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Stop with the Clemson Should be in Instead of NC State Narrative

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2 weeks ago

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So apparently Dick Vitale and Jay Bilas think Clemson should have made the NCAA Tournament instead of NC State.

Vitale’s thoughts:

“What do you think the feeling must be at Clemson when they see NC State there, who they beat not once, not twice, but three times?” Vitale said. “And you see the margin of victories.” (Link)

“… I don’t know how you can really justify that. That really troubles me.”

Bilas’ thoughts:

“… I’m sensitive to the whole, ‘We beat NC State!’ three times thing, because that’s fair. I think head-to-head is a big factor.” (Link)

Look, I get it. Clemson beat NC State three times this year. They owned the Wolfpack. In fact, they have won 6 straight. No offense to the Tigers, but in my opinion, that’s unacceptable.

But just because you beat a team three times doesn’t mean you deserve to get in over that team. What you did in the rest of your body of work matters as well.

Clemson also finished 14-6 in the ACC compared to NC State’s 12-8 conference record.

They even had 4 Quad 1 wins, going 4-4 against Quad 1 opponents. NC State was 1-6 against Quad 1 opponents.

So Clemson has the same amount of overall wins as NC State, more conference wins, and more Quad 1 wins.

What about wins against teams that were ranked in the Top-25 when the game was played? NC State has 2 and Clemson has 1.

When it comes down to it, the problem wasn’t Clemson’s wins, it was their losses. The Tigers had 2 Quad 3 losses and 2 Quad 4 losses. They lost to South Carolina, Loyola Chicago, Boston College and Louisville.

Do I think this makes NC State a better team with a better resume than Clemson? No, not necessarily.

In fact, I think that Clemson should be an NCAA Tournament team.

With that being said, just because I believe that Clemson should be in the Dance, doesn’t mean that I think NC State shouldn’t.

Why not make the argument that Clemson should have made it over Arizona State or Pitt, who ranked 66th and 67th in the NET Rankings. Clemson finished 60th in the NET Rankings. For perspective, NC State finished ranked 44th in the NET.

Just because Clemson is deserving to be in the Dance, doesn’t mean that NC State isn’t deserving.

They both are.

Don’t discount NC State simply because Clemson was snubbed.

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Matthew is Co-Owner of Pack Insider. He writes for all sports, with a focus on football and recruiting, and is in charge of business strategy. He is an NC State alum who majored in business. Matthew is also the lead pastor of The Point Church in Cary, NC.

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Papajohn
Papajohn
13 days ago

Giglio got it right. He said, “Clemson is mad at the wrong Wolfpack. Nevada’s Wolf Pack got into the play-in games because the committee always saves one of those four spots for a non P5 team.”
However, I do agree Clemson was tournament worthy. And if we went into the ACCT thinking “it’s us or them” for a spot and then beat that team as badly as they beat us, we’d be out of our minds just like they are. The fallacy was, it wasn’t ‘us or them.’

2
Dof87
Dof87
13 days ago

On another topic, did anyone see GT’s new coach press conference. I’ve seen low key coaches before, but Stoudamire sounded like he just woke up from a coma. Not very confidence inspiring. But you never know.

1
Papajohn
Papajohn
13 days ago
Reply to  Dof87

To me, that’s an odd hire, especially compared to who he replaces.
Pastner had a great track record, he was the CUSA COY one year, won their tournament a couple of times, and won the league a couple of times. He was a hot property in the college coaching world. Stoudamire only has 5 years experience as HC, and only had one winning season. A career losing record both in the WCC league and overall.
It’s a weird coincidence that both Pastner and Stoudamire played at Arizona.

1
Rev
Rev
13 days ago

The NET is seriously flawed. My best example…. If you beat a team, no matter if they are ranked higher or lower than you, the loss hurts the other team’s NET and can result in hurting your own NET ranking. I personally think the Duke and UNC not living up to expectations hurts the reputation of the entire ACC unfairly. And like it or not, there really is not enough OOC play in the mega conferences to justify comparing the power 5 teams..agreeing with Dof87.

