Kevin Keatts will be back for a sixth year in 2022-23, but almost everything else around the NC State men’s basketball program has changed since Wolfpack ended a memorable season last month.
Despite All-ACC seasons from guards Dereon Seabron and Terquavion Smith, NC State put an all-time program mark in vain with its 11-21 season in 2021-22. Wolfpack went 4-16 in the ACC, the worst of the conference’s 15 teams, and lost to Clemson on the opening day of the ACC tournament.
A lot has happened since that loss on March 8th. Here is a summary.
Test of draft water
Seabron, ACC’s Most Improved Player and an All-ACC Second Team Selection, announced on April 2, he would participate in the 2022 NBA Draft while retaining his eligibility for college. It was an expected move for the 6-foot-7 redshirt sophomore guard, who has appeared as another round pick in various mock drafts.
Seabron averaged 17.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 1.4 steals per game. match, all team highlights for NC State and shot 49.1% from the field and 71.3% on free throws. He was one of only four Division I basketball players for men, and the only one in a power conference to lead his team in these four statistical categories.
Read more:How NC State’s Dereon Seabron rose from subtle Virginia high schooler to ‘next level’ ACC basketball star
Smith, the dynamic 6-4 ACC All-Rookie guard who averaged 16.3 points per game. match and sank 96 3-pointers on a 36.9% team, is also expected to enter his name in the draft while retaining his eligibility, according to Pack Pride and WRAL. However, Smith has not yet released an official announcement.
Transfers out
Manny Bates was to be the defensive midfielder and veteran leader of NC State’s roster last season – then he sustained a shoulder injury that ended the season, less than a minute inside the team’s season opener. Wolfpack fought fiercely in defense without Bates, one of the ACC’s best shot blockers.
Now he’s gone. Bates, a red shirt junior, entered the transfer portal on March 29, by far the hardest blow for Keatts and Wolfpack in terms of 2022-2023 list construction. NC State has also lost four more scholarship players in the offseason: Jaylon Gibson, Cam Hayes, Thomas Allen and Jericole Hellems.
Allen and Hellems were seniors, so their departure was not at all unexpected. Allen entered the transfer portal to use its fifth year of election, and Hellems is pursue professional opportunities. Hayes, a former four-star recruit, and Gibson, a former three-star recruit, had eligibility back in NC State.
Assistant switches
As first reported by Pack Pride, on March 21, Wolfpack parted ways with two of Keatts’ three assistant coaches on the field, Mikey Summey and Roy Roberson, while retaining a third, James Johnson.
Roberson had been in NC State for four seasons, and Summey had been in NC State for two seasons. Wolfpack has already filled one of those gaps by hiring Levi Watkins, a former NC State striker with previous assistant coaching experience in Buffalo, Arizona State and Ole Miss, on April 1st.
Recruitment news
NC State lost its No. 2 all-time recruit in program history when Robert Dillingham, a five-star 2023 point guard at California’s Donda Academy, released on March 19th. Dillingham, the country’s No. 9 senior junior, had verbally committed to the Wolfpack over Kansas, Kentucky, LSU and Memphis in December.
From December:NC State lands five-star Robert Dillingham. Where does he rank in Wolfpack’s recruitment history?
Dillingham was NC State’s only commitment in 2023, so his release puts the team back on Square One in the current recruitment cycle. In the 2022 class, NC State also lost a late third goal when Judah Mintz, a four-star combo guard, selected Syracuse over DePaul, NC State and Wake Forest on March 31st.
Downloads in?
NC State has been quite active in the transfer portal, which included 1,188 players from Tuesday, per. Verbal Commits. Most notably, Wolfpack hosts former Ole Miss striker Luis Rodriguez (who Watkins trained for three seasons) for a visit to campus from Friday to Sunday, per. Pack Pride.
The former three-star recruit had an average career high of 7.6 points and 6.3 rebounds for the Rebels in 2020-21. His career stats through 90 games: 5.3 points and 4.5 rebounds per game. match, while shooting 40.1% from the field, 29.9% on 3-pointers and 65.9% on free throws. Rodriguez has two years of eligibility left.
Among other transfers to hear from Wolfpack, according to various reports: Indiana forward Michael DurrKansas State guard New packageMorehead State forward Johni BroomeAkron forward Ali AliBelmont guard JaCobi WoodNevada forward Warren Washington and Southeastern Louisiana guard Gus Okafor.
Chapel Fowler is a recruitment reporter for The Fayetteville Observer and the United States TODAY Network. Reach him via email at cfowler@gannett.com or on Twitter at @kapelfugl.