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Robert Dillingham, the No. 1-ranked shooting guard in the 2023 class, announced his commitment to NC State on Wednesday. Dillingham becomes the highest-ranked recruit of the Kevin Keatts era and the highest-ranked NC State commit since Dennis Smith Jr. in the 2016 class. He chose NC State over a final five that also included Memphis, Kentucky, LSU and Kansas. At different times over the past few months, it looked like Memphis, LSU and Kentucky were all considered the favorite for his commitment. He took an official visit to Memphis in September, followed by trips to LSU, Kentucky and NC State in October. A 6-foot-1 guard from North Carolina who transferred to Kanye West's Donda Academy (California) for his junior season, Dillingham is ranked No. 8 in the ESPN 100 for 2023. He is the top-ranked shooting guard and the No. 2 backcourt player behind top overall prospect D.J. Wagner. Playing for the CP3 All-Stars on the summer's U16 Nike EYBL circuit, Dillingham averaged 19.5 points, 3.5 rebounds and 2.9 assists in 11 games while shooting better than 42% from 3-point range. He also represented USA Basketball at the 2021 FIBA U16 Americas, averaging 15.7 points and 6.2 assists in six games. "Dillingham is a gifted scorer from all spots on the floor," said Paul Biancardi, ESPN's national recruiting director. "He is one of the best in all of high school basketball at creating his own space and scoring opportunity. With natural blow-by speed, a shifty handle and a low center of gravity, he understands how to find the open pocket of space on the floor to get his shot off. "He is well-versed at decelerating as he goes into a scoring move. His jumper is both accurate and effective in ball-screen offense and coming off screens. Dillingham keeps defenders off-balance before his release and has an innate ability to score in one-on-one situations. He is great at attacking and probing in transition, putting enormous pressure on the defense." Dillingham is NC State's first commitment in the 2023 class.
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