NC State basketball has been busy recruiting players in the transfer portal to gauge their interest in joining the Wolfpack ahead of the 2024-25 season.
Coming off a Final Four appearance and ACC Tournament championship, NC State will have to replace three starters – DJ Burns, DJ Horne and Casey Morsell – but several key contributors are expected to return for coach Kevin Keatts.
Michael O’Connell, Jayden Taylor, Mohamed Diarra and Ben Middlebrooks are expected to return to the Wolfpack, who lost three reserves to the transfer portal.
Keatts also added a trio of players through the portal in Louisville transfer Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Georgetown transfer Dontrez Styles, who began his career at North Carolina, and Louisville’s Mike James.
The Wolfpack currently has one scholarship available to fill out the 2024-25 roster. Here’s a look at James and three players NC State would target in the portal.
Mike James, Louisville guard
The 6-foot-2, 200-pound guard averaged 12.6 points, five rebounds and 1.5 assists per game as a sophomore with the Cardinals. James made 36 of 106 shots (34%) from 3-point range and made a habit of getting to the free throw line, knocking down 126 of 154 giveaways (81.8%). He had 20 points, including seven free throws, against the Wolfpack last season. He committed to NC State on Tuesday afternoon.
Deivon Smith, Utah guard
A 6-foot-2 point guard, Smith averaged 13.3 points, 7.1 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game as a senior for the Utes. After one season at Mississippi State and two years at Georgia Tech, Smith became a guard at Utah. He made 40.8% of his 3-pointers and had 198 assists against 71 turnovers, finishing third nationally in assist rate (43%). Smith had 10 games with double-digit assists in 28 games.
Marcus Hill, Bowling Green guard
A 6-foot-5, 185-pound guard, Hill averaged 20.5 points, five rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. The point guard started all 34 games for the Falcons, finishing with 20 or more points in 19 games, including three with 30-plus points. Hill also led the team in assists (87) and steals (35).
Freddie Dilione, Tennessee guard
A native of Fayetteville, the 6-foot-1 guard averaged 5.2 minutes in 18 games as a freshman for the Volunteers. If given the opportunity, the former four-star recruit could be a combo guard for the Wolfpack. Dilione projects to be a playmaker capable of picking and rolling.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared in The Fayetteville Observer: NC State transfer portal targets include Louisville’s Mike James
