The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports
Issue link: https://comanpub.uberflip.com/i/535299
150 ■ THE WOLFPACKER ■ BASKETBALL RECRUITING • NC State currently has eight scholarship players on the 2015-16 roster, but is hoping to add two more this summer. Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gibbons senior shooting guard Maverick Rowan is taking summer school classes with the hope of moving into the class of 2015. The 6-5, 180-pound Rowan narrowed his list to NC State, Louisville, St. John's, Wisconsin, UCLA and North Carolina, and has already officially visited the Cardinals and Red Storm. Ri - vals.com's No. 43 overall player in the class of 2016 unofficially visited NC State when the Wolfpack knocked off Duke 87-75 Jan. 11 at PNC Arena. Another target has a more unique background. Center Georgios Papagiannis already has a Wikipedia page set up for him. The 7-1, 275-pound native of Maroussi, Athens, in Greece attended West Ches - ter (Pa.) Westtown High dur- ing the 2013-14 school year, and played with the Team Take- over traveling team in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League circuit that spring. Papagiannis elected to leave the U.S. and signed a multi-year deal with Greek champion Panathinalkos, with the provision he would keep his college eligibility. Papagiannis could visit NC State or other poten - tial choices — St. John's, Oregon, Temple, Kentucky and UConn — later this summer. He played with the Greece Under-19 squad at the 2015 FIBA Un- der-19 World Championships June 27-30 in Heraklion, Greece. On June 25 in Crete, Greece, Papagiannis had 10 points on 5-of-12 shooting, plus five rebounds and four blocks, in a 90-82 exhibition game loss to the USA's Under-19 squad. Papagiannis previously played the USA Under-17 squad at the 2014 FIBA World Championship. He shot 8 of 16 from the field for 16 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 83-73 loss last August in Dubai. • Two new NC State offers went out to class of 2016 members. Senior power forward Sacha Killeya-Jones, who is from Chapel Hill, N.C., decommitted from Virginia June 2. NC State, Kentucky and North Carolina have all had him on campus and offered the 6-9, 207-pounder. Rivals.com ranks him No. 73 nationally in the class of 2016. Killeya-Jones plays for former Virginia star Curtis Staples at Lynchburg (Va.) Virginia Episcopal, and in on Team Felton in the Under Armour summer league, a squad sponsored by former North Carolina standout Raymond Felton of the Dallas Mavericks. NCSU also offered Memphis (Tenn.) Bolton senior point guard Jaylen Fisher, who is ranked No. 45 in the country. The 6-2, 170-pound Fisher plays summer ball with Team Thad, which is also part of the Under Armour league. Team Thad is sponsored by power for - ward Thaddeus Young, who played for the Philadelphia 76ers and Brooklyn Nets last year. • College basketball coaches were allowed to con- tact the class of 2017 for the first time June 15, with phone calls and text messages or through social media. Prior to that date, recruits could call college coaches, but not vice versa. NC State was busy with at least 18 recruits get- ting contacted, and seven new off ers going out, bumping the total number to 10 in the class of 2017. NC State previously offered Miami Senior center Zach Brown, Saginaw (Mich.) Arthur Hill small forward Brian Bowen and Hyattsville (Md.) DeMatha Catholic wing D.J. Harvey. All three are Rivals.com five- star prospects, with the 7-1, 256-pound Brown checking at No. 5 in the country, the 6-6, 175-pound Bowen at No. 7 and the 6-5, 180-pound Har - vey at No. 13. Three other five-star talents also got offered. Combo forward Billy Pres- ton, who is ranked No. 9, has attended four different high schools the last two years. He attended St. John Bosco in Bellflower, Calif., and then Beckman High in Irvine, Calif., his freshman year. Preston then played for both Redondo Beach (Calif.) Union High and Dallas Prime Prep his sophomore season, and led Union to a win over Prime Prep early in the season. Preston plays for Texas-based MWA Elite traveling team in the Under Armour league. Charlotte Hornets point guard Mau - rice Williams runs MWA Elite, and the former Jackson (Miss.) Murrah star played two years at Alabama under NC State head coach Mark Gottfried. NC State offered talented point guard Trevon Duval of Newark (N.J.) St. Benedict, who Rivals.com ranks No. 10 in the country. He helped lead his Cavaliers team to the NBPA Camp championship June 20 at the University of Virginia. The 6-3, 183-pounder has been a standout on the Under Armour circuit with WER1. Back-to-the-basket center Jeremiah Tilmon was also offered June 15. Rivals.com ranks the 6-10, 210-pound shot blocker No. 11 in the class of 2017. The East St. Louis (Ill.) High product plays with the St. Louis Eagles in the Nike Elite Youth Basketball League. NC State offered another gifted shot blocker in 6-10, 225-pound Nicholas Richards of Elizabeth (N.J.) The Patrick School. The native of Jamaica is ranked No. 25 nationally and plays with Expressions Elite in the Nike EYBL. Three wings round out the new junior offers. Hami - dou Diallo of Woodstock (Conn.) Academy is ranked No. 38 in the nation and is from Queens, N.Y. The 6-4, 167-pounder plays with the NYC Jayhawks in the Under Armour League. Right behind him is 6-5, 180-pound John Petty of Huntsville (Ala.) J.O. Johnson, who is ranked No. 39 in the country, and he plays for Alabama Challenge in the Nike EYBL. Charles O'Bannon Jr. is ranked No. 46 in the country, and the 6-5, 185-pounder plays for Las Vegas Bishop Notes Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) Cardinal Gib- bons shooting guard Maverick Rowan is attempting to reclassify to 2015, and has narrowed his list to NC State, Louisville, St. John's, Wisconsin, UCLA and North Carolina. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM