NC State junior Trevor Lacey was a gigantic part of NC State’s success this season. After sitting out a year post transfer, Lacey worked hard on getting his body in shape and regaining the swagger he had coming out of high school as one of the nations best scorers. This season you could see the fruits of his labor. Lacey was had trimmed down the fat and added some good muscle. With that transformation he was able to lead the Pack in scoring with 16ppg on 44% shooting. He also knocked down 40% of his 3s. Here are the grades on Trevor.

Offense:
Coming into the season there was a lot of talk about how great of a scorer Lacey was going to be. With Warren moving on to the NBA, State fans were pinning a lot of their hopes on this kid. They said he was Warren-lite with the basketball, but after seeing just how amazing TJ was and having not see State really have that type of prolific go-to scorer for many year prior, it was just kind of hard to believe. Then in the red/white game, Lacey couldn’t buy a bucket and seemed hesitant to really try to take on a scoring role. It was the fan’s first glimpse of him and it had them wondering who they were going to lean on for scoring. Well, looks like we all had jumped the gun. When regular season arrived, so did Trevor Lacey. The kid was just phenomenal at creating and making his own shot. He dominated early in the season as he hovered around the 18ppg mark. Teams tried to match up against him with small guards, but he shot over top of them with great accuracy. Lacey honestly was dominant and probably one of the most dangerous guards in the league over the first 10 games. Then there was a bump in the road. Teams began to examine how he was attacking them. He was much too reliant on his pull up jumper and rarely took the ball to the basket. Teams started using taller, more athletic guards on him. He couldn’t shoot over them and he just wasn’t quick enough to go by them. He found himself at a crossroads and needed to alter his style of play if he wanted to lead State to a March run. He started driving a little more and creating in the lane, but he still didn’ look comfortable at first. Then as he started to embrace the contact and refine his game to include moves around the basket. He worked on his step back jumper and learned new ways to create space. This brought Trevor to a new level and helped him round back into form as an elite scorer. His offense was the main reason State was able to make such a strong late season run and will be featured player in the ACC next season.

Grade: A

Defense:
Lacey is a good defender. He has the size and strength to guard strong guards and he plays very good position defense against smaller quicker guards. He is crafty and makes up for slightly slower footwork by understanding angles and positioning. His defense is along the lines of former NC State guard Engin Atsur. While I don’t think Lacey is as good a defender at this moment, I think he can be. He and Atsur had about the same foot speed and were both bigger guards who had to defend a wide range of opponents. There was never a game where Lacey just got eaten alive, but there was also not many moment when Lacey defense was changing the game either.

Grade: B-

Intangibles:
Not only was he a good scorer, but Trevor Lacey also wore a lot of other hats for this Wolfpack team. He was their vocal leader, he was their cold blooded late game shot taker, he was pretty much the backbone of this basketball team. He played with good body language (most of the time) and really instilled confidence in his guys. He never demanded the basketball and was quick to pass up a good shot for a teammates great shot. With all of this came a very high in-game IQ, all while learning to play in the ACC for the first time.

Grade: B+

Offseason Checklist
Lacey could and should receive all A’s across the board next season. Offensively he’s going to get better. As good as he was, he has the ability to be a 20+ppg scorer for this team. After going through the ups and downs of the prior season he can get a sense of how opponents want to defend him. He’ll have a full offseason to refine new moves to free him up, and also get comfortable scoring from spots that teams seem to be forcing him into.

Defensively I don’t think Lacey needs to improve technically, but he does need to come into next season in elite shape. While he added strength last year and came into the season in good shape, I think the next step is for him to lean up while keeping his current strength and take his training to the next level this offseason. He’ll be looked to for major minutes next year and will be matched up against some big time scorers. If Lacey can get quicker, stronger and up his endurance (which was already good this season), he’ll be able to launch into super star status (something NC State will need if they want to be a top 10 team next year).

Lacey was a good leader and next year this is going to be his team. No deferring to other upper classmen, no questioning missed calls. Lacey needs to be above that. He needs to be completely focused on keeping his team completely focused and consumed by a drive to take this team to the Final Four next season. If he does that, then not only will NC State be successful, but Trevor Lacey will be punching his NBA ticket without a doubt.