having no #sources whatsoever, i'd guess the Anya stuff was 50/50 him and the coaches. seems pretty clear he had a strained relationship with Gott and i'm sure that impacted his effort. but his weight was issue all 4 years...not just this last year when it seemed like the relationship between he and Gott was the worst. he was the one that couldn't maintain a good playing weight for an entire season. it was an issue for him in high school and it carried over to his time here too. i think it's fair to put some of that blame on Gott for not motivating him better and maximizing his potential. but ultimately Anya was the fat one.

4/4/2017 4:51:57 PM

Quote :

"I don't think Kirk is going to become a major contributor to this team, but it wouldn't surprise me to see him get 10 MPG."

I think Kirk's ceiling is be be a more physically gifted but less skilled Deshawn Painter by the time he gets to be a senior. Someone who could give you 8-10 minutes a night and not hurt you but not be a game changer. You need those guys to spell other players and give depth but they aren't gonna go out and win games for you in general.

4/4/2017 5:14:18 PM

What really? Wasn't Painter an undersized big man with a couple post moves and a solid mid range j but not a ton of athleticism?

I mean I guess you say more gifted and less skilled, but that gets to be apples to oranges right? Plus isn't Kirk a wing player?

Maybe I don't remember him

Or did I misinterpret and you strictly mean he'll have similar counting stats not be a similar player?

[Edited on April 4, 2017 at 5:18 PM. Reason : Ee]

4/4/2017 5:16:58 PM

yeah they're not really comparable players unless you just mean that their minutes per game and maybe stats (points and boards) could be similar. but as far as style and position...they're pretty different players

4/4/2017 5:24:09 PM

No by no means do I mean a direct comparison of styles. You weren't going to be seeing painter flying around the rim and you won't see Kirk backing people down. I mean more as a means of roles and production.

Couldn't think of a comparable wing that fit what I was trying to convey there.

[Edited on April 4, 2017 at 5:31 PM. Reason : Painter could play stretch 4 but Kirk doesn't have the game for that really]

4/4/2017 5:30:07 PM

Gotcha. Maybe frosh Cody Martin fits?

4/4/2017 5:40:51 PM

UNCW's top recruit for next year 3 star shooting guard Brion Whitley

http://www.wect.com/story/35079790/just-in-top-uncw-commit-brion-whitley-reopens-recruitment

Quote :

"The 6-foot-5, 185-pound guard from Riverview High School in Florida took his official visit to campus over the weekend. He had listed Wofford, Chattanooga and Harvard as his other finalists."

Has a scout grade of 74 & is the 73rd best shooting guard in the class of '17

4/5/2017 4:52:15 PM

MORE:

He is now following NC State Mens BBall, Pack Pride & Lavar Batts on twitter

Would we want him and do we have a scholly for him?

4/5/2017 4:58:32 PM

not sure if it's been mentioned yet...but it sounds like we're not recruiting Thomas Allen after granting him his release. don't think it's too surprising...but didn't see it mentioned on the last page or so. everybody still seems to think he'll end up at kansas.

4/5/2017 5:18:47 PM

Quote :

"Gotcha. Maybe frosh Cody Martin fits?"

I think Kirk could be a Theo Pinson-type player for us with some polish (not that Pinson is that polished, but still). Long, rangy guy who makes effort plays, defends well, throws down dunks, and hits the occasional 3 ... and then does something that makes you think he's never played organized basketball.

4/5/2017 6:21:50 PM

We still ignoring Kirk can't dribble while running ?

4/5/2017 6:27:46 PM

Just don't let him dribble. Problem solved. Play defense, shoot open threes. Dunk. Pass the ball in every other offensive situation.

4/5/2017 6:57:12 PM

And don't let him inbound

4/5/2017 7:15:22 PM

^^ Kirk: K. Washington exposed??

4/5/2017 8:13:18 PM

Kirk doesn't have half the stank face Kyle Washington has.

