16 former N.C. high school basketball players qualify for NBA playoffs
The dust has settled on the Play-In Tournament, and all 16 seeds have been secured for the NBA playoffs.
This postseason, 9 teams will carry a total of 16 players that once suited up on high school basketball courts in North Carolina.
Boston Celtics
Jaden Springer, Rocky River
Springer burst on to the scene in Mecklenburg County as a freshman in 2016. He averaged over 20 points per game in his first two years, and totaled 1153 points and 487 rebounds for the Ravens before transferring to IMG Academy in Florida where he would wrap up his high school career.
Between the Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers, he has appeared in 49 games this season with an average of 3.3 points per contest. On April 12, he earned his first start in Boston and tied a season-high with 11 points scored.
Denver Nuggets
Jay Huff, Voyager Academy
Huff put together a legendary four-year career at Durham's Voyager Academy. He followed up a breakout sophomore season with over 1,000 points scored in his final two seasons alone. He took the Vikings to the regional semi-finals in Fayetteville as a junior before falling to Northside-Pinetown and Bam Adebayo (more on him below). As a senior in 2016, he led Voyager to a 1A State Championship where he posted a 14-point, 14-rebound, 10-block triple double in the title game. He totaled 1,540 career points, grabbed 801 rebounds, and blocked 433 shots.
The Nuggets are Huff's third team in as many years, and he is averaging 1.2 PPG in a career-high 20 games played. On April 6 against the Hawks he scored a season-high four points.
Hunter Tyson, Piedmont
Tyson, a member of the Class of 2018, put together a memorable senior season for the Panthers in which he scored over 700 points and averaged 27.1 points and 9.1 rebounds per game. His 2,131 career points put him in the top 25 all-time in N.C. High School Athletic Association, and he also amassed 792 career rebounds.
In his rookie season he has appeared in 18 games with an average of 1.1 per contest. On March 25, he scored a career-best five points in a win over Memphis.
Los Angeles Clippers
P.J. Tucker, Enloe
Tucker, a former NBA champion, is a part of a prestigious list of basketball alumni to have walked the halls of Enloe High School. While digital copies of statistics from the early to mid 2000's are not as available as some others on the list he is known to hold the school record for rebounds in a single game with 30. Alongside LeVelle Moton and Nate McMillan, Tucker recently had his number 44 jersey retired at Enloe.
After briefly starting the season in Philadelphia, Tucker went west to join the Clippers where he has averaged 1.7 PPG and 2.7 rebounds in 31 games.
Mason Plumlee, Christ School
Alongside his brother Miles, Mason made the move to Arden prior to his sophomore season and went on to put together a historic career for the Greenies. He graduated in 2009 with 1,268 career points scored, and later went on to win a collegiate national championship at Duke.
The 6-foot-11 center has hit the court in 46 of the Clippers' games this season with an average of 5.3 points. He has six games with double digit points scored, and six games a rebounding total in double figures. Plumlee has started in 11 games this season.
Los Angeles Lakers
Harry Giles III, Wesleyan Christian
Giles III had one of the most dominant high school careers in recent memory. He made his name early on, averaging 12.5 points and 9.5 rebounds on a loaded Wesleyan Christian team that won the NCISAA 3A title. Those totals were raised to 23.9 and 12.5 as a junior, but a knee injury robbed him of his senior year.
He has worked his way back into the league where he split time this year with Brooklyn and the Lakers. He averaged 2.4 points per game in 23 appearances. As a member of the Nets, he scored a season-high 11 points against the Nuggets on December 14.
Jalen Hood-Schifino, Northside Christian and Combine Academy
Hood-Schfino is originally from Pittsburgh but moved to North Carolina in middle school. He first attended Northside Christian in Charlotte, where he was an N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association 2A all-state selection in 2019.
He spent the remainder of his high school career at two prominent sports performance centers — Combine Academy in Lincolnton and Montverde Academy of Florida. He helped Montverde win two GEICO High School national championships and was named a Naismith third-team All-American before enrolling at Indiana as a top-25 recruit by three different services.
He averaged 1.6 PPG in 21 regular season games for the Lakers.
Miami Heat
Bam Adebayo, Northside (Pinetown) and High Point Christian
The 2016 Gatorade Player of the Year played his senior year at High Point Christian after three years at Northside (Pinetown). In total, he reeled down a state record 1,885 career boards — his 1,494 in three years in the NCHSAA puts him second in that record book behind only Mountain Heritage's Jackson Simmons. He was ranked the ninth-best player in the nation and averaged 18.9 points and 13.0 rebounds during his senior year after a junior season at Northside in which he averaged 32.2 points and 21 rebounds a contest. His junior year averages were 24.3 points and 18.2 rebounds, and his freshman year he averaged 17.8 points and 19.8 rebounds. He scored 2,462 points in his career, with 1,894 of them coming at Northside
Earlier this week, Adebayo was named as member of the 2024 United States National Team that will compete in the Summer Olympics. He has been a star for the Heat and played a pivotal role in their play-in game victory over Chicago. This season he is averaging 19.3 points and 10.4 rebounds per game.
Caleb Martin, Davie County
Martin played three seasons at Davie County and spent a year playing in Virginia at Oak Hill Academy. He and his brother Cody spent two seasons playing at N.C. State before transferring to Nevada. Davie was 65-20 in the three seasons that the Martin twins took the floor. Caleb averaged a team-best 18.6 points per game for the War Eagles his junior year. As a sophomore in 2012, he helped lead the team to the 4A western regional final.
