Tag: NC State

With signature performance against Duke, N.C. State’s Aziaha James demands our attention

“Duke and (North) Carolina – them blues, it don’t sit right with me.”

As part of its annual Play4Kay Game – which aims to uplift cancer survivors, celebrate the impact of legendary coach Kay Yow and raise money for research – N.C. State’s women’s basketball players wear special custom uniforms: white jerseys with pink striping and lettering. And where the last names of players are typically situated on the back are instead powerful words like “inspire” and “courage.”

Below the No. 10 on Aziaha James’ fit was the word “fight.” And after trailing by 11 points to rival Duke at halftime, the Wolfpack senior guard did just that.

Now, James didn’t engage in fisticuffs, of course. She battled with her skills on the basketball court, her competitiveness, her swagger, her tenacity, and her penchant for playmaking. She rose above defenders and sank sweet jumpers. She raced to the rim and seemingly invented new mid-air angles as she connected on a flurry of layups. And James grabbed a handful of hard-fought rebounds and engaged with the fans, bringing the sellout crowd at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh to its feet again and again.

When the dust settled, James had a new career-high of 36 points, and the 14th-ranked Wolfpack defeated the No. 10 Blue Devils 89-83 on Monday night.

And in front of a nationally televised audience on ESPN2 in a Big Four rivalry game, James demanded everyone’s attention. She reminded folks that she’s one of the best players in the country and is someone who should be talked about much more often.

“She’s amazing, as you can see,” said James’ N.C. State backcourt mate Zoe Brooks. “She’s scoring the ball in so many ways. You can’t guard her. It’s literally impossible.”

James seemed unstoppable after halftime, where she scored 27 of her points in the final two quarters. She sliced through Duke’s defense like a hot knife against butter to get to the rim with relative ease, while also stepping back to drain a pair of 3-pointers.

In the fourth frame, James scored 15 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting from the floor. In all, she made 15-of-19 field goals and grabbed six rebounds as she helped N.C. State erase a 13-point deficit to extend its home winning streak to 18 games.

“She makes tough shots,” Duke coach Kara Lawson said of James. “She’s a talented scorer when she gets going. A lot of her stuff comes in transition… A lot of it comes off the attack, and she did a good job one-on-one, breaking down and getting to the lane.”

James was a big part of N.C. State’s recipe for outscoring Duke 36-17 on fast breaks and 58-34 in the paint. Her lightning speed, fearlessness and shot-making earned her All-ACC First Team honors a season ago, and this year has placed her on the Ann Meyers Drysdale USBWA National Player of the Year Watch List, which was released just hours before the Wolfpack’s win over Duke.

The native of Virginia Beach is one of just 15 players in the country this season averaging at least 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 2.5 assists per game while shooting north of 46.5% from the floor. Monday night’s performance marked the first time since last February that she scored 30 points or more. That came amidst a stretch where the Wolfpack won 11 of their final 15 games to advance to the Final Four for just the second time in program history.

N.C. State women’s basketball guard Aziaha James plays against Duke on Feb. 3, 2025, at Reynolds Coliseum in Raleigh. (Mitchell Northam / For The Win)

James was a crucial component of N.C. State’s surge to Cleveland last season, and coach Wes Moore is expecting her to lead the way as another March Madness approaches.

“Sometimes, you just got to get out of the way and let her go,” Moore said. “This is her time of year. Last year, February and March, she was unbelievable.”

James has a knack for playing well in big games. But what really set her off on Monday wasn’t the fact that the calendar had flipped to February. It was the color of the jersey on the other side of the court.

“It’s a rivalry, you know? Today meant a lot for us. This is Kay Yow’s day. We didn’t want it to go a different way,” James said. “Duke and (North) Carolina – them blues, it don’t sit right with me. I’m bringing out my all every time we play them. That’s just it – we just don’t like blues.”

