Point guard Michael O’Connell commits to NC State

That didn’t take long. Former Stanford guard Michael O’Connell announced his commitment to NC State on Sunday afternoon and he took an official visit to Raleigh over the weekend. The the three-year veteran is moving from one coast to the other but staying within the prestigious Block S Logo Universe.

O’Connell is coming off a season in which he averaged 5.2 points and 3.1 assists in 26 minutes per game—as I mentioned the other day, he’s been a secondary option throughout his career and generally hasn’t taken many shots while on the court. He should continue looking to distribute first and foremost, while scoring when opportunity presents.

If he can get back to his freshman year numbers (52% on twos, 33% on threes), we’ll be in business. It’s worth noting that he was above-average playing off ball screens in 2023, as certainly that’s something he’ll be doing a lot of for Kevin Keatts.

He had a career-high 22 points in Stanford’s upset of Arizona in February, then handed out a career-high 12 assists a couple weeks later. He made 76 starts in his Stanford career.