WATCH: Wes Moore’s Press Conference Before the 2025 NCAA Tournament (with transcript)

NC State Head Coach Wes Moore met with the media today for his press conference leading up to the Wolfpack’s first round game in the 2025 NCAA Tournament this Saturday against Vermont. You can watch the video ABOVE, and read the transcript BELOW.

Just your thoughts on the regional, the breakdown, and just kind of your take looking at it a day later.

About what we expected. First game, we’re paired up against a Vermont team that’s been very hot, won 9 out of their last 10, 16 of their last 18, and they’re fourth in the country in defense points allowed…52 points per game.

Obviously, our main focus is on them right now, but we obviously have staff working on potential opponents as well. Very similar to the schedule we had a year ago, so we’ll try to keep things pretty similar as far as preparation and things like that, and we’re excited. I’m proud of this team for being able to secure a home bid.

That’s probably the thing that keeps me up at night more than anything else is trying to secure one of those top 16 spots, and that’s based on your body of work for the whole season, so every game is so critical. So I’m proud of this team for being able to put themselves in that position, but at the same time, it doesn’t guarantee you anything. You still got to show up and get it done, but we’re excited to be playing at home in front of our fans.

I notice all the hardware behind. You can’t help but notice it. You mentioned the body of work, and just a comparison for you in terms of an ACC regular season title versus an ACC tournament title. How do you look at those two?

First of all, I’d rather have both of them. There you go. So, that’s a no-brainer.

I tell you what, I feel for the men’s side. We have that extra week in there, which is pretty nice. I don’t know how, for the guys, if you obviously play for your conference tournament championship game, and now all of a sudden you have another game on Thursday maybe or whatever, it’s a tight turnaround.

This time of year to play, three, four, or as our the men did a year ago, five games in the conference tournament, and then to turn around and have to play again in a few days.

I do look at the regular season title is to me, that’s over an 18-game schedule. In this league, that’s pretty tough. The people, the great talent, the great coaches, it’s quite an accomplishment to be able to win a regular season championship. So, proud of our team for that. Very disappointed in our performance last Sunday.

I just didn’t feel like, first of all, give credit to Duke, though. They always play great D, they always rebound, but they also shot the ball well, really well in the second half against us. But disappointed in our effort defensively on the boards.

So that’s hopefully something we can shore up here over this period that we’ve had and try to get ready for the NCAAs.

Speaking of that week off, how do you think the recovery has gone specifically for Aziaha (James) and Saniya (Rivers), who was sick, as you enter this weekend?

We gave them three days off.

It was spring break and felt like they deserved that after what they’ve been through through this long haul of a season. So we gave them three days off, came back, practiced. Well, Thursday did weight lifting, got some shots up.

Then Friday, Saturday had full goal practices where we could focus on us. Then had yesterday off, except for the viewing party, of course. Now we’ll practice today and tomorrow, knowing who our opponent is.

Then we’ll have a day off in there again and have two more days to prep before playing on Saturday. So, I like the way we have it set up, and hopefully we get some good results again. But, I think everybody’s in pretty good shape now as far as recovery time and all that, hopefully. We’re ready to go.

This morning, Courtney Banghart did her media call, and she was talking about how she was a little bit disappointed that your pod and their pod, the games are at the same time. She wanted fans to be able to go to both sites and see as many games as they wanted. Was that something that y’all talked about or you’ve thought about at all?

No, because as you guys know, the men regional is also here in town, and it’s Friday and Sunday, I believe.

So, I mean, I think it’s good. We’re staggered, to be honest with you, versus men as well. So, no, I mean, again, hadn’t really thought about it.

Glad to be hosting and excited about the opportunity.

I remember when you first got to State, it seemed like you were chasing the Top 16. You were chasing teams in the ACC, and you kind of broke through at one point. The gap between where you were in those teams back then, is it tighter now with a Michigan State? Is that a team that could make a deep run in the tournament, for example? Do you think the gap between these teams that are 7-8-9 is maybe not as profound as it used to be?

Oh, no doubt.

I think there’s a lot more parity in our game. I mean, anybody want to go out on a limb here and pick the national champion? I just think there’s a lot of teams that could get hot and win it. I think last year we were fortunate.

