CHARLOTTE — NC State senior point guard Jarkel Joiner never seriously looked at any other college after entering his name in the transfer portal.
Joiner had a clear plan after announcing his departure from Ole Miss. Sure, a few other colleges reached out in the beginning, but he let them know he wanted to pick a destination soon, and that was going to be NC State.
Why? Because of new NCSU assistant coach Levi Watkins. The two had been together at Ole Miss since 2019, and both sides needed to be at NC State. Watkins got the chance to come home to his alma mater, and Joiner found a spot that was desperate to land a starting point guard.
“Once I came on my visit, it was a wrap,” said Joiner, 23. “Once I visited, it was a done deal. Schools reached out and I told that I’d be making a decision soon.
“I love Coach Levi. I put my faith in Coach Levi. He’s a great dude and I trust him with my life.”
NC State coach Kevin Keatts half-joked that he would have forgiven Watkins if he didn’t land Joiner. The portal can be an unpredictable situation.
“I was just happy to get Levi back and he just happened to have a heck of a former player,” Keatts said. “He [Joiner] had Power Five experience."
Joiner has had a loquacious personality with his new Wolfpack teammates.
“I want him to be a leader,” Keatts said. “I am asking him to be a leader. He talks all the time. If you are going to be a guy that talks all the time, he has to be a leader. He has a tremendous personality.”
Joiner grew up in Oxford, Miss., and then signed with Cal-State Bakersfield, which was coached by former Ole Miss coach Rod Barnes. Joiner’s dad actually cut Barnes’ hair in town.
Joiner had two successful seasons, including averaging 15.6 points per game his sophomore year in 2018-19. He made the move back to Ole Miss and walked-on while sitting out as a transfer. The transfer rules were different in 2019-20.
Joiner made an immediate impact with the Rivers his first year, and was enjoying success his fifth year of college, but was limited to 22 games due to injury. Somehow, the personalities of Joiner and Watkins meshed, despite growing up in different parts of the country — Watkins is from the DMV and a proud Baltimore Ravens fan.
“We clicked and we talked stuff to each other all the time,” Joiner said. “He’s a great man and a great father figure. I still see the DMV in him all the time.”
The two became close enough where Joiner doesn’t even hesitate in knowing San Antonio Spurts legend Tim Duncan was Watkins’ favorite player, though he joked he sees no similarities between the two. He also heard some other stories of the 6-8 Watkins from his playing days.
“He says he can dunk, but I haven’t seen him dunk,” Joiner said. “I heard he was really good. I always joke with him about Chris Bosh. Chris Bosh killed him (he had 40 points and 34 rebounds in three meetings against NC State in 2002-2003). He don’t want to bring that up, but I tell him that every day.
“I always tell him he’s so old that he played with David Robinson [of the Spurs]. But he always call he old.”
Joiner said Watkins isn’t going to sing or dance or crack jokes, but he has a non-serious side to him even if he doesn’t always show it.
“It’s every day, and Coach Keatts doesn’t know this, but at Ole Miss, I’d be on the sideline and I’d just go tap him and he’d be like, ‘I’ll knock you out,’” Joiner said. “It’s an every day story with him. He’s always go something to say and he’s funny.”
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