After forgettable season, NC State fans are given some optimism
When you are at the bottom, there is no place to go but up. This week, he NC State fanbase has something to get excited about. Positive momentum is happening for the Wolfpack basketball team, something they have not seen in over 12 months.
This past season was, by all accounts, a disaster. The team finished 11-24 overall, but they were 4-16 in ACC play, putting them in dead last place in the league. The worst finish in NC State basketball history, they were at the bottom.
The season was doomed from the get-go. Prized Providence transfer Greg Gantt, 2019’s On3 Consensus No. 64 player, suffered a sports hernia before the season started. He missed the entire year. One minute into the first regular-season game Manny Bates, 2018’s On3 Consensus No. 98 prospect, suffered a shoulder injury. He missed the entire season.
NC State head coach Kevin Keatts talked game after game about how the team lacked ball movement. The team finished with under ten or fewer assists in 11 of their 16 ACC games. Dereon Seabron and Ebenezer Dowuona were the only two players who played 14.2 minutes or more per game to shoot over 40-percent from the field. The other five players in the rotation – their entire guard and wing rotation – shot between 33.5-percent and 39.8-percent from the field.
Changes came in the off-season. The team’s best two players, Terquavion Smith and Seabron, announced their intentions for the NBA draft while keeping college eligibility. 2023 On3 Consensus No. 4 prospect Robert Dillingham and 2022 On3 Consensus No. 123 both de-commit. Staring small forward, Jericole Hellums opted out of his fifth year at NC State.
Things looking up
The fan base needed good news. It started with the hire of former NC State letterman Levi Watkins. Watkins was a four-star recruit who played in the early 2000s. He brings high major experience; his previous two stops were at Arizona State and Ole Miss, and he is an alum. Watkins being on staff has already paid dividends, but we will touch on that in a couple of paragraphs.
On Tuesday, Keatts received a commitment from On3’s No. 6 small forward, Jack Clark. Clark is a 6-foot-8 redshirt-junior wing from La Salle. He has good athleticism and excellent length, two things Keatts craves in his rotation. Clark averaged 12 points per game last season, with 5.8 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game. He also knocked down 48 threes.
Wednesday morning started with the news that grad transfer Jarkel Joiner would follow Watkins to Raleigh. On3’s No. 9 shooting guard in the transfer portal is the combo guard mold that Keatts loves.
Joiner averaged 13.2 points, 2.3 assists, and 1.2 steals in 31.0 minutes per game last season at Ole Miss. He knocked down 35 threes at a 34.0-percent clip.
Watch for NC State and Memphis transfer Landers Nolley, and they have been linked to 7-foot Providence de-commitment Christ Essandoko in the class of 2022. They are still looking for a five-man and maybe some more guard/wing depth in the portal.
Instead of disaster, you can see Kevin Keatts rebuilding a roster. You can build on the season Dowuona had, finishing 16th in the ACC in offensive rebounds and 4th in blocks per game. If Terquavion Smith decides to return, they get Landers Nolley, and Greg Gantt gets healthy, and you put Clark and Joiner on the floor, you have the high major talent at all five positions, something the Wolfpack simply did not have last season.
Keatts has been given a vote of confidence by the Athletics Department publicly backing him. He has brought in ‘his guys’ to the coaching staff, and now they are in the process of flipping the roster.