4/5/2017 9:17:41 PM

i'll be happy if Kirk can just dribble and complete passes. dude's a got a ways to go.

4/5/2017 10:12:06 PM

Quote :

"and then does something that makes you think he's never played organized basketball. "

Oh. JP Tokato

4/5/2017 10:35:20 PM

On the grad. transfer front:

Quote :

"@JonRothstein Baylor transfer Al Freeman will visit NC State this weekend and Pitt next weekend, per a source. Immediately eligible for next season."

Freeman is a SG originally from Charlotte that has averaged ~10 PPG for the past two seasons, and looks to be a solid 3PT shooter. I want to say Gottfried recruited him out of high school but could be wrong about that.

4/6/2017 3:20:15 PM

Not sure we want to be importing baylor type problems.

4/6/2017 3:36:44 PM

sounds like we may be in play for grad transfer from Rutgers, guard Nigel Johnson. he shot 37.7% from the field last but it looks like the majority of his attempts were 3s (35% on 3s).

4/8/2017 12:18:18 PM

Quote :

"Kirk doesn't have half the stank face Kyle Washington has."

Who does?

4/8/2017 12:29:34 PM

^ Ted Kapita





ok maybe not

4/8/2017 12:30:54 PM

Nigel Johnson went UVA

4/8/2017 4:31:23 PM

Blake Harris to Missouri

4/9/2017 11:12:27 PM

I think Batts took his spot.

4/9/2017 11:33:26 PM

Missouri about to jump from a recruiting class outside of the top 100 to a top 5 class. If they manage to land Tilmon(expected) and Knox(possible), that'll be a pretty amazing class.

4/10/2017 9:51:18 AM

We had a pretty amazing class last year.

lmao

4/10/2017 10:37:02 AM

Oh I fully expect the team to stink with Martin coaching it, but he is definitely putting together a highly ranked class.

4/10/2017 1:28:03 PM

Rowan to transfer.
Hasn't been announced and won't for awhile but all signs are pointing to it. actually going to Euro is the rumor.

4/11/2017 8:22:58 PM

thats some great recruiting news right there

4/11/2017 9:20:37 PM

CELEBRATE GOOD TIMES CMON

4/11/2017 10:06:46 PM

Quote :

"Hasn't been announced and won't for awhile but all signs are pointing to it. actually going to Euro is the rumor."

Source?

4/11/2017 10:15:26 PM

Ron Rowan.

4/11/2017 10:53:17 PM

Oh no the worst player on our team is leaving

4/12/2017 12:17:53 AM

Lol whether the rumor is accurate or not his "source" is the pack pride premium forum.

4/12/2017 6:52:50 AM

I think Gott was both good and bad for Rowan.

He played Rowan tons of minutes and ran a lot of plays for him, but he also forced him into being a catch-and-shoot guy. Running him around 10 screens and jacking shots like Ralston Turner just wasn't his game. Some guys need a dribble or two to get in rhythm, and Rowan was one of them. He was basically automatic if he took a dribble before shooting.

He's our best FT shooter, so it would hurt to lose him in that regard. He also played hard every time he was one the court, even if he's slow as shit.

4/12/2017 9:27:40 AM

yeah Mav was asked to be our #2 scoring option. he isn't that. he was playing a role he wasn't suited for. maybe he can find a role under KK that's better suited for him and the team. Mav isn't as terrible as some make him out to be on here and elsewhere. but he definitely needs to improve and carve out a niche for himself where he can do more than just running baseline to baseline and jacking up 3 after 3 and maybe be less of a liability defensively.

4/12/2017 10:05:17 AM

Mav was a real lunch pail type of guy. Scrappy and always played the game the right way. He was more athletic than he appeared and always had a high motor. It'll be a shame to lose such a gym rat.

4/12/2017 10:16:25 AM

Look tww police here my sarcastic comment didn't land. Not only is this rumor dumb, it has nothing to do recruiting?