With the ACC’s new scheduling model – rejiggered this season because of the additions of SMU and Pac-12 refugees Cal and Stanford – N.C. State won’t play Duke or North Carolina twice in the regular season like they have in recent years. So, for James and the Wolfpack, one rival is down and another awaits.

James will get the opportunity to make her mark against the other Tobacco Road team that wears blue, the Tar Heels, on Sunday, Feb. 16 at 2 p.m. ET on ESPN. The only thing that’s for sure is that game will be a must-watch, and the play of James is a major reason why.

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USC lands commitment from former NC State safety

USC gets some reinforcements in the secondary.

Another day, another transfer portal addition for USC football. On Tuesday, the Trojans picked up a commitment from former NC State safety Bishop Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald will come to USC with one year of eligibility remaining.

After starting his career at junior college, Fitzgerald spent the last two seasons with the Wolfpack. He quickly emerged as one of the top players on NC State’s defense, recording 97 tackles, 11 passes defended, five interceptions, and a forced fumble over the course of two seasons. In 2024, he earned Honorable Mention All-ACC honors.

Now, he will head to USC and join a Trojans defense that is looking to replace the majority of its production from last season. The Trojans do, however, return arguably their best defensive player from last season in safety Kamari Ramsey. In Ramsey and Fitzgerald, USC should have one of the top safety duos in the Big Ten next season.

While safety looks to be in good shape, however, the Trojans still have major holes to fill at cornerback, linebacker, and defensive line. It will be imperative that Lincoln Riley and his staff take further steps to fill those holes prior to the start of spring practice.

Notre Dame falls to NC State in second straight tough defeat

Another win that should have been.

After Notre Dame lost in heartbreaking fashion to North Carolina at home, it hoped for a better outcome on the road at NC State. If these past two games are any indication though, Irish fans are going to experience a lot of pain during the ACC schedule.

The Irish held a 10-point lead late in the first half and a seven-point lead with 3:39 remaining. They stopped scoring field goals after that though, and the Wolfpack mounted their largest comeback win of the season, 66-65.

[autotag]Matt Allocco[/autotag] made two free throws with 2:06 left to give the Irish (7-8, 1-3) a 65-61 lead. But the Wolfpack (9-6, 2-2) cracked down defensively and shined in both the full-court and half-court offense until they tied the game up and then had a chance to take the lead after [autotag]Tae Davis[/autotag] fouled Ben Middlebrooks.

Middlebrooks split a pair of free throws, so a one-point game meant the Irish had a chance to salvage the victory. Out of a timeout with 8.3 seconds remaining [autotag]Markus Burton[/autotag] fired a shot that hit the room shortly before the clock hit zero and left the Irish wondering what could have been.

All five Irish starters scored in double figures, led by Burton with 15 points. Davis had 14 points and six assists, and [autotag]Kebba Njie[/autotag] achieved a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds. That should have been enough to top the Wolfpack, who saw Marcus Hill score 15 points to lead four starters with double figures. And somehow, it wasn’t.

The schedule doesn’t get any easier for the Irish, who now have to go to Duke after seeing two straight winnable games slip away. This season could get ugly fast if they let things spiral further.

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NC State QB ‘confident’ he will beat North Carolina in season finale

NC State’s quarterback might be a little too confident about taking on UNC next week.

North Carolina takes on Boston College this week on the road in the toughest test in their recent win streak. They became bowl-eligible with their win last week against Wake Forest and will have a postseason.

The same cannot be said for NC State, which is sitting at five wins after losing this week against Georgia Tech on the road. Quarterback CJ Bailey threw for 147 yards and three interceptions in that loss and had pretty strong words for UNC following his loss.

Bailey said this about his impending season finale matchup with the Tar Heels, which will determine NC State’s bowl eligibility, via 247sports.

We’re hurting ourselves. We’re having these self-inflicted wounds every time we take these losses. Our mindset every time is to try to bounce back and go out and get a win. North Carolina, we coming. We’re gonna win this game at North Carolina. We’re gonna get our win against North Carolina, because it means a lot to us. Things went wrong all year, but this game right here is our game.

