With the transfer portal open and new head coach Will Wade at the helm, the NC State men’s basketball has a lot of ground to cover if it wants to live up to Wade’s bold introductory press conference promises.
After former McNeese State guards Alyn Breed and Quadir Copeland announced they’d be following their coach to Raleigh, there are still a lot of scholarship spots left on the roster. Let’s take a look at the players NC State is trying to fill those spots with and see what they could bring to the team.
Devin Haid
Devin Haid worked his way up to Division I, playing at the JUCO level for Cuyahoga Community College in 2022-2023 and then Division II for Notre Dame College Ohio in 2023-2024 before transferring to Central Connecticut State last season. Haid averaged 14.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game and was selected to the All-NEC second team this year.
At 6-foot-5 in the guard role, his game has a lot of similarities to Bethea’s. The big difference is that he is more effective when he can get by defenders instead of settling for 3-point shots. Last season, he averaged four 3-point attempts per game and made 31.8% of them. That’s not exactly elite shooting, but Wade has employed guards with similar numbers effectively in the past. He is also strong enough to rip rebounds away from other players, something he does a lot.
This season, he was named as a finalist for the Riley Wallace Award, given to the season’s most impactful transfer player. Haid is ready to make another big impact next year, hearing from Mississippi State, West Virginia, St. Johns, Texas and, of course, NC State.
Rodney Rice
Rodney Rice hardly needs an introduction, starting for Maryland in a lineup that earned the moniker “Crab Five.” A four-star recruit out of high school, Rice committed to Virginia Tech in 2022. He struggled with injuries and was in and out of the lineup for all of that season, only playing eight games. His next year was even worse, with a broken ankle and hand keeping him out all year before he transferred to Maryland, where he got the opportunity to show off his skills.
Averaging 13.8 points per game and shooting 37.4% from 3 on almost six attempts per game, he was a crucial part of a Maryland roster that earned a four-seed in the NCAA Tournament on its way to losing in the Sweet 16 to No. 1 Florida. His ability to create shots around the perimeter would see him as a focal point in Wade’s offense. His defensive skills do not stand out, but he played big minutes on one of the best defenses in the nation, and he is far from a liability.
As the 17th-ranked player in the transfer portal according to 247Sports, Rice is highly sought after, one of those teams being Villanova — the team his head coach at Maryland, Kevin Willard, left for. In addition to the Wildcats, he has heard from tournament titans Gonzaga and UConn and is being pursued by a number of Maryland’s in-conference rivals, including Michigan and Indiana. It’ll take more than just Wade’s charisma to earn him over, but he would make a huge difference for the Wolfpack.
Juslin Bodo Bodo
Unlike most of the guys on this list, Juslin Bodo Bodo earned his stripes on the defensive side of the court. Hailing from Yaounde, Cameroon, he committed to High Point University as a three-star recruit out of high school. With High Point, he won Big South Defensive Player of the Year in back-to-back years. This year, he was named to the All Big South first team, averaging 5.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
His 7-foot, 240-pound frame contributes to his menacing presence on defense, but he also ranks number one in KenPom’s offensive rebound rating. His rebounding, especially in open space, may be his best skill. He is not much of a shooter, but he is a dangerous lob threat and often puts back his or his teammates’ misses around the rim.
Conference competitors Florida State and Virginia have reached out to Bodo Bodo in addition to Texas and NC State. Not every player in the portal is seven feet tall, so Wade’s team will have to fight hard to bring him here.
Rodney Johnson Jr.
Rodney Johnson Jr. is a bit of an unknown on the transfer market. Johnson played for Panola College at the JUCO level in the 2021-2022 season and then for Weatherford College in the 2022-2023 season before transferring and playing two years at Tennessee Tech. Thanks to a new NCAA ruling, athletes who transferred from JUCO and just used their last year of eligibility will be granted another one, so pending future rulings, he has another year to play.
A 6-foot-5 guard, Johnson scored 13.0 points per game, as well as grabbing 5.8 boards and shooting 40.2% from 3 in the 2024-2025 season. He is not afraid of contact, scoring almost 40% of his baskets around the rim. Most of his 3s are catch-and-shoot, but he will let it fly when he’s unguarded coming down the floor. Shot creation is not his specialty, but he knows how to use his size and strength to his advantage when matched up with smaller players.
Johnson has received offers from a number of other Division I programs, but NC State is the only Power 4 school to reach out to him so far.
Malique Ewin
The second center on this list, Malique Ewin played for Florida State last year. As a four-star recruit, he committed to Ole Miss and played one season before transferring to South Plains Community College to play at the JUCO level. After being named to the NJCAA All-American First-Team, he transferred to Florida State this past season, where he averaged 14.2 points and 7.6 rebounds per game. Ewin had a monster game against the Wolfpack last season, scoring 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds in an 84-74 loss for Florida State.
At 6-foot-11, 230 pounds, he moves surprisingly well with the ball, bringing it down the court sometimes and attacking lanes when he sees space. He scores most of his points in the post and at the rim, where he has a wide array of moves. He is great at making the pass out of double teams, not only to the perimeter but also to teammates under the basket. He saw a lot of use in pick-and-rolls where his good hands made him an effective lob threat. Overall, he has a very fleshed-out offensive game.
The Wolfpack would be thrilled to win over a guy like Ewin, but every team in the country looking for a center will be ringing his line.
Will Wade has his hands full filling up the roster for the 2025-2026 season but has found plenty of the right guys to target. The transfer portal doesn’t close until April 22, so this process will go on for weeks — the Wolfpack’s next star player might not even be in the portal yet.
