The 6-foot-8 Freeman announced his commitment on Twitter.

Freeman, who averaged 10.1 points and 7.8 rebounds at Oak Hill,  also considered Villanova, Pittsburgh, Seton Hall, UAB and DePaul

“He’s a fast-developing four man who can step out to 15-17 feet and also put it on the floor and drive it,” Oak Hill coach Steve Smith told SNY.tv. “He scores inside with both hands and is a tenacious rebounder and a defender who can guard multiple positions.” 

N.C. State lost five key players to graduation, transfer and the NBA Draft, and now will look to replace them with Freeman, point guard Anthony “Cat” Barber, power forward Kyle Washington, center Beejay Anya and junior college guard Desmond Lee, who averaged 20.3 points at New Mexico Junior College.

The Wolfpack return freshman wing T.J. Warren and freshman point guard Tyler Lewis, who also played at Oak Hill.

FREE THROWS

5-11 G Damon Lynn of Union Catholic, a 2nd-team All-State selection in New Jersey, has committed to NJIT over LIU, Quinnipiac and Fairfield.

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N.C. State freshman guard Rodney Purvis and a trio of West Virginia Mountaineers are all transferring.

Aaron Brown, Volodymyr Gerun and Mount Vernon, N.Y., native Jabarie Hinds are all leaving Bob Huggins‘ program, the school announced.

Purvis, whose transfer was reported by NewsObserver.com, is a McDonald’s All-American who averaged 8.3 points and 2.4 rebounds this season.

He confirmed the decision on his Twitter account on Monday afternoon.

“Tears won’t stop falling,” Purvis wrote. “I enjoyed every moment here. I still love you guys, no matter how you may feel towards me. Thank y’all !”

Several reports linked Purvis to UConn, which next year will be part of the yet-to-be-named former Big East Conference.

N.C. State will lose all five of its starters to graduation, transfer and early departure. As previously reported by SNY.tv., juniors C.J. Leslie and Lorenzo Brown will declare for the NBA Draft, and Richard Howell and Scott Wood are graduating. Purvis started 23 of the team’s first 25 games before moving to the bench.

At West Virginia, Brown is a 6-5 sophomore guard from Darby, Pa., who averaged 1.2 points and 0.9 rebounds. Rob Brown, Aaron Brown’s AAU coach, said the player had no list of choices yet.

Gerun is a 6-10 sophomore from the Ukraine who averaged 1.3 points and 0.7 rebounds.

And Hinds is a 5-11 sophomore who averaged 7.4 points and 1.8 rebounds.

He initially chose West Virginia over UConn, UNLV and UCLA on SNY.tv.

Mount Vernon coach Bob Cimmino said he had no current list of options.

“I just want to say thank you to my teammates & the fans for the all the love and support I received,” Hinds Tweeted.

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The Brown news was first reported by CBSSports.com, and confirmed by the source, who added that Leslie will also declare.

The 6-foot-9 Leslie averaged 15.1 points and 7.4 rebounds this past season. He is projected as the No. 35 pick by DraftExpress.com.

The 6-5 Brown averaged 12.6 points and 7.2 assists and is listed as the No. 29 pick by DraftExpress.com.

The Wolfpack also lose seniors Richard Howell and Scott Wood, but bring in another solid recruiting class featuring point guard Anthony “Cat” Barber, power forward Kyle Washington and big man Beejay Anya.

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Julius Randle

With the 6-foot-9 Randle on an official visit, the No. 18 Wolfpack cruised past the arch-rival Tar Heels, 91-83, in ACC action Saturday in Raleigh, N.C.

“It’s a significant win for us,” Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried said. “To get where you want to be as a program, you have to take certain steps to get there. This was a big one for us.”

Five players reached double-figures for N.C. State, including point guard Lorenzo Brown, who played brilliantly in putting up 20 points, 11 assists and five turnovers.

The sell-out crowd, buzzing since early Saturday morning for ESPN’s College GameDay show at PNC Arena, was at full blast on Saturday night.

“I’ve coached a lot of games and went to a lot of places while I was a broadcaster and I don’t think I have ever seen a crowd as energized as the one we had tonight,” Gottfried said. “It was an incredible atmosphere.”

Randle was one of several high-profile recruits on campus for the game, and posed for this photo he put on Instagram.

“Haaaa N.C st fans are crazy,” he Tweeted.

The Wolfpack already have 6-8 forward Kyle Washington signed for next year, along with 6-8 DeMatha Catholic big man Beejay Anya and 6-1 Hampton (Va.) point guard Anthony “Cat” Barber.

