EKU Signs Graduate Transfer Braxton Beverly from NC State
RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky University men’s basketball team has signed graduate transfer Braxton Beverly from NC State for the 2021-22 season, it was announced on Wednesday.
The 6-0 guard from Hazard, Ky., put together a decorated career in Raleigh. He started 88 of 121 games over the past four seasons and is tied for fourth in career three-pointers (218) and assist-turnover ratio (2.39) at NC State.
Beverly scored his 1,000th career point at NC State vs. Syracuse in the 2021 ACC Tournament, becoming only the 54th player in Wolfpack history to join the 1,000-point club.
Beverly hit 136 three-pointers in his first two seasons at NC State, which are the most of any player in program history through their sophomore season. He posted a 3.27 assist-turnover ratio as a freshman in 2017-18. That ratio led the ACC that season, was the best ratio by a freshman in ACC history, and was the third best in N.C. State history.
A four-time ACC All-Academic Team member, Beverly will graduate in May with a degree in sports management.
Beverly was an ESPN 4-star recruit when he signed with N.C. State out of Hargrave Military Academy.
He had played for current EKU coach A.W. Hamilton during his two years at Hargrave, averaging 20.1 points, 6.4 assists and 2.2 steals-per-game while leading the Tigers to a 90-3 record over that span.
The two-year team captain led Hargrave to a 47-1 record and the Prep National Championship in 2016.
Beverly set the Hargrave postgraduate record with 70 points in a game on February 12, 2016. He went 14-of-21 from three-point range.
Beverly started playing high school basketball as a seventh-grader at Perry County Central in Hazard. He scored 2,558 points as a Commodore (17 shy of the school record) and he finished his career with 743 assists (sixth all-time in Kentucky high school history).
“Braxton is one of the toughest kids I’ve ever coached,” Hamilton said. “He is a true winner that impacts the game in so many ways. He’s one of only two players in N.C. state history with more than 1,000 career points, 300 career assists, 200 career three-pointers and 100 career steals. He also scored over 2,500 points at Perry Country Central. He and I won a national championship at Hargrave together, and he has that same vision coming home for his last year. I can’t wait to get him on campus and coach him one more year.”
EKU also signed two other transfers earlier this week -- 5-11 Trevin Wade from Wichita State and 6-9 Iran Bennett from Marshall.
Wade helped the Shockers win the American Athletic Conference (AAC) regular season title in 2020-21.
Before signing with Wichita State, Wade was a 2019-20 second team NJCAA Division-I All-American at Georgia Highlands College in Rome, Georgia. He was voted the GCAA/Region 17 Player of the Year after averaging 17.6 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.0 steals-per-game. He started all 32 games and helped the Chargers to a 24-8 record and a runner-up finish at the Region 17 tournament.
Bennett missed this past season with an injury; however, as a redshirt sophomore in 2019-20, he started 30 of 32 games for the Thundering Herd, averaging 9.1 points and 5.3 rebounds-per-game.
The Colonels, who finished with a 22-7 mark this past season, will be joining the Atlantic Sun Conference (ASUN) on July 1. In addition, all EKU teams (from all sports) will be immediately eligible for conference awards, postseason play and NCAA Tournament automatic bids.
