 6.3 points and 3.5 assists per contest there.

Purvis played one year for NC State before transferring to UConn. He averaged 8.3 points and 2.4 rebounds per game in Raleigh, and he shot 44.2 percent from the field and 38.5 percent on three-pointers. Purvis started 23 of the 35 games he played for NC State.

For the Huskies, Purvis averaged 12.8 points and 3.2 rebounds per game in 102 contests (77 starts). Purvis played in the G-League, but found a way to make the roster of the Orlando Magic in 2017-18. He averaged 6.0 points in 16 games played. He signed with Pallacanestro Cantu of the Italian League in late February.

Interesting tidbits: The original plan for NC State was to take a different wing from Durham. NC State landed Torian Graham not once, but twice during that recruiting cycle, but he didn’t qualify academically for college. Graham ended up making stops at a junior college, Houston, Buffalo and Arizona State. He averaged 18.6 points per game for the Sun Devils in 2016-17 … Lewis is the director of operations at Elon, after handling the video operations at East Carolina in 2018-19. He also was the director of recruiting at Furman in 2017-18.

• BeeJay Anya (6-8, 270, C, Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic)

• Anthony “Cat” Barber (6-1, 160, PG, Hampton (Va.) High)

• Lennard Freeman (6-7, 210, PF, Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy) From Washington, D.C.

• Trevor Lacey (6-3, 210, SG, Alabama transfer) From Huntsville, Ala.

• Desmond Lee (6-4, 185, SG, New Mexico J.C. in Hobbs, N.M.) From Norfolk, Va.

• Kyle Washington (6-8, 215, PF, Wolfeboro (N.H.) Brewster Academy) From Champlin, Minn.

Overview: Because of the size of the class of 2009, the Wolfpack knew the class of 2013 would also have to be a large one.

Rivals.com ranked Barber at No. 27 overall in the country and he earned a spot in the McDonald’s All-American Game. Anya was ranked No. 58, Washington was No. 93 and Lacey was a five-star prospect in the class of 2011.

Lacey was ranked No. 24 nationally and picked Alabama before transferring to NC State after two years. Gottfried didn’t coach Lacey at Alabama, but had a previous recruiting relationship with the first-team Parade Magazine All-American. Lacey had averaged 9.4 points and 2.5 assists a contest in 69 games (51 starts) at Alabama.

He ended up playing only one season at NC State, but it was an exciting one. The Lacey-Barber backcourt reached the Sweet 16 in 2014-15. Lacey averaged 15.7 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. He started all 35 contests and shot 43.6 percent from the field and 39.2 percent on three-pointers.

Lacey was named second-team All-ACC and he was sixth in the league in points per game. He elected to turn professional with one year of eligibility remaining, but went undrafted. He has played overseas from 2015-19, but was in the G-League this past season.

Landing Barber over Kansas and Louisville was a significant recruiting victory. He was up-and-down his first two years, but was turned loose as a junior, which proved to be his last season in Raleigh.

The scoring whiz led the ACC with 23.5 points per game that season, and also added 4.6 rebounds and 4.5 assists. He shot 36.1 percent on three-pointers and 86.5 percent at the free-throw line.

Barber was named first-team All-ACC for his efforts, and he also led the league in minutes played, free throws made (237) and was second in free-throw percentage.

He finished his three-year career ranked No. 17 in points (1,507) at NC State and ninth in assists (403). His 23.5 points a contest his junior year ranked eighth all-time in school history for a single season.

Barber started 84 out of the 104 games he played in, and averaged 14.5 points and 3.9 assists per game. He went undrafted, but has been playing in the G-League ever since 2016, with a few brief stints overseas mixed in.

Freeman was signed in the spring to give the Wolfpack three post players in the class. He had played with Anya on Team Takeover traveling team. The Washington, D.C., native ended spending five years at NC State due to a season-ending shin injury in 2016-2017, when he redshirted.

The glue guy finished with 635 career points (4.7 per game) and 704 rebounds (5.2 per contest), and he shot 54.5 percent from the field in 136 career games (59 starts).

Freeman had his most productive season as a fifth-year senior, averaging 7.9 points and 5.2 rebounds a contest and shooting 65.1 percent from the field in 2017-18 under new head coach Kevin Keatts. He finished second in the ACC for field-goal percentage that season, and had he made 100 to qualify it would have been the highest mark in school history.

Anya revived the Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic tradition at NC State. However, his play in Raleigh often fluctuated with his weight.

