Basketball Recruiting Update

2016 is winding down and the Pack are still looking to add some players.

As the 2016 class begins to wind down, there is not a whole lot left to happen in this cycle. Udoka Azubuike, one of four players that State fans hoped would make up this year’s super mega-class, picked Kansas over UNC and Florida State. As stated before, NC State fell too far behind as the recruitment dragged on through three different attempts at a decision.

So that leaves one piece still in play as far as super mega-class participants go. This is obviously 5-star shooting guard Rawle Alkins. Alkins recently took an official visit to Arizona and then one to hometown school St. Johns. Alkins’ top eight that he released did not include Arizona, so an official visit there seems to signify that he’s still pretty open. St. Johns has been there from the beginning and is emerging as one of the favorites. It’s true that St. Johns is tremendously awful this year (0-11 in the Big East, lost to Incarnate Word by 22), but they have a very strong recruiting class coming in next year. That combined with the hometown school advantage gives them a decent chance here. A rumor was floated around that Alkins hated being at Word of God and wanted to go back to New York. I don’t know of any real evidence to support this and I personally don’t believe it to be true, but Alkins did miss a game to take his official visit to St. Johns, so read into that however you please. On the NC State front, Alkins has attended several home games, most recently against Duke, and has been around State’s campus playing pickup at least once. He has yet to take an official visit to the Pack. A decision for the top talent likely won’t be coming for a while.

4-star post player Taurean Thompson, whom many consider to be a Syracuse lean, is supposed to take an unofficial visit to Georgetown today. Just looking at the schools in which Thompson is showing the most interest, you might conclude that he intends to stay in the northeast. Teams like Providence and Seton Hall have been mentioned for Thompson to go along with Syracuse and now Georgetown. State will need to find a way to secure one of Thompson’s remaining official visits.

Most of the focus recruiting wise is now turning to 2017, at least until the grad transfer sweepstakes begin. The Pack will be after multiple point guards and it would not be surprising to see Western NC product Lavar Batts earn a Pack offer. As discussed previously, Batts’ jumpshot was the major thing keeping State from pulling the trigger. This is what it looks like now:

Robinson leads Hickory Ridge 61-49 after Jordan Mckenzie finds Lavar Batts JR @NCPreps http://pic.twitter.com/dJjD8lQTS6

— Chris hemphill (@CoachHemphill) January 30, 2016

Some other names to know at guard include Oak Hill’s Devontae Shuler, number two player in the country Trevon Duval (not gonna happen), Cleveland Ohio’s Markell Johnson, and more. We’ll have a full breakdown of 2017 recruiting some time in the future.

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