Justin Gainey went through fire as player at NC State

When Justin Gainey played point guard for NC State from 1996-2000, the ACC looked very different.

The ACC has added Boston College, California, Florida State, Louisville, Miami (Fla.), Notre Dame, Pittsburgh, Southern Methodist and Stanford since Gainey played in the league.

Another difference from when Gainey played — round robin. The Wolfpack went 73-58 overall and 21-43 in the ACC during Gainey’s college career under coach Herb Sendek, so he understands adversity.

Gainey averaged 6.9 points and 2.7 assists per game, and he started 103 games out of 128 games.

Gainey played all 40 minutes in four straight ACC Tournament games March 6-9, 1997, his freshman year. NCSU defeated Georgia Tech 60-46, with a Yellow Jackets team that featured future NBA small forward Matt Harpring.

The Wolfpack then upset No. 7-ranked Duke 66-60 in the second round, and the Blue Devils’ featured Trajan Langdon and Roshown McLeod, plus future college coaches or assistant coaches Jeff Capel, Chris Carrawell and Steve Wojciechowski.

The third round featured a 65-58 win over No. 22-ranked Maryland, and the Terrapins featured future NBA players Keith Booth, Laron Profit, Sarunas Jasikevicius and Obinna Ekezie Sr.

No. 5-ranked North Carolina ended the dream run with a 64-54 win over NC State in the ACC Tournament title game. UNC had super stars Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison, and also Shammond Williams and Makhtar N’Diaye, who played in the NBA. Fellow freshman point guard Ed Cota went on to have 1,030 career assists in 138 games.

Gainey played a steady diet of quality point guards, with Maryland star Steve Francis in 1998-99 and then Duke freshman Jason “Jay” Williams in 1999-2000. Duke point guard William Avery was also a future first-round pick, and Maryland point guard Steven Blake went in the second round.

ACC point guards

1996-97:
Duke — Steve Wojciechowski
Clemson — Terrell McIntyre
Florida State — Kerry Thompson
Georgia Tech — Kevin Morris
Maryland — Terrell Stokes
North Carolina — Ed Cota
Virginia — Harold Deane
Wake Forest — Tony Rutland
•••
1997-98:
Duke — William Avery
Clemson — Terrell McIntyre
Florida State — Kerry Thompson
Georgia Tech — Travis Spivey
Maryland — Terrell Stokes
North Carolina — Ed Cota
Virginia — Donald Hand Sr.
Wake Forest — Tony Rutland
•••
1998-99:
Duke — William Avery
Clemson — Terrell McIntyre
Florida State — Kerry Thompson
Georgia Tech — Tony Akins
Maryland — Steve Francis
North Carolina — Ed Cota
Virginia — Donald Hand Sr.
Wake Forest — Robert O’Kelley
•••
1999-00:
Duke — Jason Williams
Clemson — Will Solomon
Florida State — Devon Arrington
Georgia Tech — Tony Akins
Maryland — Steven Blake
North Carolina — Ed Cota
Virginia — Donald Hand Sr.
Wake Forest — Robert O’Kelley