2
Rev
Rev
13 days ago

On a totally different note, Shakeel Moore missed a wide open 3 that would have beat Pitt. Pitt even missed a gimme tip of the missed shot. Heartbreaker. Prolly lots more (no pun) drama to come. PS Clemson can pound sand.

2
Dof87
Dof87
13 days ago
Reply to  Rev

I was torn between pulling for Shakeel and wanting Pitt to win and help prove the ACC was slighted in selections.

I hate he had to go out missing that shot, but he was a big reason they were in position to win.

1
Rev
Rev
13 days ago
Reply to  Rev

I hate I can’t edit mistakes. Of course I meant Miss St missed a tip of Moore’s missed three. They were only down one. Crazy game. I think I read there were 21 lead changes. Hope Pitt can win another one. Not as much as I hope the Pack wins Friday!

1
Dof87
Dof87
13 days ago

I agree Clemson should have been in the tournament, along wit NC State. Yes, the argument that it should be either Clemson or NC State flies in the face of the ‘body of work’ and selection criteria they claim to use. Tell Dicky there are other teams in the field below NC State. Clemson would need to displace those teams before they would displace us. Like you said, Did Arizona State really deserve to be in over Clemson? THAT is the question they should be asking first. I think its clear that State deserved to be in over Arizona State.… Read more »

Last edited 13 days ago by Dof87
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NC State Basketball

NC State’s Terquavion Smith Will Forgo His Remaining College Eligibility & Declare for NBA Draft

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11 hours ago

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March 28, 2023

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Well, it’s official. NC State Sophomore Terquavion Smith will forgo his remaining two years of college eligibility and officially declare for the 2023 NBA Draft.

Here’s what Smith had to say to ESPN’s Jonathan Givony regarding his decision.

“I’m forgoing my college eligibility and going all the way in,” Smith said. “I’m thankful for everything the NC State coaching staff and fans have done for me. This is the right decision for me to take care of my family.”

“I showed a lot of different things this year,” Smith said. “Teams wanted to see me be more of a point guard, making the right play, making the right decisions. They wanted to see me improve my finishing, and I increased that. I showed I can be a leader.”

“I improved my grades. I’m a year closer to getting my degree now. You only get one chance to be a college student and get that college vibe. There was no rush for me. I’m ready to contribute to an NBA team now.”

“I’m feeling good about everything now,” Smith said. “I came back to do what I needed to do. I feel like I did everything the right way. I know what’s coming now in the pre-draft process because I’ve been there already and know what to expect. I’ll be a lot more confident in myself now. It’s going to be a straight grind.” (ESPN)

Smith earned 2nd Team All-ACC honors this year, averaging 17.9 points and 4.1 assists per game.

He currently ranks 30th on ESPN’s Top-100 2023 NBA Draft Prospect Rankings. In most NBA Mock Drafts, Smith is projected as a late first round pick.

Smith’s career scoring average of 17.1 ranks 8th in school history. He made 187 three point shots in two seasons, ranking 8th all-time in NC State history. His 96 made three-pointers last year are the most ever by a Freshman in school history, and his 91 made three-pointers made this year are the most ever by a Sophomore.

If Smith goes on to be taken in the 1st round of the 2023 NBA Draft, it will be the first person to do so from NC State since Dennis Smith Jr. was taken 9th overall in 2017. If Smith is taken in the first round, the would become the 17th player in school history to do so.

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NC State Basketball

NC State’s Men’s Basketball 2022-23 Season: BY THE NUMBERS

Published

16 hours ago

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March 28, 2023

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NC State’s Men’s Basketball 2022-23 season has come and gone, and I thought we should take a moment to look back on this season BY THE NUMBERS.