The Wolfpack will head to Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill and take on North Carolina at home. The Tar Heels, prior to this week against Boston College, have won all three of their previous matchups and are now 6-4 on the season.

North Carolina will take on NC State in the season finale next week on Saturday, December 1, at 3:30 p.m. ET, airing on ACC Network.

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NC State’s DJ Horne to have predraft workout with Thunder

NC State’s DJ Horne to have predraft workout with Thunder.

The calendar has flipped to June, which means NBA teams are intensifying their predraft process and hosting players for workouts and visits. The 2024 NBA draft will take place from June 26-27.

The Oklahoma City Thunder enter this year’s class with a sole draft pick of the No. 12 selection. OKC was gifted the free lottery pick via the Houston Rockets.

The Thunder will host several meetings with draft prospects in the coming weeks. This includes players outside the lottery range as OKC will likely seek to add undrafted free agents or even buy back into the second round if it likes someone enough.

One possibility is NC State’s DJ Horne. He is set to have a predraft workout with the Thunder.

The 23-year-old played in five college seasons spanned over three schools from 2019-24. He spent his first two years at Illinois State before transferring to Arizona State for two years. He spent his last year at NC State, where he played a pivotal role in an improbable Final Four run.

In 40 games last season, Horne averaged 16.9 points on 43.6% shooting, 3.5 rebounds and 2.1 assists. He shot 40.4% from 3 on 6.5 attempts. At 6-foot-1, 175 pounds, he’s on the lighter side of guards.

Horne will likely be an undrafted free agent target. He has a shot to join the Thunder’s summer league squad and possibly be added to the G League’s OKC Blue for next season if he impresses enough.

A full list of 2024 NBA draft prospects that have worked out or visited the Thunder in the predraft process can be viewed here.

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Wisconsin class of 2025 DL target cancels official visit to ACC school

Wisconsin class of 2025 DL target cancels official visit to ACC school

Wisconsin class of 2025 defensive line target Drayden Pavey canceled his official visit to NC State on Monday.

On May 3, the three-star included Wisconsin, Purdue and Indiana in his top three schools. Pavey officially visited the Boilermakers this past weekend and will venture to Madison the weekend of June 14.

The Cincinnati, Ohio product is 247Sports’ No. 1,049 recruit in the nation, No. 100 defensive lineman and No. 43 recruit from his home state of Ohio in the class of 2025.

Wisconsin extended an offer to the three-star recruit on April 21. In total, the 6-foot-3, 305-pounder has received 22 offers. The most notable include from Pittsburgh, Louisville, Cincinnati, Purdue, Indiana and Wisconsin.

Wisconsin’s current class of 2025 is ranked No. 13 in the nation with 16 commits. Five of them have committed during UW’s official visit cycle.

With experience on both the offensive and defensive line at Robert A. Taft Information Technology High School, Pavey could become the first defensive lineman to commit to Luke Fickell’s program from the class of 2025.

Even though Pavey elected to not include NC State in his final batch of schools, the cancelation indicates his resolve surrounding his choice. UW has a real chance to land another defensive weapon.

Georgia baseball routed by NC State in first super regional matchup

After a great comeback victory against Georgia Tech to advance to the super regionals, the Georgia Bulldogs baseball team saw a much different result play out on Saturday.

After a great comeback victory against Georgia Tech to advance to the super regionals, the Georgia Bulldogs baseball team saw a much different result play out on Saturday. Playing host to the NC State Wolfpack, the Bulldogs were demolished in every facet of the game, leading to an 18-1 defeat leaving Georgia with an elimination game on Sunday.

After a scoreless first inning, disaster struck for the Bulldogs in the second, as the Wolfpack had an incredible 11 run inning that saw them have ten consecutive batters reach base, nine with hits off of starting pitcher Kolten Smith, who was pulled in the second inning.

