Thursday Was Good For Duke And NC State, Probably Bad For UNC And Truly Awful For Kansas
The ramifications of two Thursday commitments could be huge
Thursday was a wonderful day for Duke Basketball as the Blue Devils got a commitment from Italian wing Dame Sarr, but as great as it was for Duke, it was far worse for Kansas.
Of course, Sarr was strongly seen as a Jayhawk lean before Duke essentially conceded portal commit Cedric Coward to the NBA Draft, but it wasn’t just that.
Later in the day, NC State announced a commitment from Darrion Williams, a 6-6 junior from Texas Tech.
Why is that significant?
Well for a couple of reasons.
First, Kansas: the Jayhawks lost two players in one day to ACC teams as Williams, like Sarr, was at one point expected to play in Lawrence next year.
And second, it’s going to really shake up the local dynamics.
Here’s most of NC State’s roster now:
Returning:
- Paul McNeil - 6-5 SOPH
Portal Players transferring in:
- Jerry Deng - 6-7 SOPH - Florida State
- Colt Langdon - 6-6 - SOPH - Butler
- Terrence Arceneaux - 6-6 - SOPH - Houston
- Tre Holloman - 6-2 JR - Michigan State
- Quadir Copeland - 6-6 JR - McNeese
- Alyn Breed - 6-3 SR - McNeese
Freshmen
- Paul Mbiya - 6-11
- Mikey Wilkins - 6-9
- Matthew Able - 6-5
That’s a pretty good group to work with. And what’s really interesting is that, on paper, State looks to have a better roster than UNC. And if they can back that up with a better year than the Tar Heels have, well...aside from Matt Doherty’s disastrous last season, when was the last time that happened?
The schools tied for third place in 2017-18 and UNC finished in 13th place in 2019-20 but as we always say, everyone gets a pass for the Covid era. There was no way to make that work.
In general though, UNC has been consistently ahead of NC State since the 1960’s, when Dean Smith took the Heels to three straight Final Fours. NC State was clearly better during the David Thompson era, and won national championships in 1974 and 1983.
Realistically though, UNC has dominated State and doesn’t seriously see the Wolfpack as rivals.
If Will Wade moves State firmly past Hubert Davis’s Tar Heels, there will be no ifs, ands, or buts: Hubert will be gone.
And the talent is there for NC State to do just that.