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State Needs the ‘Real’ Tyler Lewis Back

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11 years ago

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There’s no denying that Tyler Lewis has really struggled since being moved out of the starting line-up. He’s lost his confidence and has since seen his minutes nearly disappear (Less than 10 minutes in 3 of the last 4 games). However, I don’t think all is lost with this kid. He’s too talented, has too unique of a skill set to go to waste. Mark Gottfried needs to step in and do something here. He needs Tyler Lewis if he’s going to be successful during ACC play, but he needs him confident and with an understanding that he’s a major part of this basketball team.

 

I think the Lewis situation has been a bit mismanaged by the staff up to this point. Here is a kid who stuck with the program, came in as the starting PG and leader of this team. He now manages only 5 minutes per game.
On the other hand, Cat Barber has been magnificent. He certainly deserves to be starting and playing the majority of the minutes at point, and I don’t disagree with the notion that he should be the #1 guy, getting big-time minutes. The fact is, Barber is still a freshman and over the past two games the Wolfpack has gotten out to big leads and then fallen apart late. They lost this way to Missouri and nearly fell to the same fate at UNCG. Barber is still learning this part of the game. He’s a great scorer who plays with elite speed and quickness, but there are times when he still looks like a freshman. He can start playing too fast, settling for poor shots and really getting away from what got them the big lead in the first place. This is where I think Tyler can still be a huge asset for the Pack.

Lewis could and should still be a huge part of this basketball team. He is (was?) definitely the more heady PG. He knows (knew?) how to control flow and how to read the situation. The problem is now that Lewis has gotten away from what made him special. He’s struggling with his confidence and his insecurities have led him to try to alter his game. We know he wants to show that he can score to keep up with Barber, but that’s a losing battle. Barber was built to score. He’s a great defender and quicker than anyone on this team.  Lewis is a game manager and a facilitator. He also can be a very good leader when he’s on his game. If he wants to get back on the floor for NC State and if he wants to find success at a level beyond college, then he needs to embrace these strengths and use them to his advantage.

I don’t think Tyler getting back to basics is all on him. I think Gottfried and this staff need to make it their job to get him back to being himself. I think it begins off the floor. I don’t know how it’s being handled, but the staff needs to give Lewis a boost. They need to remind him of who he was and what made him special. They need to let him know that if he gets back to that then he’ll have a much bigger role on this team. On the floor, they need to utilize him a little more. This is a game of ebbs and flows. When State goes in a little funk, change the pace with Lewis.

Tyler could have a been a late game savior against Missouri and he could have righted the ship against UNCG. In both cases Barber had a streak of freshman moments. He wasn’t playing as if the team was up 10 or 15, he was forcing the issue a little too much, and the Wolfpack got out of rhythm. Over the past two games Barber has shot 6-25 from the field. To his credit, he has gotten to the line a lot, but a lot of that is from just going one on one and taking it at the rim, regardless of situation or scenario. These games would have been great situations for Lewis to earn back some minutes and show that he can be trusted to secure a lead and manage a game that has gotten out of hand or sloppy. For that to happen, Lewis needs to get back to his game and Gottfried needs to see that Lewis’ confidence is restored.

At the end of the day, Barber is a superstar for the Pack and he’s a future NBA PG. Barber is State’s 2nd best scoring option with the basketball and certainly has a been a big reason why the Wolfpack has been successful during this 10 game stretch, but that doesn’t mean that there’s no spot left here for Lewis. If he can accept his role and play his game, he could be emerge as a leader and a guy that Gottfried trusts with the ball late in games if Barber is faltering.

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NC State Basketball

NC State Women’s Basketball Releases Their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

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13 hours ago

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July 26, 2024

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NC State Women’s Basketball team released their 2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule yesterday.

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RALEIGH, N.C. – The NC State women’s basketball program has announced its non-conference slate for the 2024-25 season, as revealed on Thursday.

The Pack will play eight of its 11 games, in addition to a preseason exhibition, at Reynolds Coliseum. Coming off a historical 2023-24 season that was highlighted by the program’s first Final Four since 1998, second in program history, head coach Wes Moore is entering his 12th season at the helm. With a strong home court advantage, the Pack has accumulated a 117-15 (.886) record at home since the renovation of Reynolds Coliseum was completed in August 2016.

NC State will participate in the Pink Flamingo Championship at Baha Mar in Nassau, Bahamas on Monday, Nov. 25 and Wednesday, Nov. 27 against opponents that will be announced at a later date. As previously announced, NC State will play the defending NCAA Champion South Carolina at the Ally Tipoff at the Spectrum Center in Charlotte on Sunday, Nov. 10, as well as host Ole Miss for the SEC/ACC Challenge on Thursday, Dec. 5.

The Wolfpack will host Anderson (S.C.) for an exhibition on Tuesday, Oct. 29 before officially starting the season at home vs. ETSU on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Following the Ally Tipoff, NC State will return home to host Kent State on Thursday, Nov. 14.

NC State’s first true road game of the season is at TCU on Sunday, Nov. 17. The Pack will then play Coastal Carolina at home on Thursday, Nov. 21 before its trip to the Bahamas for two games (Nov. 25-27).

The Pack will close out the non-conference slate with four straight games at Reynolds Coliseum, starting with the SEC/ACC Challenge game vs. Ole Miss (Thursday, Dec. 5). NC State will then host Old Dominion (Sunday, Dec. 8), Davidson (Wednesday, Dec. 11) and James Madison (Thursday, Dec. 19) to wrap up non-conference play.

