The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/1419104
8 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY MATT CARTER N C State basketball has added its first two recruits to jumpstart its 2022 basketball recruiting class. The first to commit was four-star center Shawn Phillips Jr., a native of Dayton, Ohio. Phillips will play this season at Dream City Christian in Glendale, Ariz. The 6-11, 250-pound Phillips chose NC State over Ole Miss and West Virginia after also picking up earlier offers from Auburn, Cincinnati, Indiana, Maryland, Ohio State and Xavier, among others. In six games during a shortened sea- son for Ypsi Prep Academy in Ypsilanti, Mich., Phillips averaged 8.5 points and 7.7 rebounds per game while shooting 72.7 percent from the field. That team fea- tured Emoni Bates, a five-star prospect in the class of 2021 who is headed to Mem- phis after averaging 24.6 points a contest. Rivals.com ranks Phillips as the na- tion's No. 15 center and the No. 98 overall recruit in the 2022 class, and national bas- ketball analyst Jamie Shaw said Phillips has great upside. "He walks out on the court and just looks like he should be playing in the ACC," Shaw noted. "He plays with a mean streak. He knows what he is, knows who he is. He has great hands, but he gets around the basket in position to dunk the ball. "Obviously, there is going to be a tran- sition from high school to college, there always is. He has the ability right away to be a physical presence who can rebound around the basket. "I think he's going to eventually pro- vide somebody who they can dump the ball to on the block and get a bucket, which is something they haven't neces- sarily had in the Kevin Keatts regime — somebody who is going to carve out space, grab the rebound and be a force." Also committing to NC State was three- star guard LJ Thomas, who moved from Atlanta to Carrboro, N.C., last year and plays at Bull City Prep in Durham, N.C. Thomas had narrowed his choices to Georgia, Houston, Memphis, Ole Miss and the Overtime Elite program before announcing for NC State on Oct. 6. Even before Thomas chose the Wolfpack, Shaw saw a good fit. "He'll be a great positional fit in Kevin Keatts' pick-and-roll system, because Keatts loves guards," Shaw pointed out. "He'll add shooting from a distance for the team, and he'll add work ethic. "The kid works hard. He is in the gym multiple times a day. He has that work ethic that Keatts wants when he talks about the DNA of the team." Thomas Carr, a former NC State staff member for Keatts, agreed on the fit. "His approach to the game and com- mitment to becoming a great player are light years ahead of his age," Carr, who now coaches for Thomas' traveling team, Team Loaded NC, told Rivals.com. "He is a self-starter, a willing worker. He works out multiple times a day and wants to be great. "Those guys work best in Coach Keatts' system." ■ T R A C K I N G THE PACK Wolfpack Hoops Lands A Pair Of Commits Shawn Phillips Jr. is listed by Rivals.com as the nation's No. 15 center and No. 98 overall prospect in the class of 2022. PHOTO COURTESY SHAWN PHILLIPS Football Adds Receiver To 2022 Class NC State football added its 12th verbal commitment in the 2022 class when three-star receiver Terrell Timmons Jr. from Greensboro (N.C.) Northern Guilford High announced Sept. 19 he was committed. Timmons had been offered the day before while attending NC State's home win over Furman. The 6-2, 175-pounder broke out in the spring during his initial season of varsity football and first year playing receiver. The former JV quarterback caught 44 passes for 594 yards and seven touch- downs in seven games. He emerged on NC State's radar following a strong camp performance in June, and then Pack coaches were on the sideline watching when Timmons grabbed four passes for 155 yards and a pair of scores in a game Sept. 3. "They said they liked my versatility," Timmons noted. "They liked my punt return highlights, and that I could play inside slot receiver and outside receiver." Timmons had briefly committed to James Madison over the summer before backing out on that choice. Vanderbilt and Coastal Carolina were also recruiting Timmons this fall before he picked NC State. "The coaching staff is great," Timmons said about NC State. "I can tell the players love it there. … It's a great place." — Matt Carter