NC State basketball transfer portal watch (Friday, March 31)

In Thursday’s NC State basketball recruiting transfer portal watch, TheWolfpacker.com detailed why Marshall freshman center Micah Handlogten was a name to track after his decision to leave Marshall. That quickly became a confirmed fact.

On3’s Jamie Shaw confirmed that NC State was one of the long list of teams that quickly reached out to Handlogten, although in-person contact cannot happen until the dead period ends noon April 6, and even then just for a brief window through April 9.

Other schools to reach out to Handlogten include Arkansas, Clemson, Florida, Georgia, Illinois, Indiana, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia, among others, according to Shaw.

The 7-foot-1 Handlogten was the Sun Belt Conference Rookie of the Year after he averaged 7.6 points, 9.8 rebounds and 2.3 blocked shots in 25.3 minutes per game while shooting 66.2 percent from the field. He led all freshman nationally in rebounding.

NC State basketball has not been linked to many post players in the transfer portal, but there is a potential need for one. While potential super senior DJ Burns Jr. has not publicly confirmed his intentions to return to NC State, sources have indicated to TheWolfpacker.com that is expected to be the case.

Depth after Burns, though, is a question mark. Dusan Mahorcic would need a waiver to get an extra season of eligibility, but even if granted by the unpredictable NCAA, after multiple knee injuries the Wolfpack may be reluctant to put all its eggs in that basket.

Redshirted freshman Isaiah Miranda, a midyear enrollee, is a 7-footer with exciting potential, but he has a thin frame and a game that may be more suited to be a very tall forward instead.

Handlogten would seemingly fit the mold of a complement to the foul-prone Burns and with three seasons of eligibility left could be groomed to take over the post afterward.

Furthermore, Handlogten is a native of Huntersville, N.C., just outside of Charlotte, and he played high school hoops for former NC State basketball legend Rodney Monroe at SouthLake Christian.

His father played professionally in the NBA with the Utah Jazz after competing collegiately with Western Michigan.

Updates On Two Potential NC State Lead Guard Targets

Arizona State grade transfer DJ Horne confirmed with Shaw that NC State still remains one of the schools in contact. Also on the list were Arkansas, Butler, Clemson, Florida State, Kansas, LSU, Ohio State, Pittsburgh and South Carolina.

Horne is originally from the Raleigh suburb of Cary. He signed with Illinois State before transferring to Arizona State, where during his first season one of the Sun Devils’ assistant coaches was Joel Justus.

Justus is now an assistant for NC State basketball, having just completed his first season in Raleigh.

Furthermore, one of Horne’s teammates at his prior stop at Illinois State was Mahorcic, who raved about the experience this past season with NC State.

The 6-foot-1, 175-pound Horne is a scoring guard, averaging 12.5 points per contest in each of his two seasons for ASU, starting all but three of the 65 games he played. This past campaign, he added 3.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists and 1.1 steals per game for a team that received an at-large bid into the NCAA Tournament.

NC State had also made initial contact with Mount St. Mary’s Jalen Benjamin, son of former NC State basketball guard Ishua Benjamin. The younger Benjamin has set up an official visit with UNC Wilmington, per Justin Byerly.

This past year, Benjamin contributed 16.0 points and 3.8 assists per game. He’s made at least 49 three-pointers every year in college and is a 34.7 percent shooter beyond the arc.

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