Confirmed: Marques Johnson to NC State - StateFans Nation StateFans Nation

A lot of our recent conversations related to basketball recruiting discussed holes in the backcourt that will exist on State’s roster in the next couple of years before Julius Mays arrives in Raleigh.

Consider the hole filled.

Enter, Marques Johnson. (Not that Marques Johnson.)

This Marques Johnson is a freshman combo guard who has announced that he is transferring from Tennessee to NC State.

NC State has landed more backcourt help for next season. Freshman Tennessee guard Marques Johnson has decided to transfer to NC State according to the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette. He is expected to enroll at classes for the spring semester starting Wednesday. He will have at least two and a half seasons of eligibility starting with the conclusion of the 2007 fall exams.

Johnson, a native of Fort Wayne, Ind., that nearly committed to NC State after an unofficial visit to the school over Memorial Day weekend in 2005, also considered Xavier. He was in Raleigh over the past weekend for a visit, sitting behind the bench during the Boston College game.

At 6-5 and 200 pounds, Johnson has superb size for the backcourt. Coming out of high school, Johnson was ranked by some services based on the shooting guard position that he had been playing; but Bruce Pearl and Tennessee’s staff clearly liked Johnson as a point guard. Ultimately, injury and competition limited Johnson’s time at the point and he has chosen to opt for a change of scenery.

Johnson’s recruiting rankings peaked in the Top 50 prior to his senior season. Ultimately, Scout.com listed him as a 4-star prospect and the (#21) shooting guard in America while Rivals settled on a three-star ranking and the (#130) overall player in his class.

These conversations are not meant as criticisms of Iowa State transfer, Farnold Degand; but more of a recognition that Degand is a combo guard and athlete as opposed to a someone who is expected to be equipped to run the point for an ACC program in his first year of college basketball.

Projected 2007-2008 NC State Basketball Roster

Senior Class
(1) Gavin Grant (2G/3F)

Junior Class
(2) Courtney Fells (2G)
(3) Ben McCauley (4F/5C)

Sophomore Class
(4) Brandon Costner (3F/4F)
(5) Trevor Ferguson (2G/PG)
(6) Dennis Horner (3F)
(7) Farnold Degand (1PG/2G)
(8) Bartosz Lewandowski (5C)

Freshman Class
(9) Johnny Thomas (3F)
(10) JJ Hickson (5C/4F)
(11) Tracy Smith (4F)
(12) Marques Johnson (PG) (eligible after first semester)

HS Senior Commits
(13) Julius Mays (PG)
(1) CJ Williams (3F/2G) [Gavin Grant’s old scholarship]

51 Responses to Confirmed: Marques Johnson to NC State

vtpackfan 01/09/2007 at 6:21 PM #

red^ he sounds like a combo guard that got sold by scouts as a better wing threat although he played pg in Ft. Wayne. My guess is that Pearl and Co. at UT saw something in him that they liked other than a point guard and left that a secret until he got there. There is some saying he was hurt and that they wanter to medical redshirt him, but I found a qoute from Pearl after they had him signed saying he would make a great 3 in their offense.

From Johnson’s attitude towards this transfer he wants to become a high level PG. He’s see’s a great fit at NC State with the coach’s and he was quick to point out “they need me.” Hw knows that alot will be asked of him, he watched those guys on Sat. and still didn’t shy away.

Lastly, and again, the pg landscape is ooking bleak out there. ’08 is setting up to being a perfect storm for NC State and it’s pg shortage woes. I respect Coach Lowes execution in his matter. Had he sat on our keister then a tremoundous amount of pressure probably would have been laid at the feet of May’s when he comes to State. He is also listed as a combo guard, so that would have been really rolling the dice. Atleast this way Sid and Co. can work by committe until a possible solution presents itself.

Another thing I have mentioned is that this is so crucial because of guys like Hickson and Smith. It fly’s in the face of “no one recruit is bigger then the program”, but when your landing some huge names like this you can’t squander any time by not sorrounding them with quality players. We can’t expect to bring in top notch C, and PF’s, only to not have the ability to showcase them and expect many more stud recruits will follow quickly behind.