11/2/2017 basketball Edit

NC State loads up with addition of four-star Saddiq Bey

Jacey Zembal • TheWolfpackCentral

Writer

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Washington (D.C.) Sidwell Friends senior small forward Saddiq Bey verbally committed to NC State on Thursday. (Rivals.com)

Senior Saddiq Bey became the fourth Rivals.com four-star senior prospect to pick NC State last Thursday.

Bey chose NC State over Xavier, Pittsburgh and Miami. The Washington (D.C.) Sidwell Friends School small forward joins Fayetteville (N.C.) Northwood Temple Academy senior post players Immanuel Bates and Ian Steere, and St. Louis (Mo.) Chaminade Prep senior forward Jericole Hellems, in the Wolfpack’s class of 2018.

Additionally, NCSU has junior shooting guard transfer C.J. Bryce (UNC Wilmington), sophomore small forward transfer Devon Daniels (Utah) and freshman point guard transfer Braxton Beverly (Ohio State) sitting out this season and redshirting per NCAA rules.

The 6-foot-7, 200-pound Bey, who has a 6-10 wingspan, is ranked No. 101 overall in the country by Rivals.com. He started his recruiting relationship with NC State by taking an unofficial visit to campus June 30 and then returned for an official visit Thursday through Saturday when NC State hosted Louisville in football Oct. 5.

Bey was able to make the trip with his mother and step-father, and some from his father’s side of the family resides in the state of North Carolina.

“I have always been interested in them,” said Bey in a previous interview. “I definitely got my questions answered. My family enjoyed it, and they had a lot of their questions answered regarding the school. They really like the school, and it was good for them too.”

NCSU assistant coach A.W. Hamilton is the point man on Bey, and helped lock in the previous visits. The Wolfpack coaches first noticed Bey during the April evaluation period, while he was playing for D.C. Premier in the Under Armour Association. Director of operations Thomas Carr was able to watch Bey in the New York City area during the first evaluation periods in April.

Bey’s performance during the spring helped make him a hot commodity and moved him into the national rankings. He averaged 12.9 points and 5.6 rebounds per game in 16 Under Armour Association games, and shot 50 percent from the field and an impressive 44.8 percent on three-pointers.

As a junior at Sidwell Friends, Bey averaged 14.2 points per game and held lead his team to a conference title. He arrived at Sidwell as a 5-9 freshman and has grown nine inches since then. Bey averaged 4.0 points and 2.7 rebounds per game and shot 33.3 percent from the field (12 of 36) at the NBPA Camp on June 14-17 at the University of Virginia.

Bey’s commitment leaves NC State out of scholarships available for the class of 2018, but the Wolfpack is expecting attrition. NCSU will find out in the next two weeks on Mouth of Wilson (Va.) Oak Hill Academy five-star shooting guard Keldon Johnson, and possibly try to nail down a commitment from former Ohio State power forward Derek Funderburk, who is a redshirt freshman at Northwest Florida State College in Niceville, Fla.