Breaking: Demie Sumo-Karngbaye is transferring
NC State football suffered another loss to the NCAA transfer portal, which closes Sunday evening. This one, however, may have been the biggest name yet to leave the team, junior running back Demie Sumo-Karngbaye.
Sumo-Karngbaye entered the 2022 season with high expectations and appeared poised to meet them. He ran 14 times for 79 yards and a touchdown at East Carolina in the season opener at East Carolina, and carried 7 times for 70 yards a week later vs. Charleston Southern.
Against Texas Tech, Sumo-Karngbaye rushed 14 times for 54 yards and a score and caught 4 passes for 93 yards and another touchdown. He only needed 4 rushes to reach 49 yards and a touchdown vs. Connecticut, but his season turned at that point.
An ankle injury that lingered limited Sumo-Karngbaye for the remainder of the year, and he carried 16 times for 53 yards for the remainder of the campaign.
Overall, Sumo-Karngbaye finished with 55 carries for 305 yards and 3 touchdowns and 12 receptions for 148 yards and a score.
Sumo-Karngbaye was limited at the start of spring but returned for the Red-White scrimmage and rushed 3 times for 8 yards and caught 4 passes for 5 yards.
NC State returned all of the primary running backs from last season and added early enrollee Kendrick Raphael from Naples (Fla.) High. Raphael, rated a four-star prospect by some recruiting services, participated in spring drills.
Leading rusher Jordan Houston (136 carries for 544 yards) elected to use his super senior option, and promising sophomore Michael Allen also returns. As a true freshman, Allen rushed 53 times for 268 yards and a score. Both Houston and Allen also had receiving touchdowns.
Redshirt junior reserves Demarcus Jones II and Delbert Mimms III are also back.
Sumo-Karngbaye becomes the fifth NC State player to enter the transfer portal during the spring window, joining fifth-year redshirt junior quarterback Ben Finley, redshirt sophomore defensive end Zyun Reeves, redshirt sophomore linebacker Chase Hattley and redshirt sophomore Thornton Gentry.
Gentry, Hattley and Reeves were seldom-used reserves. Gentry has already found a new home at Appalachian State. Finley started the final two contests of the 2022 season, including a thrilling double overtime win at North Carolina. The younger brother of former NC State and NFL quarterback Ryan Finley announced Wednesday evening that he would be transferring to California.
Demie Sumo-Karngbaye is likely to have options given his upside and potential flashed during the early portions of the 2022 season