With NC State’s known non-conference opponents, six are coming off postseason tournament appearances. Three received NCAA Tournament bids (Kent State, Ole Miss and NCAA Champion South Carolina), two were invited to play in the WBIT (TCU and James Madison) and one played in the WNIT (Old Dominion).

NC State’s Atlantic Coast Conference schedule will be announced by the league office at a later date. NC State will play Wake Forest, Boston College, Clemson, Duke, Miami, Notre Dame, Pitt, Virginia and Virginia Tech at home. The Pack will take on Wake Forest, Cal, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Louisville, North Carolina, SMU, Stanford and Syracuse on the road.

Season tickets are sold out for the 2024-25 season. Tip-off times and television designations will also be released at a later date.

2024-25 Non-Conference Schedule

Tuesday, Oct. 29 – Anderson (Exh.)

Tuesday, Nov. 5 – ETSU

Sunday, Nov. 10 – South Carolina $

Thursday, Nov. 14 – Kent State

Sunday, Nov. 17 – at TCU

Thursday, Nov. 21 – Coastal Carolina

Monday, Nov. 25 – Opponent TBD &

Wednesday, Nov. 27 – Opponent TBD &

Thursday, Dec. 5 – Ole Miss +

Sunday, Dec. 8 – Old Dominion

Wednesday, Dec. 11 – Davidson

Thursday, Dec. 19 – James Madison

$ – Ally Tipoff (Spectrum Center, Charlotte, N.C.)

& – Pink Flamingo Championship (Baha Mar, Nassau, Bahamas)

+ – SEC/ACC Challenge (Raleigh, N.C.)

 

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NC State Legend Julius Hodge Named Head Coach at Lincoln University

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2 days ago

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July 24, 2024

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NC State Legend Julius Hodge has been named the Head Coach at Lincoln University.

This marks Hodge’s first stint as a Head Coach.

Hodge has been in the Coaching world since 2015, when he served as Director of Player Development at the University of Buffalo under Bobby Hurley. Then, he spent 2016 and 2017 as an Assistant Coach under Herb Sendek at Santa Clara. From 2018-20, Hodge served as an Assistant Coach at San Jose State. Hodge has spent the past three seasons as an Assistant Coach at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.

At NC State, Hodge earned 1st Team All-ACC honors in 2003 & 2004, and 2nd Team honors in 2005. Hodge was named the ACC Player of the Year in ’04. He earned the All-Freshman Team in 2002.

Hodge is 1 of 11 players in NC State history to earn 1st Team All-ACC honors more than once.

His 2,040 career points scored rank 3rd in NC State history. Hodge also ranks 1st in Free Throws Made, 14th in Rebounds, 7th in Offensive Rebounds, 6th in Assists and 7th in Steals.

Congrats Julius! You deserve this!

 

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WATCH: Getting to Know NC State’s Trey Parker

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3 days ago

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July 23, 2024

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NC State Men’s Basketball is releasing videos helping fans get to know the new players on the 2024-25 roster.

Below is the video of Freshman Trey Parker (6’1″/178), with a transcript underneath.

“My name is Trey Parker. I’m an incoming Freshman from Fayetteville, North Carolina.” 

“I was recently playing at Overtime Elite. It was a great experience. A whole lot of development and great energy.” 

“Coach Levi (Watkins) recruited me. As soon as I got to the campus, it was a great experience. They just gave me that big inspiration to feel like I’m home, and feel like a great student outside of basketball.”

“I knew I wanted to be a part of the Pack back in November of 2022. I just felt like it was a great fit for me.”

“Living in North Carolina, and now playing in North Carolina, is a big opportunity. There’s a lot of people from North Carolina looking up to me, and I want to give them what they want to see.” 

“Being close, allows for them to bring the whole city out. It just feels like I’m already at home.” 

“Y’all stay tuned. Showtime is coming this year.”

_______

Parker originally signed with NC State in November of 2022, as a member of the 2023 recruiting class. He decided to reclassify, making him a member of the 2024 class.

Parker is a consensus 3-Star prospect, though 247Sports’ Composite Rankings have him as a 4-Star prospect. 247 ranks him as the #135 overall player in the 2024 recruiting class, the #26 Shooting Guard, and the #13 player in the state of Georgia.

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Jersey Numbers for 2024-25 NC State Men’s Basketball Team Revealed

Published

1 week ago

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July 18, 2024

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The NC State Men’s Basketball team revealed the Jersey Numbers for their 2024-25 team yesterday.

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Numbers that are Staying the Same

Michael O’Connell – #12

Ben Middlebrooks – #34

Dennis Parker Jr. – #11

KJ Keatts – #13

Jordan Snell – #22

Numbers that have Changed

Jayden Taylor – #1 –> #8

Breon Pass – #10 –> #4

Numbers of New Players

Mike James – #0 (He wore #0 at Louisville last year)

Brandon Huntley-Hatfield – #1 (He wore #5 at Louisville last year)

Paul McNeil – #2 (He wore #2 in High School last year)

Dontrez Styles – #3 (He wore #0 at Georgetown last year)

Trey Parker – #5 (He wore #5 in High School last year)

Marcus Hill – #10 (He wore #0 at Bowling Green last year)

We don’t know what number Ismael Diouf will be wearing at NC State next year yet. 

 

 

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