NC State basketball’s transfer portal targets include Louisville’s Mike James
N.C. State basketball has been busy recruiting players from 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, N.C. State will have to replace three starters — DJ Burns, DJ Horne and Casey Morsell — but several key contributors are expected to return for head coach Kevin Keatts.
Michael O’Connell, Jayden Taylor, Mohamed Diarra and Ben Middlebrooks are projected to be back for the Wolfpack, which has lost three reserves to the transfer portal.
Keatts also added a trio of players via the portal in Louisville transfer Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and Georgetown transfer Dontrez Styles, who started his career at North Carolina, and Louisville's Mike James.
The Wolfpack currently has one scholarship available to fill the 2024-25 roster. Here’s a look at James and three players N.C. State has reportedly targeted in the portal.
Mike James, Louisville guard
The 6-foot-5, 200-pound guard averaged 12.6 points, five rebounds and 1.5 assists per game as a sophomore for 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 freebies (81.8%). He had 20 points, including seven free throws, against the Wolfpack last season. He committed to N.C. State on Tuesday afternoon.
Deivon Smith, Utah guard
A 6-foot guard, Smith averaged 13.3 points, 7.1 assists and 6.3 rebounds per game as a senior for the Utes. After a season at Mississippi State and two years at Georgia Tech, Smith blossomed into a go-to 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 over 28 games.
Marcus Hill, Bowling Green guard
A 6-foot-4, 185-pound guard, Hill averaged 20.5 points, five rebounds and 2.6 assists per game. The bucket-getting 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 Fayetteville native, the 6-foot-5 guard averaged 5.2 minutes across 18 games as a freshman for the Volunteers. If given the opportunity, the former four-star recruit could be quite the combo guard for the Wolfpack. Dilione projects to be a capable pick-and-roll playmaker.
Staff writer Rodd Baxley can be reached at rbaxley@fayobserver.com or @RoddBaxley on X/Twitter.
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: NC State's transfer portal targets include Louisville’s Mike James