The Wolfpack would score one run in the next two innings, but Georgia’s batters were stifled entirely until the fifth inning, with a Corey Collins RBI single that put the score at 13-1 in favor of the Wolfpack. NC State would get five more runs en route to the 18-1 final that is the most lopsided in Georgia’s postseason history.

The Bulldogs and Wolfpack will rematch for a second game on Sunday at 12:00 E.T. on ESPNU. The Bulldogs must win in order to force a game three on Monday, or else the Wolfpack will advance to Omaha.

Notre Dame no longer will participate in Rady Children’s Invitational

Make your plans for Vegas instead of San Diego.

When it was announced that Notre Dame would compete in a NIL-type tournament in Las Vegas this season, one thing might have been forgotten. Before the start of the past season, the Irish agreed to take part in the 2024 Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego. But that won’t be the case any longer.

With the events conflicting with each other and the money involved with the Players Era Festival, the San Diego tournament officially will not feature the Irish. They, along with Arkansas, reportedly have opted out of their obligation, which involved a $200,000 buyout provision. They have been replaced by Ole Miss and Irish ACC rival NC State. Purdue and BYU will remain part of the invitational.

The writing for this was on the wall the moment the Players Era Festival was announced. No team in the NIL era is going to turn down an opportunity to financially benefit its players. Such is the new reality of college sports.

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Notre Dame extends offer to 2025 Massachusetts small forward

Hope the Irish get him.

Even with the 2024-25 season months away from tipping off, Notre Dame remains focused on the distant future. After all, you need to have new players all the time in order for your program to have a future.

While there are no commits for the Irish’s 2025 recruiting class yet, they’re going to do everything they can to give themselves as many options as possible. One of them apparently is 6-foot-6 small forward recruit Ryder Frost of Beverly, Massachusetts since he posted the following on social media:

Frost, the fifth-ranked 2025 Massachusetts recruit according to 247Sports, already has offers from over a dozen other schools. In fact, Frost has been offered by many ACC programs in only the past couple of days: Syracuse, Wake Forest, NC State, Georgia Tech and Virginia Tech.

So the Irish have their work cut out for them as far as landing Frost. With luck, that work will pay off.

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Former UNC football commit named a steal of NFL Draft

How much different would the UNC football team have been if Payton Wilson remained committed?

Since we entered the 2000’s, UNC has largely been dominated by rival NC State in football.

The Wolfpack have beaten the Tar Heels 15 times since 2000, including each of the last three seasons. North Carolina should’ve won in 2021, but endured yet another defensive letdown.

One NC State player who’s dominated UNC, in particular, is linebacker Payton Wilson. The Hillsborough, N.C. native totaled 402 tackles across his 5-year career in Raleigh, which included three victories in five tries against the Tar Heels.

Wilson was actually committed to UNC, but de-committed to don Wolfpack red, citing NC State cares more about football.

Wilson’s collegiate career was good enough to catch the eyes of NFL teams, as the Pittsburgh Steelers selected him 98th overall (third round) in last week’s NFL Draft.

With the fact Wilson has first round-level talent, he was named one of USA Today’s top NFL Draft steals.

“There’s no way to game out the injury factors that seemingly sunk Wilson’s stock,” Michael Middlehurst-Schwartz wrote. “Despite following up his prolific, Bednarik Award-winning performance last fall with a stellar athletic showcase at the combine, the 6-4, 233-pounder tumbled all the way to the end of the third round. His litany of red flags were mostly widely known after his time at North Carolina State – the Fayetteville Observer and the USA TODAY Network reported last January he had already underwent 10 surgeries – but reports emerged during the draft that he no longer has an interior cruciate ligament in his right knee.”

Imagine how much better the Tar Heels’ defense would’ve been with Wilson back there. North Carolina enjoyed the likes of Cedric Gray, Amari Gainer, Myles Murphy and Tomari Fox over the past couple seasons, but a player of Wilson’s talent is strong enough to make an entire unit better.

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