NC State G Quadir Copeland named Third Team All-ACC selection

Will Wade wasn’t expecting Quadir Copeland to start for NC State right away. He definitely didn’t anticipate the scrappy guard to become the critical difference maker in his first campaign leading the Wolfpack.

But after transferring in from McNeese, a place where the former Syracuse starter found himself earning an increased role as the season went on in the Southland Conference a year ago, Copeland has been the go-to playmaker for NC State. 

And, in turn, it led the 6-foot-6, 220-pound point guard to leave his mark in the ACC during his second stint in the league. Copeland, who is tied for the conference lead in assists, was named a Third Team All-ACC selection Monday afternoon in his final collegiate season. 

Copeland put together a career-best campaign with 13.7 points, 6.6 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.8 steals in 28.2 minutes while he started all 31 regular season games. 

Wade, who plucked Copeland from the portal two years ago from Syracuse to transform the wing into a high-end point guard, isn’t one to downplay the impact the veteran collegiate player has had on NC State right away.

“I told him today, I want so much more from him, but he’s done so much for us,” Wade said on his weekly radio show on Feb. 26. “We’d be in really rough shape without him. I’m very proud of him, but I always want more and am always trying to get more out of him,” Wade said. “But I am very proud of what he’s done. …. He’s been a major reason we’ve been able to win this year. I don’t even want to think about it without him.”

NC State, which is the 7-seed in this week’s ACC Tournament and is still firmly in the NCAA Tournament field, has relied on Copeland to spark its offense more often than not. But instead of doing it with his scoring, which he’s capable of doing with five 20-point games, Copeland’s ability to pass all around the floor set him apart.

The Philadelphia native racked up 205 total assists, which ranks 11th nationally, paced by four double-digit dime contests — leading the team in that department in all but four games this season. Copeland turned heads around the country with three straight performances with such output, headlined by his 16-assist, 10-rebound, no-turnover game to lead the Wolfpack over SMU on Feb. 3. 

Copeland’s emergence was critical to helping NC State flip the standard in Raleigh. For a team that won just five ACC games a season ago under Kevin Keatts, the Wolfpack doubled its conference win total to put itself in position to return to the NCAA Tournament once again. 

The well-traveled guard has been a difference maker this season, and the ACC voters rewarded him to cap his collegiate career.

2025-26 ACC AWARDS

Player of the Year – Cameron Boozer, Fr., F, Duke
Defensive Player of the Year – Maliq Brown, Sr., F, Duke
Rookie of the Year – Cameron Boozer, F, Duke
Most Improved Player – Juke Harris, So., G, Wake Forest
Sixth Man of the Year – Maliq Brown, Sr., F, Duke
Coach of the Year – Jon Scheyer, Duke

2025-26 ALL-ACC TEAM

FIRST TEAM

Name, School, Points
Cameron Boozer, Duke, 425
Caleb Wilson, North Carolina, 410
Ebuka Okorie, Stanford, 356
Malik Reneau, Miami, 344
Thijs De Ridder, Virginia, 302

SECOND TEAM

Boopie Miller, SMU, 293
Juke Harris, Wake Forest, 237
Henri Veesaar, North Carolina, 215
Tre Donaldson, Miami, 204
Ryan Conwell, Louisville, 201

THIRD TEAM

Isaiah Evans, Duke, 151
Mikel Brown Jr., Louisville, 147
Quadir Copeland, NC State, 98
Robert McCray V, Florida State, 90
Dai Dai Ames, California, 51

HONORABLE MENTION

Jaron Pierre Jr., SMU, 45
Donnie Freeman, Syracuse, 36
RJ Godfrey, Clemson, 32
Amani Hansberry, Virginia Tech, 29
Seth Trimble, North Carolina, 27
Patrick Ngongba II, Duke, 26
Justin Pippen, California, 18
Darrion Williams, NC State, 16
Jalen Haralson, Notre Dame, 15
B.J. Edwards, SMU, 15