Former Kinston high basketball star is making college basketball history

It could have been a dream high school basketball career at Kinston High School where he was a two time all-state selection and the best men’s basketball state prospect, Dontrez Styles got a chance and as every blue chip men’s basketball recruit in North Carolina would wish, he landed a scholarship to play for the University of North Carolina.

Now, he is engaged in activity that nobody who ever played college basketball believed that they could possibly do; play for instate rivals North Carolina State University after being part of the UNC family.

Of course, this is not a direct transfer. Styles played his first two years at the Tar Hells; last year, he played in the Big East Conference at Georgetown University. He has otherwise always wanted to work in his home state.

“This was probably my second choice after high school,” Styles said to the Fayetteville Observer. It is great to be here now, I’ve known (Kevin) Keatts for a longtime now, therefore being here now feels great. So far, so good: Approaching the joys of reading.

In Kinston, Styles is a four year starter and two time winner of the Eastern Conference Player of the Year title. He stepped up his game when he become a junior in 2019-20 making him a prime target of college recruiters, tallying 19.7 points per game and 11 rebounds as he led the Vikings to a 26-4 record. In his first match of his senior season, the young man fell badly and sustained severe injuries that handicapped him for three weeks Out of his shoes, he returned and made 30 points and 10.3 rebounds for the last three regular season matches.

He also injured himself at North Carolina and only managed to get six minutes per game when playing as a freshman. But at the end of his first year he got his moment to shine and hit the final three-pointer that won the game in overtime against the number one seeded Baylor in the second round of NCAA tournament.

He only got to play sparingly in his second year of Chapel Hill once again and he did not waste time to enter the transfer portal.

In an interview with the Fayetteville Journal, he thought of transferring to NC State for the following junior year but he argued that he could cope with all of the attention such a move would create and therefore landed at Georgetown to start a fresh chapter in his college basketball career.

In his time with the Hoyas, he was an immediate starter and started all 32games of his team. He scored an average of 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds and a shooting accuracy of 36.8 percent from the three point line.

“A part of me did, but I also knew that I wasn’t very mature at the time coming straight from Carolina to try and make that jump to go to N.C. State,” Styles told the Journal. 

They look at the personality and I know that being who I am, I probably wouldn’t be able to cope with the fans and other things that come with it. Now, it is like it is perfect time. I’m an older guy now. It was like: ‘I could handle it and it would be fabulous.’