NCAA Basketball Recruiting: 5 most underrated commitments in 2020 class

Cam Hayes, PG, NC State

Markell Johnson was the engine that made NC State go during his career in Raleigh, but he is now gone and the Wolfpack desperately need to find a quality replacement. Enter Hayes, a four-star point guard that will get a crack at running the show for head coach Kevin Keatts.

“Running the show” is what Hayes does best. He’s an extremely smart player with a high basketball IQ and knows how to elevate the play of those around him. Hayes isn’t the athlete Johnson is, but he has solid size at 6-1 and is more than quick enough to beat his man off the dribble and to be a quality defender.

Hayes’ importance to this class only grew last week when fellow four-star commit Josh Hall announced that he would be testing the NBA Draft waters while maintaining his college eligibility. Hall isn’t currently projected to be drafted meaning he’ll likely be suiting up for the Wolfpack, but Keatts is counting on this class to be the foundation for his program.

They are the No. 8 rated class in the country and, given their short seven-man rotation from a year ago, all of them are expected to play big roles right away. However, none of them will be as important as Hayes, who will be charged with leading the team and meshing the combination of youth and experience on NC State’s roster.