Caleb has become a significant role player since going from the Hornets to the Heat. He is averaging 10 points a game this season and played in 64 regular season games.
Minnesota Timberwolves
Wendell Moore Jr., Cox Mill
Moore led the Chargers to back-to-back NCHSAA 3A titles in 2017 and 2018 — he was MVP of the final both times — and reached the West regional final in 2019. Was a three-time N.C. Basketball Coaches Association state player of the year. He nearly reached the 3,000-point mark in his career, ending with 2,941 (third in NCHSAA history after JamesOn Curry and Sage Surratt) after averaging 25.3 as a senior, 25.4 as a junior, 25.0 as a sophomore, and 17.9 as a freshman. He was ranked the 29th player in the country and was also a two-time USA Basketball gold medalist while playing for the U16 and U17 teams.
This season, his second in the league, Moore has seen the court 25 times for the Timberwolves and averaged 0.7 PPG.
T.J. Warren, Riverside and Word of God
Warren was a 6-foot-6, 180-pound small forward that helped Riverside to the 2010 4A Eastern Regional Final where the Pirates lost to eventual state runner-up Terry Sanford. Prior to his junior season, he transferred from Riverside to Word of God. Averaging 14 points per game for the Holy Rams, Warren helped Word of God to a 24-3 overall record. From there, he closed out his prep career in New Hampshire at Brewster Academy.
After initially joining the Timberwolves mid-season on a 10-day contract, the former N.C. State star was signed for the remainder of the year and has appeared in 11 games.
New Orleans Pelicans
Brandon Ingram, Kinston
One of just two players in NCHSAA history to win four straight basketball championships (the other was teammate Darnell Dunn) as the Vikings went 107-14 during that time. Ingram was also a two-time Gatorade Player of the Year, two-time N.C. Basketball Coaches Association state player of the year, a McDonald's All-American, a PARADE magazine All-American, and the No. 3 ranked player in the country. In those four NCHSAA championships, he was MVP his junior and senior year. He averaged 24.3 points, 10.4 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 3.0 blocks as a senior, and those numbers were 19.5/9.1/1.5/2.5 as a junior.
Ingram scored 24 points on Friday night to lead the Pelicans past Sacramento in the play-in game. The 8-year veteran, and former all-star, carries New Orleans into the postseason with 20.8 PPG this season. He is also averaging 5.2 REB and 4.3 AST in 64 games played.
Trey Murphy III, Cary Academy
A lanky sharp-shooter at Cary Academy, Murphy averaged 22.0 points per game in his prep career while shooting 53% from the floor, 45% from three, and 93% from the free-throw line. At the time of graduation in 2018, he was the school's all-time leader in field goals made, three-pointers made, and free throws made. During his senior year he led the Chargers to a 14-8 record, averaged 24.7 points and 7.4 rebounds.
A rising young star in the league, he has started 23 of 57 games played this season while averaging 14.8 points.
Oklahoma City Thunder
Aaron Wiggins, Grimsley and Wesleyan Christian
Wiggins suited up in 44 varsity games for the Whirlies and scored 592 career points along the way. Prior to his senior season in 2017-18, he transferred to Wesleyan Christian and averaged 15.1 points per game.
Now a third year player, he has been a mainstay in the rotation for the top-seeded Thunder. In 78 games played he has averaged 6.9 points per game and shot 56% from the field.
Philadelphia 76ers
Ricky Council IV, Northern Durham and Southern Durham
Council IV is the youngest of three boys, all named after their father: Ricky II played at Providence and UMBC, Ricky III played junior college basketball, and their sister, Rhianna, played at UNC-Greensboro. Only Council IV graduated from Southern Durham, where he transferred to after his sophomore season at Northern Durham, which is where the rest of his siblings graduated from. Despite scoring more than 1,000 points in his career and averaging 23 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 5 assists as a senior, Council IV was ranked outside the top 350 prospects in the country by one recruiting service.
Last June he inked a two-way deal minutes after going undrafted. Since then, Council IV has become a fan favorite in Philly after making great early impressions at the NBA level. Last week, the team turned his deal into a four-year, $7.4 million standard NBA contract. He has averaged 5.4 PPG in only 32 games played this season.
Terquavion Smith, Farmville Central
Smith led the Jaguars to an incredible run during his four years playing in Eastern N.C., helping Farmville Central to three consecutive N.C. High School Athletic Association 2A championships (including a 2020 co-title due to COVID-19). The Jaguars were the 2A East regional runner-up in his freshman season.
He averaged 29.6 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.8 assists, and 3.2 steals per game as a senior en route to being a first-team selection on the inaugural HSOT All-State team as well as the NC Gatorade Player of the Year. Farmville went 98-6 during Smith's four-year varsity career and 76-2 over his last three.
Just like Council IV, the 76ers secured a deal with Smith moments after the conclusion of last year's draft. He appeared in 16 games and averaged 3.3 PPG as a rookie.
Not included on this list are players on teams that were unable to advance past the opening Play-In Tournament round. Those players include Chris Paul (West Forsyth), Coby White (Greenfield), Jerome Robinson (Broughton), and Patrick Williams (West Charlotte).
If a player is missing from this list, or a correction needs to be issued, please email highschoolot@wral.com.