The gifted shot-blocker used his 7-foot-9 wingspan to rewrite the NCSU record book. He became the all-time leader in blocks (243) at NC State, including having a school-record 10 in a game against Jacksonville on Nov. 20, 2014.

Anya had 91 blocks his sophomore year, which ranks third all-time for a single season. He led the ACC in blocks per game that season (2.5), and was named to the ACC All-Defense squad and earned league sixth man of the year award for his efforts.

Anya averaged 3.6 points, 3.6 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game in his NC State career. He started 38 out of 129 games he played in and shot 58.3 percent from the field. He remained raw on offense, but he’ll always have his memorable game-winning hook in the lane to top LSU in the first round of the NCAA Tournament on March 19, 2015.

Trying to keep Anya, Freeman and Washington all happy proved to be a tough task. Washington lost his starting job to Freeman his sophomore year and transferred to Cincinnati.

Washington averaged 5.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 70 career games (43 starts) while at NC State.

After he redshirted in 2015-16, Washington went on to average 12.1 points, 6.1 rebounds and 1.3 blocks per game at Cincinnati, where he started 69 out of 72 contests played. He shot 50.7 percent from the field and 72.3 percent at the free-throw line, and made 35 of 98 three-pointers in his two years with the Bearcats.

Lee, who played high school ball with former NCSU center DeShawn Painter, was brought in during the spring to replace Purvis. Lee started 19 out of 36 games he played in his junior year and averaged 8.4 points per game. He lost his job the next year when Lacey became eligible and struggled to find his niche.

Lee finished his two-year career averaging 6.0 points and 2.1 rebounds in 17.0 minutes a contest at NC State.

Interesting tidbits: Barber owned one of the more famous prep scoring records, but there was often confusion on who he defeated to earn it. The former Hampton High star broke the Peninsula District scoring mark, which was held by former Wake Forest guard Tony Rutland. Instead, it was often stated that Barber broke the mark set by legendary Hampton Bethel superstar Allen Iverson. The latter might have set the record, but he infamously missed his senior year after a brawl at a bowling alley. Barber finished his prep career with 2,097 career points.

• Abdul-Malik Abu (6-8, 233, PF, Meriden (N.H.) Kimball Union Academy); From Boston, Mass.

• Terry Henderson (6-4, 200, SG, West Virginia transfer); From Raleigh Neuse Christian

• Caleb Martin (6-6, 183, SG, Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy); From Mocksville (N.C.) Davie County

• Cody Martin (6-6, 198, SF, Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy); From Mocksville (N.C.) Davie County

Overview: NC State did a textbook job of landing twin brothers Caleb Martin and Cody Martin while they played at Davie County. The addition of Abu was crucial because it showed that the Gottfried staff could recruit semi-national.

Rivals.com ranked Abu the No. 45 overall player in the country, while Caleb Martin was at No. 60 and Cody Martin at No. 81.

Abu was the lone member of the recruiting class to play for both Gottfried and Keatts at NC State. Abu looked like a future NBA Draft prospect during his younger days with the Wolfpack. He averaged a career-high 12.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game, and he shot 49.0 percent from the field as a sophomore. He finished fifth in the ACC in rebounds.

Abu tailed off and by his senior year under Keatts, he lost his starting spot. He fell to 5.2 points and 3.4 rebounds in 14.9 minutes per game. Abu started just 14 of 27 contests in 2017-18.

He finished his Wolfpack career with 9.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game, and he shot 49.5 percent from the field. Abu started 100 out of 128 games he played in, and he finished 13th in school history with 776 boards and 43rd in career points (1,174). He signed with Sporting CP of the Portuguese League this past year.

Abu ended up playing all four years at NC State, but the Martin twins did not. Caleb and Cody transferred to Nevada to play under coach Eric Musselman and it ended up working out great for both of them, but especially Cody.

Cody Martin averaged 5.1 points and 3.5 rebounds in 52 career games (19 starts) at NC State. Playing in the Mountain West Conference for two years, Martin’s game improved by leaps and bounds. He averaged 13.1 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.8 assists per game in his two years at Nevada.

Cody Martin parlayed his college success into being the No. 36 overall pick in the second round to the Charlotte Hornets in the 2019 NBA Draft. He averaged 5.0 points and 3.3 rebounds per game for the Hornets.

Caleb Martin averaged 8.0 points and 3.7 rebounds per game, and shot 34.6 percent from three-point land during his two years at NC State. At Nevada, he became the 2017-18 MWC Player of the Year, and he was named to the All-Defense squad and first-team All-Conference in 2018-19. His reoccurring foot injury affected him some his senior year.

