NC State opens the 2017-18 basketball season vs. Virginia Military Institue tonight in Raleigh. NC State will be without star forward Malik Abu.
Gametime: 7pm How to Watch: Streaming online @ ACC Network Extra (WatchESPN app) Location: PNC Arena Tickets:Available here
Get to know VMI:
This is a very young VMI team consisting of 9 freshmen, 4 sophomores, 1 junior and 3 seniors.
The Keydets, frankly, are going to struggle this year. They will likely be starting 4 sophomores and a freshman vs, The Wolfpack.
Their top returning scorer is guard Keith Smith. Smith was the only freshman to start a game for VMI last season and finished the campaign averaging 4.8 ppg.
No one in their starting five averaged over 3 rebounds per game last year, although they will trot out 6’8 Will Miller and 6’10 Tyler Cremmar.
This game will also be a homecoming for Raleigh native, Fred Iruafemi, who played at Middle Creek HS and is now in his final year at VMI (and also is 10th in school history for blocked shots.)
History vs VMI
NC State leads the all-time series with VMI, 22-8.
NC State has won the last eight meetings between the two teams.
VMI last beat NC State in the 1940-41 season.
The Pack won the last meeting between the two programs, 75-55, on Nov. 23, 2005.
Probable Starters for NC State NC State will likely go with the same lineup you saw them start in the exhibition game. That means Johnson, Batts, Al Freeman, Torin Dorn, and Lennard Freeman. Yurtseven should be the first guy off the bench.
What to watch for If this game ends up being competitive whatsoever, then NC State has a problem. This VMI team is small in the backcourt and inexperienced all over.
Keys for NC State will be to show sustained intensity throughout the game even if/when the score gets lopsided.
The Wolfpack will also be looking to work on their defense and their press. They are longer, faster and quicker than this VMI team at every position. This should mean deflection on deflections and ton of turnovers.
VMI may end up showing the Wolfpack a good deal of zone. How does that affect them? It’s likely that teams will try to slow down what Keatts wants to do by throwing a lot of zone at them. Can they keep their pace up with defenses doing all they can to slow them down?
These are the types of things we’ll be looking for in tonight’s game.
Prior to this season, the record for most games started in a single season in NC State history was 37, with three Wolfpack players doing so: Lorenzo Brown, Richard Howell, CJ Williams.
Morsell now sits atop the list, and a fellow teammate, DJ Burns ranks second, with 40 games started this season.
Styles was the 2nd leading scorer for Georgetown this season, averaging 12.8 points per game, while grabbing 5.8 boards. He shot 36.8% from three.
Originally, Sytles was a consensus 4-Star prospect in UNC’s 2021 recruiting class. 247Sports ranked him as the #62 overall player nationally, and the #2 player in the state of North Carolina, playing for Kinston High School.
After two seasons with the Tar Heels, Styles entered the Portal, and took an Official Visit to NC State and Georgetown, and ultimately chose the Hoyas.
ON3 ranks Styles as the #104 overall player in the Portal.
With his final year of eligibility, Styles’ made the right choice this time.
NC State now has 2 scholarships remaining after Styles’ commitment.
Boston Transfer Center Caitlin Weimar (6’4″) is currently on an Official Visit to NC State.
Sources tell me Caitlin Weimar (6’4” Forward transfer from Boston U) is currently on a visit to NC State.
She ranked 44th in D1 (scoring) last season at 18.7 ppg & 15th in rebounding at 10.6 rpg, in addition to 2.0 apg, 1.3 spg & 2.8 bpg. pic.twitter.com/d2y4jACx2K
Weimar is the reigning Patriot League Player of the Year, and has been named Defensive Player of the Year the past two years. She has earned 1st Team Patriot League Honors the past two seasons.
This year, Weimar averaged 18.7 points, 10.6 rebounds and 2.8 blocks. As a Junior, she averaged 15.5 points and 10.0 rebounds. She shot 55.5% this year, and 59.7% last year.
With NC State not having River Baldwin at Center next year, adding Weimar is an extremely exciting possibility.
