Quadir Copeland’s historic 16-assist effort in NC State’s win at SMU shows continued growth at point guard

Quadir Copeland’s indoctrination into becoming a collegiate point guard was filled with its ups and downs last season at McNeese. Yes, he turned in 16 games with five or more assists, but he also had 10 performances with four or more turnovers.  In a Will Wade-coached offense, that isn’t acceptable. The 43-year-old coach believes the basketball needs to be valued. How the point guard plays is how the team will go, and if its constantly thrown to the other team, the program isn’t going to be in a good shape to win.  But those nights in front of a smattering of fans in mostly empty gyms, especially on the road in the Southland Conference, prepared Copeland. It was a way for him to learn without being in the major spotlight, whipping the ball with his creative -- and sometimes errant -- passes. He could take a risk with not much of a consequence on a team that went 19-1 in league play to claim its second straight Southland title.  While it was a way for Copeland to experiment in live action, he wasn’t going to be able to do the same at NC State after following Wade from the low-major conference back to the ACC, where he began his career at Syracuse. If he was going to find success as a point guard in one of the most-prestigious leagues in the country, avoiding turnovers in bunches was going to be critical. And, well, he’s done just that.