The loss of junior post player Sacha Killeya-Jones stings, but sometimes it’s hard to know what is lost with someone who has never played for NC State.
The Chapel Hill, N.C., native had been hoping to reinvent himself after transferring from Kentucky to NC State. He was ranked the No. 24 prospect in the country coming out of Lynchburg (Va.) Virginia Episcopal High in the class of 2016 by Rivals.com. The slender big man was skilled out to about 18 feet, could block shots and had a nice touch around the basket.
Killeya-Jones got lost in the shuffle on a star-studded Kentucky team his freshman year. He was part of a six-man recruiting class that produced five NBA players including lottery picks De’Aaron Fox (Kings), Malik Monk (Hornets) and Edrice Adebayo (Heat). He managed to carve out a reserve role with fellow center Nick Richards his sophomore season — averaging 3.3 points and 2.9 rebounds in 13.7 minutes per game for the Wildcats.
NC State has two remaining scholarships for this spring due to the premature loss of Killeya-Jones and freshman center Ian Steere.
Here is an breakdown of the roster for the 2019-20 season:
