NC State Basketball: Harris deemed immediately eligible, Bates to redshirt
NC State basketball recently received mixed news regarding its 2018-19 roster. How will this affect the team during this upcoming season?
NC State basketball received some interesting information regarding its roster for the 2018-19 season recently. On Aug. 20, Jeff Goodman tweeted that transfer Blake Harris is now immediately eligible to play for NC State basketball. Goodman then later tweeted that freshman Manny Bates will redshirt this year as he underwent shoulder surgery earlier this month.
Harris, meanwhile, sat out the second semester last year after transferring from Missouri in January. If Harris did not receive a waiver, the 6-foot-3 point guard would have been forced to sit out the first semester of the upcoming season. However, the NCAA relaxed its transfer rules this summer.
“I’m excited for Blake that he has an opportunity to join our team immediately,” NC State coach Kevin Keatts said in a statement released by the school. “I’m very appreciative of our compliance staff for working diligently with Blake on the waiver and thankful to the NCAA for approving it.”
Harris played 14 games for Missouri, starting nine contests, as a freshman in 2017-18. During this year, he averaged 3.9 points and 3.1 assists per game in under 14 minutes for the Tigers while shooting for 40.7% from the field. He scored in double-figures twice and doled out five or more dimes on three occasions. His best game came against Long Beach State (Nov. 23) when he tallied 11 points on 4 of 7 shooting, along with nine assists and three rebounds as well as a pair of steals.
Harris, a top-150 2017 recruit, is expected to provide backcourt depth for the Wolfpack. He will likely compete with sophomore Braxton Beverly and junior Markell Johnson for playing time at the point. Beverly was fourth on the team in scoring (9.5) and second in assists (3.9) per game in 2017-18. Beverly struggled with his shot as a freshman, knocking down 39.1% of his shots from the floor but he drained 38.5% (60-for-156) from beyond the arc.
In the meantime, Johnson topped the team in assists (7.3) and was fifth in scoring (8.9). Johnson shot 46.1% from the field and 40.9% (27-for-66) on his three-point attempts. NC State is expected to be loaded in the backcourt. Besides the three players mentioned above, the Wolfpack also have Torin Dorn, Eric Lockett, CJ Bryce and Devon Daniels.
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Dorn ranked second on the team in both scoring (13.9) and rebounding (6.3). The redshirt senior was highly efficient from the floor, making 53.1% of his shots. Bryce and Daniels sat out last season after transferring from UNC-Wilmington and Utah, respectively. After Lockett produced 14.3 points on 46.6% shooting from the floor at FIU, he is eligible immediately as a grad transfer.