Eli Boettger | @boettger_eli | 05/01/20
Welcome back to Three Things!
The intention of Three Things is simple: Keeping you informed. The offseason can be a busy time and college basketball isn’t always on everyone’s radars from April to October.
Here’s how it will work: Every morning, Monday through Friday, we will provide you with three things that you need to know from the previous day. Pretty simple, right? You’ll be amazed by your new college basketball wisdom!
Here are the three things you need to know for May 1.
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Wake Forest chooses new coach
Wake Forest made quick work of its head-coaching vacancy, inking East Tennessee State’s Steve Forbes to a deal early Thursday. Forbes was selected over Wes Miller, Pat Kelsey, and others, according to reports.
Forbes replaces Danny Manning, who was fired over the weekend after six years with the program and just one NCAA Tournament appearance. At ETSU, Forbes won 130 games over the past five years, one of the highest five-year totals in the country. Forbes will now look to retain as much talent as possible for the ’20-21 season and beyond.
Mississippi State adds transfer
The 2020 offseason hasn’t been particularly kind to Mississippi State. The Bulldogs have lost a whopping six players to the transfer market and four more have declared for the NBA Draft.
Fortunately for Ben Howland, MSU landed Louisiana grad transfer Jalen Johnson on Thursday. The 6-7 forward started his college career at Saint Louis before spending the past season with the Ragin’ Cajuns, where he averaged 15.5 points and 6.6 rebounds per game. With several offseason departures, Johnson can expect a sizable role this upcoming season.
More bad luck for N.C. State
N.C. State’s worst nightmares were realized for the second year in a row. Josh Hall, who was the program’s prized incoming recruit, announced Thursday he will instead sign with an agent and declare for the NBA Draft.
Hall is the 32nd overall player in 24/7Sports’ class of 2020 rankings. Due to playing a postgraduate season at Moravian Prep, Hall met the necessary requirements to advance straight to the NBA. It’s the second consecutive season the Wolfpack had its top recruit leave for the pros, as top-50 signee Jalen Lecque entered the draft last spring after a postgrad year and never suited up for N.C. State.
Eli Boettger is a college basketball writer and founder of HeatCheckCBB.com. He has previously worked for Sporting News, DAZN and USA TODAY SMG.
Boettger’s content has been featured by Bleacher Report, NBC Sports, FiveThirtyEight, Yahoo Sports, Athletic Director University, Washington Post, Illinois Law Review and Notre Dame Law Review, among other publications. Boettger is also a current USBWA member and Rockin’ 25 voter.