‘You love it when he’s with you’: Quadir Copeland brings his passionate, unapologetic personality to NC State

Quadir Copeland is an acquired taste for some. He’s known to wear his emotions on his sleeve, displaying however he feels in front of whoever is in the building to watch him and his team play on a given night.  In his last trip to Raleigh, playing for Syracuse, Copeland was unafraid to let the 12,766 NC State fans inside the Lenovo Center know how he felt each time he found the bottom of the basket. And each time he yelled in the direction of anyone clad in red and white, it seemed to take Copeland’s game to another level.  By the end of that early February night in 2024, Copeland’s contagious energy led to a career-best 25 points on 10-of-13 shooting with eight rebounds with an assist and a steal to help lead Syracuse to an 87-83 win over NC State, an eventual ACC Champion Final Four team later that season. Two years have passed since then, and plenty of change has followed along the way. NC State fired Kevin Keatts and hired Will Wade, while Copeland made his own detour in the same time span. He went from being a key reserve in the ACC to playing at McNeese, which Wade presented as an opportunity for him to expand his skill set as the team's go-to point guard in his 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame. But fast forward to present day, and Copeland is a critical part of NC State’s new-look roster in Wade’s first season with the Wolfpack. It was an easy decision for Copeland to follow his coach from the Southland Conference back to the ACC — even if his most-recent time in front of the Pack faithful was filled with plenty of smack talk.