Hoops Class of 2014 Starting to Take Shape – Martin Twins Sign LOI, Abu Expected to Sign Today

Basketball Recruiting Mark Gottfried NCS Basketball18
Caleb and Cody Martin sign their LOIs at Oak Hill (viaTwitter)

Caleb and Cody Martin sign their LOIs at Oak Hill (via Twitter)

The 2014 additions to the NC State roster are starting to take shape – Caleb and Cody Martin have signed the Letters of Intent to play for NC State.   247sports.com has State’s class ranked at #12, with three major inbound players: Trevor and Cody Martin, two four-star small forwards from Oak Hill Academy, and Abdul Malik Abu from Kimball Union (NH) Academy, another four-star recruit playing the power forward position.  Abu is expected to sign his LOI sometime today or tomorrow.

Those players should fortify the paint presence of the Wolfpack, and will be vital if T.J. Warren takes his game to the NBA as many expect.  Coupled with the  players that the Wolfpack brought in this year — Cat Barber, transfers Dez Lee and Ralston Turner, Lennard Freeman, Kyle Washington and Beejay Anya, State will be fielding a more complete, deeper and stronger team next season as well as one that has a good mix of upperclassmen and younger players.

 

Basketball Recruiting Mark Gottfried NCS Basketball

18 Responses to Hoops Class of 2014 Starting to Take Shape – Martin Twins Sign LOI, Abu Expected to Sign Today

  1. packalum44 11/14/2013 at 12:39 PM #

    Too bad we don’t pay players so we could keep around lottery picks an extra year like the Cheats down the road.

    Warren will probably go but if not we could be dangerous next year. Depending on the development of our freshman, we could possibly be a ranked team without his return.

    I predict in 2 years State will field a true top 10 team. Hopefully the recruiting continues and we can get used to the pleasures of having talent.

  2. Prowling Woofie 11/14/2013 at 1:53 PM #

    Nice start to the class, but we need to land a highly regarded big man and some more quality guards. Aside from Warren’s probable departure, we’ve got some walk-ons to replace, too. In the new look ACC, quality depth is crucial. Can’t continue the 7- or 8-man rotations.

  3. PoppaJohn 11/14/2013 at 1:55 PM #

    Don’t forget Trevor Lacey. 6’3″ / 220 guard who is on campus now redshirting for transferring. One of the few players to ever be Mr Basketball in Alabama twice. Five star, Top 50 coming out of HS. He started every game last year for U of Alabama, averaging 11 pts, 3 assists and 37% from 3PT range.
    We should have much higher expectations going into next year, barring the unexpected happening – like transferring, injuries, or going pro (if you aren’t TJ).

  4. redisgood 11/14/2013 at 1:55 PM #

    Also, next year’s class includes former 5 star recruit, Trevor Lacey. If TJ leaves after this year, Lacey might be the best player on the roster.

  5. redisgood 11/14/2013 at 1:57 PM #

    Haha, you beat me to it.

    Regarding depth, we will have a ton of it next year (no pun directed towards Beejay).

    Cat Barber and Trevor Lacey will be a formidable back court pairing. Our backup guards (Lewis and Lee) would probably be starters on most ACC teams.

  6. Prowling Woofie 11/14/2013 at 2:24 PM #

    Guys – had forgotten Lacey – good catch !

    Just need that bigger-than-6’8″-guy now…

  7. Texpack 11/14/2013 at 2:41 PM #

    Just send Baby Huey to work with Marie Osmond so he can get up and down the court and we’ll be ok up front.

  8. Fastback68 11/14/2013 at 4:24 PM #

    Come on Beejay Anya, get the weight down and your hands up. Your development over the next four months might mirror the team’s progress towards a dance ticket for this year. Next year, I will only have to read the endless speculation about our seeding position and I will enjoy every minute of that and of the certainty of getting into the ncaat. Go pack!!! And Gott, job well done.

  9. wilmwolf80 11/14/2013 at 4:35 PM #

    With regard to Anya, NC State should hire Richard Howell for the sole purpose of following him around and whipping his butt into shape. A Howell-esque physical transformation could make Anya into one of the best players we’ve had in a while. Given his God-given tools, there is no reason he can’t be an every night double-double.