They would love to add Randle, a close friend of N.C. State freshman guard Rodney Purvis, to that group.

“We’ll hopefully add one or two more [recruits] this year,” Gottfried told SNY.tv last month in New York. “You gotta have good players, I know that.”

Randle will visit Texas Feb. 9 and Kansas Feb. 16.

He’s also considering Kentucky, Oklahoma and Florida, and will sign in the spring signing period beginning April 17.

(Gottfried quotes from N.C. State Athletics Website; Photo: Julius Randle Twitter)

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.

Julius Randle

The No. 18 Wolfpack hosts ACC rival North Carolina on Saturday.

“My next visit will be to N.C. State the weekend of Jan. 26, and I cannot wait to get down there to hang out with the coaches and my boy Rodney (Purvis),” the 6-foot-9 Randle out of Prestonwood (TX) Christian wrote on his USA Today blog. “I talk to him all the time and he tells me about how he’s doing and things like that. The whole team and staff seem pretty close, so I really like that.”

N.C. State already has an impressive 2013 class that includes point guard Anthony “Cat” Barber, who will also visit this weekend, power forward Kyle Washington and center Beejay Anya.

Randle has been sidelined by a broken foot suffered two days after Thanksgiving and has not been able to play since. Still, he’s getting closer to a return.

“But injuries have to have time to heal,” Randle wrote. “I think about how much basketball that I have ahead of me so I’m dedicated to doing the right thing right now.”

Randle will visit Texas Feb. 9 and Kansas Feb. 16.

He’s also considering Kentucky, Oklahoma and Florida, and will sign in the spring signing period beginning April 17.

Along with Randle and Barber, also expected to visit N.C. State this weekend are 2014 commits Cody and Caleb Martin  2015 point guard P.J. Dozier, 2015 small forward Brandon Ingram,  2016 power forward Harry Giles, and possibly 2013 uncommited center Sidy Mohamed Djitte, 2014 wing Theo Pinson, 2014 shooting guard Grayson Allen and 2014 power forward Isaac Copeland.

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NEW YORK

T.J. Warren (pictured), Rodney Purvis and Tyler Lewis — all former McDonald’s All-Americans — combined for just nine points, five rebounds and two assists in the 69-65 victory.

But as the Wolfpack attempt to challenge for an ACC regular-season championship and an NCAA Tournament run going forward, the three frosh could play increasingly key roles alongside veterans C.J. Leslie, Richard Howell, Lorenzo Brown and Scott Wood.

“They’ve barely tapped where they’re going to be throughout the year,” Wolfpack coach Mark Gottfried said of the freshmen. “I think their upside is tremendous. They’re still learning what we’re doing.”

The 6-foot-8 Warren, a Durham, N.C., native, has started two games for the Pack (5-2) and is second behind Howell on the team in scoring at 13.4 points per game. He put up a career-high 22 points in a win over Penn State and 18 in a loss to No. 3 Michigan.

In the Michigan game, Warren played against his former Brewster (N.H.) Academy teammate Mitch McGary and said the two exchanged some chatter.

“We go back and forth a little bit,” Warren said.

Warren said his year at Brewster, where he played alongside McGary, St. John’s forward JaKarr Sampson and Xavier’s Semaj Christon, helped prepare him for the college ranks.

“Definitely, I’m used to playing with a lot of good players,” Warren said. “It really helped me out coming here.”

In fact, all of those former Brewster players are doing well for themselves. The 6-10 McGary, at one point ranked among the top recruits in the Class of 2012, has not lived up to the hype but is averaging a solid 5.6 points and 5.3 rebounds. The 6-8 Sampson is averaging 13.6 points and 6.6 rebounds. And the 6-3 Christon is averaging 16.0 points and 6.2 assists.

At N.C. State, the 6-2 Purvis has started five times and is averaging 9.6 points and 2.6 rebounds, while the 5-11 Lewis is averaging 2.3 points in a backup role at point guard.

The learning curve is big for all of them.

“There’s a couple key times in the game [against UConn] when we’re trying to execute something and they’re not there yet where it’s not natural to them,” Gottfried said. “And then our older players are frustrated some.

“Calvin [C.J.] is saying, ‘Run the play’ because he’s used to last year at the end we ran everything really well. Now sometimes the freshmen are thinking, they’re not sure. So that’s going to come a little bit more as they more play games.”

This group of freshmen — and N.C. State’s overall profile — has also helped the Pack recruit well.

They already have another Brewster player, 6-8 forward Kyle Washington, signed for next year, along with 6-8 DeMatha Catholic big man Beejay Anya and 6-1 Hampton (Va.) point guard Anthony “Cat” Barber.

