Kevin Keatts breaks down six transfer additions

NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts met with the media Wednesday after completing his roster with the addition of Stanford point guard transfer Michael O’Connell. Keatts joked that there was no offseason, as work to build the team began the day after the NCAA Tournament loss to Creighton.

Keatts added six transfers to the NC State basketball team from the portal, and he spoke about each during the press conference. Here are those comments.

Kansas freshman wing MJ Rice

Kevin Keatts: “Very talented, McDonald’s All-American. Obviously he’s from Durham. Didn’t get the opportunity to play because they had a very good Kansas team and some very good players that played in front of him I personally think that he’s one of the most underrated transfers in the portal.

“He was a McDonald’s All-American, really don’t hear a lot about him. Talented, I think he can play any guard position. He’s strong, he’s physical. We’ve worked him really hard. Tremendous kid, has a great body, can score inside and out. I think he’s going to be really good.”

Arizona State grad guard DJ Horne

Kevin Keatts: “Scorer, older guy who’s been around. Reminds me similar of the Jarkel Joiner and Terquavion Smith type of guy who can really score the basketball. Knows how to play. He has had success in college at every level, mid-major and high-major and also playing the tournament, which has been really good.”

Clemson sophomore forward/center Ben Middlebrooks

Keatts: “He just he kicked our butt offensive rebounding. Probably had his best game against us. So, I said, ‘You know what, we will take him on our team.’

“He’s a lot more skilled than you guys will know. You’ll see him, and I’ll talk about Mohamed [Diarra] here in a minute, both of those guys will play some four for us, and there will be a possibility for some bigger lineups.

“But because he played behind some really good players and PJ Hall at Clemson, he’s another guy who didn’t get an opportunity to play as much as he could. We’re working on him stretching his game. He can shoot it out to three, very talented.”

Missouri junior forward/center Mohamed Diarra

Keatts: “Really skilled post, great rebounder, good shot blocker, runs the floor. Going to be a really good basketball player for us and I’m excited about him, also.”

Butler sophomore guard Jayden Taylor

Keatts: “It’s funny. My thing is we took three guys who played against a little bit, and Taylor was good. He scored 19 against us, but we told him he lost the game so we got to cut that in half.

“He can play kind of one, two and three at his size. Really good defender. What I always love to hear a kid say, he’s saying now, ‘Who’s going to take the best offensive guy on the other team,’ between him and Casey [Morsell], and you never get that.

“But he can score the basketball and very solid, good passer, knows how to play good in transition.”

Stanford junior point guard Michael O’Connell

Keatts: “I have to give him a lot of credit, graduated from Stanford in three years and didn’t transfer a credit in before he got there as a freshman. Coming out of high school was one of the best lacrosse players in the country. Everybody knows Maryland lacrosse is really good and contemplated going there as a freshman.

“But brings toughness, a little bit more of a traditional point guard that we really haven’t had, but we love his numbers. If you take his numbers, and he’ll enjoy this point of it, he took at least 10 shots he was 53 percent and close to 40 from three. I was like, ‘Dude, we got to get you taking more shots. That’s what we do. We shoot the ball here.’

“So excited about him. He’s a breath of fresh air. Really was concerned going into one of his finals that he did a good job and so he can get a 3.5.”