The future of NC State basketball was on display at The John Wall Invitational
On the opening day of the John Wall Holiday Invitational, three future N.C. State players were in action at Broughton High School. It gave many N.C. State fans in the Triangle an early glimpse of what’s to come in the next few years.
In the third game of the day, Farmville Central junior forward Terquavion Smith led the Jaguars to their 42nd straight win, 72-67 over Broughton. Smith, who struggled in the first half, shooting 2 of 13 from the floor, finished with 18 points.
The class of 2021 prospect committed to Kevin Keatts and the Wolfpack last February. He’s currently ranked the No. 4 player in the state in his class. The 6-3, four-star guard is the lone 2021 N.C. State commit.
“The whole coaching staff is like a family,” Smith said. “They check up on me, I check up on them, it’s all love.”
Coaches aren’t allowed to watch prospects until the 27th, but Keatts had a loophole. His son, KJ, plays for Broughton, so Keatts played dad but also got a glimpse at Smith, who said it was cool to play against the son of his future coach.
“I didn’t even know he was on the team until he came out there,” Smith said.
The following game featured a pair of players who will be in Raleigh next year. The Moravian Prep combo of Josh Hall and Shakeel Moore led the Lions to a 58-53 win over Kinston. Hall, the No. 2 player in the state, finished with 21 points and 12 rebounds. Moore, the No. 7 player in the state, finished with 10 points and five assists.
This is the first year the duo has played together, but the players showed the type of chemistry that should bring a lot of excitement to Raleigh the next few years.
“We work every day in the gym,” Moore told the N&O after the win over Kinston. “We eat together, we sleep in the same house, just a lot of chemistry being built up.”
That chemistry was on display early when Moore found Hall for a backdoor lob. Known as a lock down defender, Moore showed off his athletic ability on more than one occasion. The 6-0 guard missed his first dunk attempt, which would have put a Vikings’ player on a poster, but drove down the lane and threw down his next attempt. Moore said N.C. State fans can expect a lot of that in the future — the makes, not the misses.
Hall gets to see Moore put on a show every day in practice.
“He’s amazing,” Hall said about Moore. “He has confidence in his shot now and he’s learning how to become a more polished point guard. It’s only up.”
Moravian Prep improved to 17-0. The Lions struck gold when Hall and Moore decided to give the small prep school in Hickory a try. Now they’ve developed the program into a national power.
If they can bring that same kind of turnaround to Raleigh next year, a lot of Wolfpack fans will be extremely happy.
N.C. State fans flocked to see the duo and made their presence felt Thursday, asking for autographs and cheering from the stands from the start. That kind of energy and passion is part of what made Moore commit to State.
“They are die hard,” Moore said. “You can’t go wrong. They scream your name, ask for autographs, it’s fun.”
Both players are from North Carolina and grew up following the John Wall tournament and dreamed of putting on a show in Raleigh.
“I love it,” Hall said. “I grew up watching this tournament, if you can’t get (excited) for this, you can’t get excited for nothing.”
Hall and Moore will join Cam Hayes of Greensboro Day, Nick Farrar of Apex Friendship (who will also play in the John Wall) and Ebenezer Dowuona of The Heritage School (Newman, Ga.) next year in Raleigh. The group is currently ranked as the No. 3 class in the ACC according to 247Sports and No. 7 in the country. Since all five players signed, they have turned into one of the most highly anticipated classes heading to Raleigh since 2016, when they were ranked No. 5 in the nation, headlined by Dennis Smith, Jr.
“The group is special,” Moore said about the class of 2020. “I just know we are going to come out next year and put on a show for the fans.”
This story was originally published December 27, 2019 at 6:00 AM.