N.C. State remains in the mix for 6-9 power forward Julius Randle of Prestonwood (TX) Christian, who is sidelined three months with a fractured foot.

Still, he is slated to visit N.C. State Jan. 26 for the North Carolina game — after visits to Texas and Kansas this month. He is also considering Kentucky, Florida and Oklahoma.

“We’ll hopefully add one or two more [recruits] this year,” Gottfried said, speaking generally. “You gotta have good players, I know that.”

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The 6-foot-8 small forward from Roselle (N.J.) Catholic picked Syracuse on Friday over Villanova and Kansas.

“They’re going into the ACC next year which is a really good conference,” Roberson said on ESPNU as he pulled out a Syracuse shirt.

“And coach [Jim] Boeheim is one of the best coaches in college basketball and they’re just a really good college team.”

The Rivals No. 7 small forward in 2013, Roberson can play both forward positions but said his goal is to “Just to come in and help the team however I can and contribute.”

He said his long-term goals are to “keep working on my game, everything overall, shooting, dribbling, blocks shots and just getting stronger.”

Said Roselle Catholic coach Dave Boff: “Tyler is going to be a great fit for Syracuse. His length will be a good fit for their zone and his ability to play in transition works perfectly with what they like to do offensively.”

Roberson is Syracuse’s fifth commit in 2013, joining point guard Tyler Ennis of St. Benedict’s Prep, small forward B.J. Johnson out of Philly, shooting guard Ron Patterson of Brewster (N.H.) Academy and big man Chinonso Obokoh of Rochester.

In Ennis and Roberson, Syracuse landed arguably the two best players in New Jersey.

Syracuse may now be done for 2013, although they have also been involved with forwards Jermaine Lawrence of Pope John (N.J.) and Dakari Johnson of Montverda (Fla.) Academy.

MEEKS TO NORTH CAROLINA

Kennedy Meeks, the Rivals No. 5 center in 2013 out of West Charlotte (N.C.), chose North Carolina over Georgetown.

“Next year I will be going to the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill to play for coach Roy Williams,” he said on ESPNU.

“Just the atmosphere, the fans, the alumni, the teammates, just all fit in and made me feel like high school gain.”

He said Williams told him he was “important” and would “use me through the offense.”

“Once I get in the conditioning program, I feel I’ll be alright [to run],” he added.

Meeks joins a North Carolina recruiting class that includes point guard Nate Britt and power forward Isaiah Hicks.

ANYA TO N.C. STATE

Beejay Anya, the Rivals No. center in 2013 out of DeMatha Catholic, picked N.C. State as expected.

The 6-8 Anya had initially cut his list to Indiana and N.C. State, before Indiana was no longer involved.

Anya visited the ACC school in late October and told SNY.tv the coaching staff told him: “It’s the perfect place for me. I’m going to be able to play a lot right off the bat because C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell are leaving.”

Anya joins an impressive group for coach Mark Gottfried that includes power forward Kyle Washington of Brewster (N.H.) Academy and point guard Anthony “Cat” Barber of Hampton (Va.).

HAMILTON TO UTEP

Isaac Hamilton, a 6-foot-5-inch shooting guard out of Los Angeles, picked UTEP over UNLV on ESPNU.

The Rivals No. 4 shooting guard out of St. John Bosco, he also considered Baylor, San Diego State and UCLA.

“Tim Floyd’s been close friends of the family,” Hamilton said. “He coached my uncle at UTEP and he was real good friends with my grandmother who passed away. I felt I should go with somebody that I trust so that’s why I chose UTEP.”

Floyd previously recruited Jordan Hamilton, Isaac’s brother, at USC, although Jordan went to Texas for two years before being taken in the first round of the 2011 NBA Draft.

“He really didn’t have a reaction,” Isaac said. “He was happy. Another Hamilton to add to the family. I’m just happy to go there and be a part of UTEP.”

ESPN’S NEW TOP 10 RECRUITING CLASSES (FROM DAVE TELEP)

1. Kentucky

2. Kansas

3. Memphis

4. Indiana

5. North Carolina

6. Florida

7. Louisville

8. LSU

9. Michigan

10. Marquette

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“I’m completely wide open at this point,” the 6-foot-8 Anya  out of DeMatha Catholic told SNY.tv Wednesday night by phone. “Right now I’m completely wide open. Any school that’s recruiting me is fair game.”

Still, he said he has a date in mind to commit.

“I’m committing Nov. 16  at DeMatha [for] Midnight Madness,” Anya said.