  • NC State finished the season with a 23-11 overall record.
    • The 23 wins are the 2nd most of the Kevin Keatts era.
      • In 2018-19, the Wolfpack had 24 wins (2 in the NIT)
  • The Wolfpack had 22 regular season wins.
    • This was the most regular season wins since 2012-13.
  • NC State had 12 ACC regular season wins.
    • This is the most conference wins since they increased the slate of conference games to 20 in 2019-20.
    • It’s the most conference wins since 1973-74, when the Wolfpack was 12-0 in ACC play. Obviously this stat is not representative of the best conference performance by NC State since 1973-74, because they played significantly more conference games than years past.
  • The Wolfpack’s winning percentage in ACC play was 60%, which is the 2nd highest winning percentage in conference play under Kevin Keatts.
    • In his first season in 2017-18, the Wolfpack’s ACC winning percentage was 61.1%.
  • NC State shot 45% from the field this season;.
    • This is the 2nd to worst shooting season under Kevin Keatts, trailing only 41.3% last year.
  • The Wolfpack shot 34.7% from three-point range.
    • That number is the 4th best in 6 seasons under Kevin Keatts.
  • NC State shot 72.2% from the free-throw line.
    • This is the 2nd best number under Kevin Keatts (72.5% last year was the best year).
  • For the first time since 2018-19, NC State won the rebounding margin over their opponents on the year.
    • It was the 2nd highest rebounding margin under Kevin Keatts, with +1.7 margin. (In 2018-19, the margin was +4.3)
  • NC State averaged 77.7 points per game, which is the third highest number under Kevin Keatts, but the highest since 2018-19.
  • The Wolfpack forced 477 turnovers, which is the 3rd highest total under Kevin Keatts, and the most since 2018-19.
    • NC State only committed 320 turnovers, which is the lowest total under Keatts (328 in 2020-21, which was a shortened season, was the lowest before.)
  • NC State held opponents to a 44.5% field goal percentage, which is the lowest since 2019-20, and the third lowest under Keatts.
  • The Wolfpack held opponents to 31.6% from three, which is tied for the 2nd lowest percentage under Keatts.
  • NC State had 434 assists, which is tied for the 3rd most in a season under Keatts.
  • The Wolfpack had 152 blocks, which is the most in a single season under Keatts.
  • NC State finished ranked 51 in KenPom’s

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NC State Basketball

UNC Transfer Dontrez Styles Expected to Visit NC State Soon

Published

4 days ago

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March 24, 2023

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UNC Guard/Forward Transfer Dontrez Styles (6’6″/210) is expected to be visiting NC State soon. According to a source, he was expected to take an unofficial visit tomorrow, but it has been rescheduled to Monday.

Styles entered the Transfer Portal on March 17th.

Over the past two seasons, Styles has seen limited action for the Tar Heels, averaging 5.9 minutes in 45 total games (15 this season).

Styles is no stranger to NC State. He played high school for Kinston (Kinston, NC), and was offered by Kevin Keatts. Styles was a consensus 4-Star prospect coming out of High School. 247Sports ranked him as the #62 overall player nationally in the 2021 recruiting class, and the #2 player in the state of North Carolina.

ON3 ranks Styles as the #21 player currently in the Transfer Portal.

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NC State Basketball

All-AAC Temple Transfer Damian Dunn Visiting NC State this Weekend

Published

4 days ago

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March 24, 2023

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According to a source, Temple All-AAC Transfer Shooting Guard Damian Dunn (6’5″/195) was expected to be at NC State today on an unofficial visit.

Dunn entered the Transfer Portal on March 20th.

Dunn averaged 15.3 points per game this season, earning 3rd Team All-AAC honors. He shot 41.1% from the field this season, and 34.8% from three-point land.

In 2021-22, he led the Owls in scoring (14.9), and earned 2nd Team All-AAC honors.

Dunn originally is from Kinston, North Carolina, but played his Senior season of High School for Meadowcreek in Georgia, finishing his high school career as a 3-star prospect.

With the almost guaranteed loss of Terquavion Smith, NC State will be in need for a dynamic scorer, and Dunn has proven that he can do just that at the collegiate level.

Currently, Dunn is the 16th ranked player in the Transfer Portal according to ON3.

Dunn is a Redshirt Sophomore this season, with 2 years of eligibility remaining.

 

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