NC State junior PF Ernest Ross departs program
NC State junior power forward Ernest Ross first announced his intention to enter the transfer portal April 8, but he needed some time to mull over his decision.
Ross officially entered the transfer portal Wednesday, giving the Wolfpack at least three scholarships to use in building their 2024-25 roster. NC State has loss Ross and guards L.J. Thomas and Kam Woods to the transfer portal.
Ross’ departure leaves NC State with three post players in rising seniors Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, a Louisville transfer, along with Mohamed Diarra and Ben Middlebrooks. Dennis Parker also played small ball during his freshman campaign.
Ross was ranked in the top 50 nationally when he picked NC State in the class of 2021 out of Alachua (Fla.) Sante Fe High. Ross ended up ranked No. 89 by Rivals.com and picked NC State almost a month after he was offered April 26, 2020. Florida, LSU, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, South Florida, Virginia Tech, Texas A&M and Xavier were also in the mix.
Ross averaged 16.0 points, 9.0 rebounds and 3.0 blocks per game for Santa Fe High his junior year of high school. He followed up his senior year to average 17.9 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game.
The 6-foot-9, 200-pound Ross proved to be raw, but athletic when he arrived at NC State, and suffered a season-ending injury Jan. 12, 2021. He was in the rotation his sophomore year, but fell out of it this past season. He had four points scored in 14 games played.
Ross had a pair of quality games in 2022-23 — coming alive for 17 points and nine rebounds in a 83-81 win over Miami (Fla.) on Jan. 14, 2023, and he also had 16 points and seven boards in a 72-64 win over Georgia Tech on Feb. 4.
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