Martin averaged 19.1 points and 5.3 rebounds per game during his two years at Nevada. He went undrafted, but managed to also land with the Hornets. He played 18 games with the Hornets and also was with the Greensboro Swarm in the G-League. He averaged 6.2 points and shot 54.1 percent from three-point land with the Hornets.

Henderson played his first two years at West Virginia, but then elected to come back home for college.

In two years at WVU, Henderson averaged 9.8 points and 2.7 rebounds per game his and shot 38.7 percent from three-point land. He picked NC State over Maryland, but only got to essentially play one year with the Wolfpack.

Henderson got hurt seven minutes into the season opener against William & Mary after his redshirt season. The NCAA later denied Henderson a sixth year of eligibility.

As a senior, Henderson averaged 13.8 points and 3.1 rebounds a contest in 2016-17, his lone healthy season in his hometown. He shot 43.3 percent from the field and 38.4 percent from beyond the three-point arc.

Henderson played with the Martin twins at times in the G-League with the Greensboro Swarm. He also had a stint in Italy in 2018-19.

Interesting tidbits: The Martin twins continued a trend of prep teammates playing together at NC State. They were the first since Scott Wood and Julius Mays came out a year apart at Marion (Ind.) High. Henderson also had a connection to NC State through T.J. Warren. Henderson and Warren were close friends and teammates with Garner Road traveling team.

• Torin Dorn (6-5, 210, SF, Charlotte transfer) From Charlotte, N.C.

• Shaun Kirk (6-6, 185, SF, Whiteville (N.C.) High)

• Maverick Rowan (6-5, 180, SF, Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons)

Overview: NC State was in scramble mode during the spring and summer to complete the class of 2015.

Kirk went from athletic sleeper to having NC State and Kentucky battle for him after he played well in two tournaments with Team Loaded NC traveling team. Dorn played his freshman year at Charlotte, and ended up picking NC State over Miami that spring.

Rowan, who originally committed to Pittsburgh in the class of 2016, decommitted and picked NCSU over North Carolina, St. John’s, Louisville and West Virginia on Aug. 2, 2015. Rivals.com had him as a four-star prospect, and he was considered a consensus top 100 player.

Dorn easily had the best career of the three signees, playing his best ball as a fifth-year senior. He played his last two years under Keatts, and found a niche as a small ball power forward.

Dorn averaged 12.5 points and 6.1 rebounds a contest, and shot 50.3 percent from the field and 32.4 percent on three-pointers for the Wolfpack. He started 85 out of the 101 games he played in Raleigh.

He was pretty consistent in his college career, and also averaged 12.0 points and 3.7 rebounds a contest in 32 games at Charlotte. Dorn signed with Slask Wroclaw in Poland after his college days ended.

Rowan came in firing during his two years at NC State. He averaged 12.5 points and 3.3 rebounds a contest in 58 games (48 starts) with the Wolfpack. He shot just 38.7 percent from the field, and 34.5 percent on three-pointers. Rowan finished going 134 of 388 from beyond the arc. He owns the school record for threes attempted in a game (18), and attempted the second most threes in a season (241 in 2015-16). His career-best eight threes against Syracuse as a sophomore was one off a school record.

Rowan turned pro with two years of eligibility remaining, and he’s mostly played in the G-League. He was with St. John’s Edge of the NBL Canada this past year.

Kirk was an electric athlete but struggled to find his niche in his 2-plus years at NC State. He finished with 46 points and 35 rebounds in 33 games with the Wolfpack. He transferred to North Carolina-Pembroke and got his academics in order. He finished his college career this past season playing with his younger brother Tyrell Kirk. Shaun Kirk averaged 7.3 points and 2.7 rebounds for UNCP, coming off the bench in 28 out of 29 contests.

Interesting tidbits: Rowan’s dad Ron had a 10-day contract with the Portland Trail Blazers in 1987, but the former St. John’s player played professionally from 1986-01, with the majority of his career overseas … Dorn’s father also played professional ball, but in football. He was the No. 95 overall pick in the 1990 NFL Draft to the Los Angeles Raiders after playing at North Carolina. Between his time with the Raiders and St. Louis Rams, he had three interceptions in 84 games played. Dorn’s younger brother Myles Dorn played safety the last four years for UNC. He signed with the Minnesota Vikings as an undrafted free agent following the NFL Draft.

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