Head coach Kevin Keatts’ arrival from UNC-Wilmington foretold a plethora of new faces for the NC State men’s basketball team.
Junior guard C.J. Bryce left the Seahawks with Keatts, graduate transfer guard Allerik Freeman departed from Baylor, sophomore guard Devon Daniels transferred from Utah and graduate transfer guard Sam Hunt traveled just a hop, skip and a jump from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical University in Greensboro.
“I’m anxious [about playing],” Hunt said. “It’s my first time playing [in PNC Arena]. I grew up literally an hour away. I’ve been watching NC State play since Sidney Lowe coached here.”
Hunt and Freeman are both eligible to play in the 2017-18 season due to their graduations from their respective schools in May. Hunt joins a crowded backcourt with the likes of Freeman, redshirt junior guard Torin Dorn, sophomore guard Markell Johnson and freshman guard Lavar Batts Jr.
The Greensboro native should make an easy transition into the Wolfpack’s system. Keatts brings a new scheme to Raleigh: a fast-paced and guard-heavy style that requires lots of offseason run conditioning.
“We dive on the floor, we get after it as much as we can on defense,” Hunt said. “If there’s a loose ball, we have to get it. We keep track of getting loose balls so there’s a lot of floor burns, scratching and diving for the ball.”
Alongside an obvious intensity for defense, Hunt has a knack for scoring.
After playing his freshman year at Jacksonville University and sitting out a year due to NCAA transfer rules, Hunt shined in his two years for the Bulldogs.
In his sophomore season, he led the team in scoring with 15.4 points per game. Hunt also converted 64 3-pointers, dished 60 assists and 20 steals, ranking him first, second and tied for second on the year, respectively.
His junior year mirrors the former, including an impressive free throw percentage. Hunt connected on over 90 percent of his attempts from the charity stripe for NC A&T, with 90.1 percent in his sophomore year and 93.7 percent in his junior year.
“[Hunt] brings an extremely great shooting touch,” Dorn said. “He’s a marksman from beyond the arc. Sam really makes the defense stretch, and he’s a great shooter.”
Hunt is eager to begin his career with the Pack on Friday in the exhibition matchup against Mars Hill University. However, Keatts announced on Wednesday that Hunt’s status is uncertain as he suffered minor a lower left leg injury.
Keatts will wisely not risk aggravating the injury further, but Hunt is chomping at the bit and is positive he will dress.
“Exhibitions are great, but they’re exhibitions,” Keatts said. “Obviously anytime we roll out, we want to win the game; we want to compete. But certainly I don’t want to sacrifice a young man for the season because of an exhibition game.”
Whether or not Hunt plays, it doesn’t matter to the 6-foot-2 guard. He has his eyes on the ultimate goal.
“My biggest goal is to win,” Hunt said. “I want to play in the NCAA Tournament, win the National Championship and win the ACC; so being a fifth-year guy willing to do whatever it takes to win, I think that’s my biggest aspect I can bring to the team.”
