Stanford transfer point guard Michael O’Connell to visit NC State

NC State has gotten itself into the running for former Stanford point guard Michael O’Connell, who will visit Raleigh this weekend, per Andrew Slater. O’Connell started 76 games over three seasons in Palo Alto.

O’Connell has mostly been a facilitator in college—last year, for instance, he attempted only 13% of his team’s shots while on the floor. That would be his ideal role at NC State as well, since the Pack added plenty of offense off the ball, and the team could use a reliable distributor to create opportunities for them, and y’know, keep them off the ball, where they’re more effective.

O’Connell is pretty good off the dribble, he’s just not a jump shooter—he’s a career 30% three point shooter, and was 11-37 from outside in 2023. He understands that’s not a strength, which is half the battle—but again, I don’t think Kevin Keatts is hoping to bring him in to unlock some hidden scoring potential.