The Wolfpacker

May 2016 Issue

The Wolfpacker: An Independent Magazine Covering NC State Sports

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66 ■ THE WOLFPACKER BY JACEY ZEMBAL N C State entered the last week of April with potentially six available scholar- ships, but likely won't use each one. The scholarship number and recruiting needs will fluctuate based on the NBA Draft positions of sophomore power forward Abdul-Malik Abu and junior center Beejay Anya. both declared for the NBA Draft, but haven't signed with an agent and have until May 25 to make a final decision. The Wolf- pack's other early entry, junior point guard Anthony Barber, did sign with an agent. NC State was in a similar position last spring, and added freshmen small forwards Maverick Rowan and Shaun Kirk plus Char- lotte transfer guard Torin Dorn. Kirk was a senior at Whiteville (N.C.) High, but pondered attending prep school. Rowan was originally in the class of 2016, but used summer school to graduate and be- come part of the class of 2015. Dorn de- cided to leave Charlotte following a coaching change and picked the Wolfpack over Miami. The Wolfpack will likely land some com- mitments with at least eight potential options being considered. Post-Graduate Transfer Targets Ben Carter, 6-9, 225 pounds Power Forward, UNLV Carter was born in Israel and attended Bishop Gorman High in Las Vegas. His high school coach was Grant Rice — the brother of former UNLV head coach Dave Rice, who was let go in the middle of this past season. Carter first attended Oregon, where he averaged 2.5 points and 2.5 rebounds per contest during his sophomore year. He trans- ferred back home and sat out the 2014-15 season as a redshirt. Carter shot 55.6 percent from the field and averaged 8.6 points and 6.0 rebounds in 24.0 minutes per game this past winter. However, he blew out his ACL during the San Diego State game Jan. 30. Prep ranking: Rivals.com's No. 130 overall player in the class of 2012. Colleges under consideration: NC State, Arizona, Arizona State, Michigan State and Miami. John Gillon, 6-0, 168 pounds Point Guard, Colorado State The Houston native signed with Arkan- sas-Little Rock and transferred to Colorado State after his freshman year. He averaged 13.2 points and 3.8 assists per game, but shot 38.3 percent from the field and 33.3 from beyond the three-point line. Gillon exploded for a season-high 28 points and shot 6 of 10 on three-pointers in a 83-77 loss to Long Beach State on Dec. 3. Gillon tallied 20 or more points in six contests for the 18-16 Rams. Gillon had eight assists in three differ- ent games and had seven assists in another contest. Half the Final Four participants in Syracuse and Oklahoma have offered Gillon a scholarship. Prep ranking: Rivals.com had Gillon unrated in the class of 2012. Colleges under consideration: NC State, Creighton, Oklahoma, Purdue, Stephen F. Austin, Syracuse, Texas A&M, Texas Chris- tian, Texas-San Antonio, Texas Tech, Utah, Wichita State. Four-Year Transfer Target Jimmy Whitt, 6-4, 173 pounds Combo Guard, Arkansas The freshman got off to a great start with the Razorbacks, scoring at least 10 points in five of his first six games. He cracked double figures four more times the rest of the season, including a season-high 15 points in a 94-61 win at Missouri Jan. 12. Whitt shot 38.7 percent from the field and 37.5 percent on three-pointers en route to averaging 6.1 points in 17.2 minutes per game. He mostly played off the ball at Ar- kansas, and had 35 assists and 31 turnovers. Prep ranking: Rivals.com's No. 55 over- all prospect in the class of 2015. Colleges under consideration: NC State (officially visited April 17-19), Colorado (officially visited April 20-22), Kansas, Kansas State and SMU. Junior College Transfer Target Keanu Pinder, 6-8, 220 pounds Power Forward, Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College Pinder's father is former NC State player Kendal "Tiny" Pinder (1977-79), who even- tually played professional basketball in Aus- tralia before running into legal issues. Keanu Pinder grew up in Derby, Australia and attended Sunrise Christian Academy in Kansas his senior year. He helped lead Hutchinson to a 32-5 re- cord and runner-up finish in the Division I Junior College Championships. Pinder av- eraged 10.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 23.9 minutes per game. He was named his conference's co-defensive player of the year. He previously verbally committed to Ne- braska and New Mexico. Prep ranking: Rivals.com three-star prospect. Colleges under consideration: NC State (officially visited April 17-19), Arizona, South Carolina, SMU, West Virginia and Cincinnati. Class of 2016 Foreign Target Omer Yurtseven, 7-0, 228 pounds Center, Turkey Yurtseven is averaging 3.1 points and ■ BASKETBALL RECRUITING NC State Enters The Spring Aiming To Add Multiple Players Keanu Pinder, 6-8, 220-pound forward, averaged 10.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 1.9 blocks in 23.9 minutes per game for a 32-5 Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College team that finished as the runner-up at the junior college national championships. PHOTO COURTESY RIVALS.COM

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