NC State basketball reaches out to several transfer portal targets

During the past week, NC State basketball has been linked with the following players who have entered into the NCAA transfer portal.

Akron forward Ali Ali

The 6-foot-8, 196-pound Ali had his best season yet in year three for him at Akron, leading the Zips in averaging 13.9 points per game. He displayed a good three-point shooting touch, making 48 of 118 from long range, or 40.7 percent.

Akron won the MAC Tournament and lost to UCLA in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. The Zips opened the season with one-point loss to Ohio State, during which Ali scored 17 points.

The long list of teams that has reached out to Ali include Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Marquette, Memphis, Missouri, Northwestern, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Virginia and Virginia Tech, among others.

Indiana center Michael Durr

This is Durr’s second time in the transfer portal. He spent three seasons at South Florida, improving every season statistically and averaging 8.8 points and 7.9 rebounds pre game as a junior.

Durr originally committed to transfer to Virginia Tech last spring, but then backed out and switched to Indiana. However, he averaged 7.1 minutes and 1.5 points and 1.0 rebounds per game after recovering from a summertime knee injury that forced him to miss the season opener.

The 7-foot, 250-pounder from Atlanta has also reportedly heard from Arizona State, Central Florida and Pepperdine.

Southeastern Louisiana wing Gus Okafor

Okaford was a first-team All-Southland Conference selection this past season, and NC State joins Arkansas, DePaul, VCU and Virginia Tech among the teams that has reached out to the Baltimore native.

The 6-foot-6, 230-pounder played a postgraduate year at Massanutten Military Academy, a year before Dereon Seabron starred there. After Massanutten, Okafor signed with Longwood, then went to Miami Dade College before ending up at SE Louisiana.

This past season, Okafor averaged 14.6 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. He made 60 threes, although he shot just 32.6 percent from long range.

Kansas State guard Nijel Pack

The 6-foot, 180-pounder from Indianapolis is expected to be one of the top targets in the transfer portal, although Pack has also entered his name into the NBA Draft. Thus, NC State basketball is far from alone in reaching out.

Pack has also heard from Arizona, Gonzaga, Miami, Ohio State, Purdue, Tennessee and Xavier.

As a sophomore, Pack was first-team All-Big 12 when he averaged 17.4 points per game. He is a strong three-point shooter, making 95 shots from beyond the arc this past season while shooting 43.6 percent on his attempts.

Pack’s season-high was a 35-point outburst against Kansas, who will play for the national title Monday night.

Bradley guard Terry Roberts

After two seasons at junior college, Roberts enrolled at Bradley and was named the Missouri Valley Conference Newcomer of the Year. The 6-foot-3, 180-pounder from North Amityville, N.Y., averaged 14.5 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.1 assists per game.

There are a long list of teams that have also reached out to Roberts, including BYU, Clemson, Cincinnati, Florida, Georgia Tech, Indiana, Kansas State, LSU, Maryland, Memphis, Mississippi State, Missouri, Oklahoma State, Purdue, Rutgers, Texas and Wake Forest

Loyola Maryland guard Cam Spencer

Spencer enters the transfer portal after a big scoring season for Loyola, averaging 18.9 points per game.  The 6-foot-4, 207-pounder from Davidsonville, Md., also averaged 4.8 rebounds, 3.2 assists and 2.3 steals per contest.

In a season-opening loss at UNC, Spencer had 15 points.

Spencer has also reportedly heard from BYU, Clemson, Maryland, Minnesota, Ole Miss, Richmond, San Diego State and Stanford, among others.

Nevada center Warren Washington

The 7—foot native of Escondido, Calif., told On3, “I hear from NC State, Pittsburgh, LSU, Florida, BYU, Notre Dame, Missouri, Illinois, Butler, Washington, Arkansas, Arizona State, Marquette, and some more,”

Washington started his career at Oregon State before transferring to Nevada. He averaged double digits points in each of his two seasons there, including 10.5 this past season. He also contributed 6.6 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game in 2021-22.

Against Kansas this year, Washington had seven points and six rebounds. Versus Washington, he had 15 points and nine boards to help Nevada to a lopsided win.

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