NC State has brought in eight newcomers, so having options won’t be an issue in finding a point guard and power forward.
The real work will come in learning which player at those two positions will emerge and take ownership of it, otherwise it will be by committee for coach Kevin Keatts.
“I think the staff has done a tremendous job of hitting the transfer portal, which we knew we had to do,” Keatts said. “I like our team. We are knew, but the advantage of this team is that they are new and are coming in as sponges and are excited.”
There are different ways of building rosters, and Keatts has preferred what some have dubbed Noah’s Arc — two of everything. He feels the Wolfpack have achieved that.
“I think we possibly have 10 guys that we can put into the game,” Keatts said. “For the first time in a long time, we have two point guards, two shooting guards, two small forwards, two power forwards and two centers. We have a lot of interchangeable parts that can play different positions.”
The point guard options included Stanford point guard transfer Michael O’Connell, sophomore L.J. Thomas and junior Breon Pass. Keatts said he could also see Arizona State senior transfer D.J. Horne getting a small dose of time running the team. The one X-factor is if North Carolina A&T transfer Kam Woods gets a waiver from the NCAA as a multi-time transfer.
O’Connell averaged 5.2 points and 3.1 assists in 25.7 minutes for Stanford last year.
“I think it is a lot of competition,” Keatts said. “You have Michael O’Connell who has played a lot of basketball at a Power Five, who can obviously play the point.
“We have a lot of options, but I don’t know who we will go ultimately in the end.”
Horne is more of a scorer with 12.5 points and 2.4 assists per game, but also had 48 turnovers while playing off the ball at times for Arizona State.
“D.J. Horne is in the same situation, but he’s been more of a combo guard,” Keatts said. “His assist-to-turnover ratio was not great, but he makes every big pass and big play that he needs to. We will run the offense through him at times. I do think he scores. He’s different.”
The power forward situation is more fluid. Exiting the spring, Kansas sophomore transfer M.J. Rice was hoped to be the small ball four, and getting compared to past players like Torin Dorn and Jericole Hellems who handled the role. However, Rice has temporarily left the squad, and that will make the battle for minutes fascinating among possibly three of four players.
Junior Ernest Ross returns, but he’ll be joined in the competition by Missouri junior transfer Mohamed Diarra and freshman Dennis Parker.
Keatts was pretty effusive with his praise of Diarra and Parker and what they’ve achieved this summer. Parker has quickly acclimated to college and play either small forward or small ball power forward.
“What makes Dennis Parker unique is that he plays hard,” Keatts said. “The hardest playing team typically gives us the best chance to win. He won’t put you in the mindset that he’s a freshman. I’m excited about him as a freshman.”
The 6-10, 215-pound Diarra played his first two years at junior college, and the native of Paris, France, landed at Missouri last year. He averaged 3.2 points and 3.3 rebounds in 11.8 minutes per game for the Tigers last year.
“He has been a complete player from the summer until now,” Diarra said. “He’s been really good. Talented, rebounds the basketball, can step out and shoot it and handles the ball on the break. He thinks he is a point guard, but I know he is not.”
Keatts even expects Clemson post player Ben Middlebrooks able to play some minutes, so between Diarra and Middlebrooks, the Wolfpack could use a “bigger” lineup. Keatts said the last time he deployed that was when Manny Bates and Derek Funderburk played together in 2020-21.
“We could play big,” Keatts said. “I love what Mohamed is bringing and what Ben brings. You could have the opportunity to play M.J. also.”
Keatts purposely elected to not elaborate on Rice’s situation too much, which has no time-table for clarity. Rice was a McDonald’s All-American from Henderson, N.C.
“We do not have a time,” Keatts said. “If you go back to his statement, he’s off for personal reasons. It will be on M.J. on when he decides to come back.”
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