Kevin Keatts jokes about ‘trading’ with Clemson after Ben Middlebrooks, Jack Clark transfers

Middling ACC basketball powers NC State and Clemson essentially completed a power forward trade via the Transfer Portal this offseason. That’s right, the Wolfpack lost their starting four man from this past season, Jack Clark, to the portal, while Clemson lost reserve forward Ben Middlebrooks to transfer as well.

Fast forward a few weeks and Clark has pledged to play his sixth and final year of college ball at Clemson; meanwhile, Middlebrooks committed to to play for NC State, likely in Clark’s old spot.

So, the hard-nosed veteran wing heads from the Pack to the Tigers, while NC State gets back a younger forward with a few more years of eligibility. Not bad business, if you ask Wolfpack head coach Kevin Keatts, who said they intentionally announced the Middlebrooks commitment early in the day after they knew Clark was announcing his pledge to Clemson the same afternoon.

“Well, we heard that Jack was going to announce at 12 and we weren’t going to let them beat us again, and so we said, you know, what we’re going to do, get ours in at 11 o’clock,” shared Keatts when asked about the program’s player swap with Clemson.

“So it worked out well,” Keatts continued. “Brad and I, we teased at the ACC meetings about, you know, it was a trade and everybody else in the room, too, like…oh, on the same day you made a trade. And, you know, I wish Jack luck there and (Middlebrooks) is going to be good here.”

If we’re looking at who won this little trade, time will ultimately tell since Middlebrooks has a lot longer flame left at the college ranks than his trade partner. However, for next year, Clark is clearly the more accomplished piece. He’s played college ball forever (half a decade, in fact) and showcased high-level impact on the high-major level this past season as a hustle player and defensive weapon for the Pack.

On the other hand, Ben Middlebrooks didn’t puncture the Clemson lineup in any meaningful way as a freshman and sophomore, but should be asked to play a sizeable role for an NC State team that doesn’t have a lot of surefire options behind him down low.

Either way, both players should receive plenty of minutes at their new ACC homes. Of course, we’ll have to monitor their matchup against one another during conference play to see who really proves to be the ultimate winner of this Transfer Portal “trade.”