NC State coach Will Wade, other first-year ACC coaches have turned programs around

NC State, Miami and Virginia were all ACC schools that were forced to start over with new coaches.

The Cavaliers are in second place at 12-2 in the ACC, and Hurricanes and Wolfpack are both 10-4 in the league. NC State plays at Virginia at 7 p.m. Tuesday on ACC Network.

Virginia hired VCU coach Ryan Odom and he only had sophomore reserve wing Elijah Gertrude returning. NC State hired coach Will Wade, who also previously coached at VCU, and he returned just sophomore shooting guard Paul McNeil. Miami coach Jai Lucas was hired and didn’t bring back any players.

The three coaches all built their rosters in different ways, but each are succeeding.

Four-year transfers

NC State: Small forward Terrance Arceneaux (Houston); guard Alyn Breed (McNeese State); point guard Quadir Copeland (McNeese State); power forward Jerry Deng (Florida State); center Scottie Ebube (Wyoming); small forward Colt Langdon (Butler); center Ven-Allen Lubin (North Carolina); power forward Darrion Williams (Texas).

Virginia: Power forward Martin Carrere (VCU); point guard Dallin Hall (BYU), center Carter Lang (Vanderbilt), small forward Sam Lewis (Toledo); center Ugonna Onyenso (Kansas State); shooting guard Malik Thomas (San Francisco); power forward Devin Tillis (UC-Irvine); shooting guard Jacari White (North Dakota State).

Miami: Small forward Marcus Allen; point guard Tre Donaldson; power forward Malik Reneau; center Ernest Udeh; shooting guard True Washington.

Summary: Williams was ranked No. 6 in the transfer portal by On3.com, with Reneau at No. 14 and Virginia’s highest rated transfer was No. 50-ranked Thomas.

Lubin was at No. 42, Holloman was No. 68, Arceneaux was ranked No. 80 and No. 210 Copeland.

Reneau was joined by Udeh, who was No. 139 overall, No. 142 Donaldson and No. 180 Washington. Allen suffered a season-ending injury.

Thomas was joined in the core group by No. 197 White and No. 224 Lewis. Hall, Onyenso and Tiller were unranked.

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Class of 2025 signees

NC State: Shooting guard Matt Able; power forward Musa Sagnia; center Zymicah Wilkins; wing Jayme Kontuniemi.

Virginia: Center Silas Barksdale; power forward Thijs De Ridder; center Johann Grunloh, point guard Chance Mallory.

Miami: Shooting guard Dante Allen; center Salih Altunas; small forward Shelton Henderson; shooting guard Jordyn Kee; small forward Treyvon Maddox; forward Timotej Malovec.

Summary: All three programs landed impact players, though in the case of Virginia, both De Ridder and Grunloh were professional players in Europe and high-end recruits.

Point guard Mallory was ranked No. 74 overall by On3.com and had picked Virginia with then coach Tony Bennett, and he signed in the spring with new coach Ryan Odom.

Able, a former Miami signee, was a major addition as a four-star prospect and No. 19 in the country by On3.com. Wilkins and Kontuniemi are redshirting this season.

Miami hit a home run in landing small forward Henderson, who had picked Duke, but followed Blue Devils’ assistant coach Jai Lucas to Coral Gables. Allen had signed with Villanova and has become a trusted player.

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International recruits

NC State: Sagnia and Kontuniemi.

Virginia: De Ridder and Grunloh.

Miami: Junior wing Noam Dovrat; Altuntas, Altunas and Malovec.

Summary: Virginia went for key starters to build around with De Ridder and Grunloh, and have proven that path can work.

Miami aimed for outside shooting and depth, and NC State’s Sagnia, who is 22, has proven to be a third post player for the Wolfpack.