Anya told SNY.tv Monday that he was down to N.C. State and Indiana, and said he has no plans to take any additional visits at this time.

Since then sources confirmed to SNY.tv that Indiana is no longer involved in his recruitment, which would potentially leave N.C. State as his top option.

“It was cool,” he said Monday of his weekend visit there. “The coaches were cool. I got to spend more time with the team [than on his unofficial visit]. I like them a lot.”

Two of Anya’s Team USA East teammates at the Nike Global Challenge – Anthony “Cat” Barber and Kyle Washington — committed to N.C. State. One of his teammates from that outfit, Troy Williams, pledged to Indiana over the weekend.

Meantime, sources confirmed the Hoosiers are focusing on New Hampton (N.H.) forward Noah Vonleh, who will skip his Syracuse visit this weekend and visit Indiana Nov. 9-11, as we reported here Tuesday night.

N.C. State is also no longer involved with centers Dominic Woodson or Kennedy Meeks, sources confirmed to SNY.tv.

The 6-10 Woodson had been down to N.C. State and Baylor. He could opt to commit to the Bears, add another school to his recruitment or wait until the spring and explore his options.

The 6-9 Meeks is said to be favoring North Carolina and Georgetown.

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“As of right now,” he told SNY.tv by phone Monday morning. “That might change, but I doubt it.”

The 6-foot-8 center from DeMatha Catholic took an official to N.C. State over the weekend and said he really enjoyed it.

“It was cool,” he said. “The coaches were cool. I got to spend more time with the team [than on his unofficial visit]. I like them a lot.”

Anya said he mostly spent time with the trio of McDonald’s All-American freshmen — T.J. Warren, Rodney Purvis and Tyler Lewis – as well as junior Ralston Turner and sophomore Staats Battle, a walk-on.

“They were saying that they’ll still be cool with me regardless of what I choose but this is the best place for me because of how the offense is run,” Anya said. “Everybody gets so many shots.

“It’s the perfect place for me. I’m going to be able to play a lot right off the bat because C.J. Leslie and Richard Howell are leaving.”

After talking to coach Mark Gottfried and the coaches, Anya added: “Their system would fit me so well. A lot how I could I do a lot of damage in their offense and how I fit in perfectly with what they need. I’m the missing piece for their national championship run.

“It made me feel really good. I just need to go back and discuss the stuff with my parents.”

Anya’s visit to N.C. State followed a visit to Indiana the previous weekend for Hoosier Hysteria.

One of Anya’s fellow visitors on that trip, 6-6 Oak Hill wing Troy Williams, committed to the Hoosiers on Sunday. Anya’s AAU teammate with Team Takeover, Stanford Robinson, has also committed to the Hoosiers.

Williams and Anya played together on the USA East team this summer at the Nike Global Challenge and have talked about playing together in college.

“Troy’s my boy, he’s been calling me,” Anya said.

Ironically, two of their other USA East teammates — Anthony “Cat” Barber and Kyle Washington — have pledged to N.C. State.

Various reports indicate Indiana now has no more scholarships left for 2013, but Anya said he’s still considering Indiana, which also remains involved with 2013 forward Noah Vonleh of New Hampton (N.H.).

“Everywhere seems good right now,” he said. “I gotta figure out the best place for me.”

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Anya previously told SNY.tv that he has a few connections to the Wolfpack.

Anya said N.C. State commits Anthony “Cat” Barber and Kyle Washington have been in his ear.

“They were both on my [Nike] Global Challenge team,” Anya said of the Wolfpack’s newest commits.

And Nima Omidvar, the N.C. State video coordinator, is also a former Team Takeover guy.

N.C. State is also in the mix for Huntington (W.V.) Prep big man Dominic Woodson, who is down to the Wolfpack and Baylor. Woodson’s AAU coach, Kevin Robinson, told SNY.tv Thursday that he expects Woodson to decide “within the next two weeks.”

Anya also connections to Indiana, of course, where his former teammate Stanford Robinson has committed and former AAU coach Kenny Johnson is an assistant.

“I thought it went great,” he told InsidetheHall.com of his visit for Hoosier Hysteria. “It was only my first (official) visit so it’s hard to compare, but it was really fun to be there for Hoosier Hysteria and seeing all the fans out.”

Anya has also visited Pittsburgh and may still visit Syracuse.

He has former teammates at both, James Robinson at Pitt and Jerami Grant at Syracuse.

“That’s a good thing,” DeMatha coach Mike Jones previously told SNY.tv. “No matter where he picks he’ll have a connection that he can rely on.”

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