4/12/2017 10:20:49 AM

^^ I see someone is getting ramped up for the NFL draft. You sound just like Mel Kiper

4/12/2017 11:10:12 AM

Quote :

"Not only is this rumor dumb, it has nothing to do recruiting?"

It would open a scholarship for an actual ACC level player. Don't care how hard he plays, he was awful. Gott can partially thank his team sucking ass the last two years due to playing this guy 30+ minutes.

4/12/2017 12:05:39 PM

If he doesn't want to be here than I'm glad he's leaving now so we can go ahead and plan for next year.

I don't think anyone expects our team to be great next year, so I'd say let him walk, bring in Freeman from Baylor for 1 year to offset the departure for a season and then start working the 2018/2019 classes.

You'll be able to offer up a lot of PT to some of the top guards in the '18/'19 classes knowing that your only guards on roster will be Johnson, Batts, and Dorn(who can play some 3/4 in Keatts system).

4/12/2017 12:10:06 PM

Quote :

"Lol whether the rumor is accurate or not his "source" is the pack pride premium forum."

lol, people still pay for that garbage?
Same folks still listening to David Dumbass Glenn

4/12/2017 12:38:20 PM

Quote :

" I don't think anyone expects our team to be great next year, so I'd say let him walk, bring in Freeman from Baylor for 1 year to offset the departure for a season and then start working the 2018/2019 classes."

we need shooters. Freeman is a shooter, but it'd be great to have multiple shooters...especially in case Henderson doesn't get his 6th year. it's not like we can't have them both....the more shooters the better. Keatts' teams at UNCW shot a lot of 3s. maverick would benefit from a reduced role on the roster, but he still can contribute imo.

Quote :

"You'll be able to offer up a lot of PT to some of the top guards in the '18/'19 classes knowing that your only guards on roster will be Johnson, Batts, and Dorn(who can play some 3/4 in Keatts system)."

Rowan's not a guard so that's already the case whether he stays or goes.

Quote :

"It would open a scholarship for an actual ACC level player. "

by my count we have 2 open scholarships for next year as is. and that's not counting any potential attrition that's yet to come. lack of open scholarships isn't an issue at this point.


[Edited on April 12, 2017 at 12:50 PM. Reason : b]

4/12/2017 12:48:31 PM

Quote :

"say let him walk, bring in Freeman from Baylor for 1 year to offset the departure for a season "

Dms covered this some but Freeman and Rowan don't play the same position

4/12/2017 2:22:02 PM

In Keatts offense, 4-and-1, they really do.

Obviously they have different skillsets, I just don't see Rowan as being a good fit because he's going to be a complete liability on defense. Obviously having more shooters is going to space the floor offensively, but I think Henderson, Freeman, and Johnson could probably get us to next year.

This is why I found Keatts not being interested in Allen to be so surprising. I really thought offensively he'd be a great fit, but he'd be an even bigger defensive liability than Rowan.

[Edited on April 12, 2017 at 2:31 PM. Reason : .]

4/12/2017 2:29:50 PM

4and1 doesn't mean you can just put out 4 guys 6'4" and under. Henderson is a pretty bad defender too but he'd be even worse guarding a 6'8" shooter.

4/12/2017 3:36:54 PM

Rowan's biggest issue on defense is transition. If Keatts wants to run like crazy and press and whatnot, Rowan is going to have a hard time.

He routinely ended up guarding no one in these situations this past season. I think he may have a negative basketball IQ.

4/12/2017 3:49:38 PM

I'm not saying you just run 4 guys out regardless of height, but the pieces should be interchangeable to some degree, and we don't have to have a traditional wing player versus a traditional guard.

Johnson - 6'1"
Batts - 6'2"
Freeman - 6'4"
Henderson - 6'5"
Dorn - 6'5"
Kirk - 6'7"

I think we could find some rotations that work where every guy isn't just <6'4".

4/12/2017 3:58:52 PM

Do we actually have Freeman the guard committed for next year?

4/12/2017 10:05:57 PM