  10. PoppaJohn 11/14/2013 at 4:48 PM #

    Abu signed, all three LOI are in house.

    Anya – Agree he needs a physical transformation, and hope he’s got some skills – hard to see at this point. Between his being a freshman and out of shape, hard to see that significant contributor we want him to be.

    Working in his favor, we do have the diet/nutrition lady and Alejo, the strength/ conditioning guy.

    Someone on this site said he’d already lost 25 pounds. If so, way to go big guy! Keep up the good work.

  11. Sweet jumper 11/14/2013 at 6:06 PM #

    Nice work Gott and staff. Now go find us a 5star big man to go with strong perimeter players and developing frontcourt.

  12. mak4dpak 11/14/2013 at 7:23 PM #

    Got this nice text from a State alum and friend after the Cincy game. “State does not have a good team period. No size, no scorer. I’m still a fan and alum but I’m not interested in attending a lot of games to watch them lose in person”. Really wish the team could post this in the locker room. My response to him was we are young and will only get better, and I am not throwing in the towel so easily.

  13. Alpha Wolf 11/14/2013 at 9:12 PM #

    ^ No scorer? TJ Warren may not have had the greatest of games, but watching him over the past 1+ seasons, I would not say that about him.

  14. wolffpride 11/15/2013 at 8:28 AM #

    I was at the Cincy game as well. Truth is, we played well until the last 3-4 minutes. As Gott said, we didn’t execute our offense at the end of the game, no movement. When TJ touched the ball he got hounded. Considering it was only our 2nd game of the year and it was on the road, I was pleased with how we played. We will surprise some people this year and I am confident we will finish better than 10th in the ACC. I am calling 7th, which puts us in the tourney bubble.

    Beejay has great upside, he needs to be able to move though, which he will when the weight comes down. Much like Howell, he will be a beast his Junior and Senior year. Just be patient. Des Lee is for real! He will need to learn to not force it though.

  15. Classof89 11/15/2013 at 1:50 PM #

    Re: Anya. I asked this on another thread and got no response, but hasn’t the dude been on campus since the summer? Why was he not in better shape PRIOR to start of fall practice? I thought the idea of college athletes showing up in August having had no contact with staff since signing their LOIs was sort of a thing of the past. Am I mistaken? Or is it that he actually looked WORSE in August, and what we see now is after three months of intense training/diet??

    I guess what I don’t understand is why October rolls around and all of a sudden people are like “OMG, Anya weighs 325 pounds” Why does it seem to be a surprise?

  16. tjfoose1 11/15/2013 at 3:08 PM #

    ” I asked this on another thread and got no response, but hasn’t the dude been on campus since the summer? Why was he not in better shape PRIOR to start of fall practice?”

    He is in “better” shape. The last sentence of your first paragraph nails it. When he showed up on campus, the coaches were shocked to see he had gained 70 lbs. Yes, 7 0, sev-en-ty! He’s dropped 30-40 lbs thus far.

    I imagine those that are surprised are comparing him to what they saw during the season last year, prior to his 70 lb splurge.

  17. Texpack 11/15/2013 at 5:31 PM #

    They said he’s working with a nutritionist and has to take pictures of every meal and send to her. I hope he has a wide angle lens. I have a really hard time understanding that kind of weight gain in a kid who is supposed to play D1 athletics. Hopefully it’s just immaturity. Seeing what Gott and staff did with Howell gives me reason to be optimistic about Baby Huey.

  18. Greywolf 12/02/2013 at 8:21 PM #

    Losing too much weight too fast is dangerous and unhealthy. Trust the coaches, trainers and that dietician. I hope we have someone working with him to get to the bottom of why he would let himself go like that. You don’t gain 70 pounds just by having a milkshake with your Big Mac. Sounds like some sort of food or sugar addiction to me.

    Beejay needs lots of love, support and encouragement, least he start to sneak food and feed that possible addiction.

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