NC State basketball rumors: Wolfpack expected to go after No. 1-ranked transfer

NC State basketball is undergoing a lot of change this offseason after head coach Will Wade bolted following just one season in Raleigh. Wade is heading back to LSU, and it wouldn’t be a surprise to see a lot of the roster follow him to Baton Rouge.

That leaves NC State in a difficult spot after losing in the First Four of the NCAA Tournament to Texas. New head coach Justin Gainey has a lot of work to do to build his roster the way he wants it and get the Wolfpack in a competitive spot in the ACC heading into next season.

While NC State will be able to fill out most of its roster with freshmen and smaller transfers, it needs a star or two to come in and shoulder a big load in year one under Gainey. At the moment, it’s looking like Wake Forest star transfer Juke Harris could be that guy, according to Joe Tipton of On3 Sports.

“Former Wake Forest guard Juke Harris is currently the No. 1 overall player in On3’s Transfer Portal Rankings. The 6-foot-7 sophomore averaged 21.4 PPG this season. NC State will be in the hunt for the North Carolina native, who’s expected to go through the NBA Draft process,” Tipton wrote. “New Wolfpack head coach Justin Gainey recruited Harris while he was at Tennessee and built a strong relationship with him.”

Harris’ prior relationship with Gainey along with the fact that the star guard is from North Carolina make NC State a likely landing spot. However, it wouldn’t be a surprise if North Carolina also swoops in to recruit Harris under new head coach Michael Malone, who has a lot of roster building to do himself.

Harris will be one of the most sought-after guards in the portal after averaging 21.4 points per game as a sophomore at Wake Forest. He wasn’t the most efficient scorer, shooting just over 44% from the field and 33% from 3-point range, but playing with better talent and not being the sole focus of opponent scouting reports should help those numbers come up. Harris would be a great addition to a Wolfpack squad in need of some more scoring punch heading into next season.

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