Predicted to finish 10th in the ACC at the beginning of the season by many media outlets the NC State Basketball program exceeded expectations due to guys improving throughout the season. While it was a safe bet to say this group would not amount to much as they seemed to be inexperienced and had lost the ACC POY in TJ Warren this group wasn’t satisfied with being mediocre. Now before we go too far there were many times that this team was less than mediocre if we step back and look at the season as a whole you have to be pleased with the progress.

There were plenty of ups as this group found a way to beat the blue bloods and personally I believe it is a good season anytime you beat both Duke and Carolina. I am also happy with the way our guys continued to battle and believe that they could make the NCAA Tournament even when our season was on life support following bad losses. This group is special in the way they handled adversity  and were able to regain the confidence to win the next game. Look at the 3 game stretch in February where State lost at Wake Forrest and then lost at home to UVA. At this point the season seemed to be over; however, our guys came up with a great result at Louisville that injected life into this squad. From that point on NC State finished the season 8-3!

When November rolled around this season many State fans didn’t know what to expect. We had all heard rave reviews about this transfer from Alabama named Trevor Lacey but we all know that sometimes those reviews can be overly optimistic. Lacey proved to be as good as advertised as he was capable of filling the scoring void left by TJ Warren. Many questioned the choice to roll with Barber instead of Tyler Lewis and let’s be honest, for a good portion of the season those naysayers had good ammunition to question the decision as Barber looked lost. Then the light bulb went off for Cat and he became the player that we had all hoped he would be. Some kids take longer to develop and adjust to the college game, it is a big leap going from High School to the ACC.

Not only did our guards take giant leaps throughout the season but so did our big men. Early in the season we had absolutely no inside presence. Then Gottfried realized mid-way through the season that it is best to use all of our big men in different spots. Lennard Freeman and BeeJay Anya are two big men who are raw offensively but above average defensively. We saw these two pair together in stretches when defense and rebounding were most needed. Then Abu and Washington were much more equipped on the offensive end. These two rarely played together as Gottfried usually liked to play Abu and Freeman together and vice versa Anya and Washington as a pair. I am excited for this group moving forward as I feel like they can all get a lot better in the offseason and be an even more complete group.

As we remember this season I think the biggest question mark we have moving forward is what kind of impact will this season have on the future of NC State Basketball? My junior year we were in a similar position as this team is, we had just lost to Kansas in the Sweet Sixteen and had many of the same players returning. To add to the excitement State had an incoming trio of highly sought after recruits named TJ Warren, Rodney Purvis, and Tyler Lewis. It seemed like everything was set up for the Pack to be the class of the ACC; however, it is well documented how we under achieved that season.

Why?

It is difficult trying to integrate three incoming freshmen into a team full of upper classmen, especially when all three were used to dominating the ball in high school. The chemistry was never at the level it needed to be for our group to achieve something special. That’s why I am not as concerned with Gottfried not having any recruits for 2015. If everyone comes back and with the addition of Terry Henderson then we really don’t have a need for any new recruits. We all know Gottfried can recruit! The biggest thing moving forward is that this group improves individually this offseason. If our players can all improve then there is no reason why this group cannot be a top 25 team next season!