We got hot and got on a roll and went through the juggernaut of Tennessee, Stanford, Texas, to get to the Final Four. So I do. I think right now there’s more parity in our game and more excitement.

I look at Michigan State. For instance, one thing jumped right out at me. We thought Michigan would be another team that could possibly be sent here.

They beat Michigan by 30 at one point at Michigan. Then Michigan beat Michigan State at Michigan State. So it’s a crazy game.

That just shows the parity right there. Obviously they’re playing in a strong conference as well. They’ve played against UCLA, USC, Ohio State, I mean, they’re not going to be intimidated by us or coming in here for sure. It’ll be a hard-fought game, and we’re going to have to play really well.

We understand. That’s what I said. It’s great to be at home.

It’s great that our players have earned that opportunity for us, but at this point, that doesn’t guarantee anything. You’ve got to go out and perform.

Obviously she’s (Madison Hayes) matured as a player over her time with you. Just speak to her maturation as a woman, as a student, and as a leader, as a person, since she transferred over to NC State.

You couldn’t ask for a better person than Madison. Obviously her parents have done an unbelievable job of raising her, bringing her up. I think that’s important.

Your culture, your locker room, things like that. Madison’s going to be a positive influence in those situations and then representing your program. And she’s had a great year.

I know not everyone can make all conference, but she was, I think, in conference play, 13 points a game, 8 boards a game, led us in rebounding, I think second maybe or third in scoring. All-around player, person. We’ve been very blessed to have her for four years.

She makes a big difference. I’ve said before, she’s kind of that glue player that holds stuff together and does a lot of the blue-collar things you have to do to be successful.

At the beginning of the season, you guys weren’t sure what you were going to get out of the front court, but throughout the year, Tilda (Trygger) and Lorena (Awou) have kind of really come on for you. What’s it been like kind of seeing their development throughout the season as they seem to just kind of get better and better? How important is it now when you’re at this stage where it’s going to go home?

Very proud of them, the work they put in, the time they put in, how much they’ve improved. I think a lot of credit goes to our coaches. Nikki West works with our posts.

Kevin Leatherwood works with our posts. I think they’ve done an excellent job. Kayla Jones, our grad assistant, is down there with them as well.

So I think they’ve done a heck of a job bringing those kids along, and then those kids have stepped up, and to think about them being in the fire out there in some big, big games this year, and coming through is pretty amazing for a freshman.

We know this is going to be their first time to dip their toes in the NCAA waters, so it’s going to be a big challenge as well, but I feel a lot better about that situation now than I did a couple of months ago.

So proud of how far they’ve come.

Two of your former esteemed assistant coaches played Vermont at Providence and Rice. How much information gossip happens at this time of the year in the coaching community?

Technically, if they’re in the same conference, you really can’t do much. But, yes, Lindsey (Edmonds) at Rice and Erin (Batth) at Providence are not in the same league. They can be of help for sure.

Obviously, we’ve got – I think I’ve got 13 games on Vermont on my computer right now. I’m not going to watch all 13 of them, but, our staff, obviously, we split the games up.

We’ve got a couple of coaches working on Vermont and a couple of coaches here and there looking ahead. Definitely helps to have somebody you can turn to and maybe see their approach. I know both of them had success.

I know Rice had a pretty good win, but, again, those were way back in November, and kind of like us, a lot of things change, so you have to really rely on the – probably the last few weeks of the season a little bit more, but definitely can be a resource.

What does it say just about the area that we’ve got all three women’s teams hosting, plus the men’s regional here in Raleigh this week as well?

Yeah. How about that? It wasn’t easy to find a hotel either, which, you know, it’s crazy when you think about how many teams are going to be in this area this weekend. It says a lot about the ACC and Tobacco Road and all that stuff.

It’s pretty neat, because, these are your traditional ACC teams, the footprint, so to speak. So it is. It’s exciting.

Courtney and Kara Lawson, they’ve both done great jobs of building those teams, and they’re having unbelievable seasons. Obviously, like I said, I’m proud of where our players have placed us.

Then eight men’s teams here as well for their regional, I guess. So pretty crazy.

I asked Courtney Banghart this, and I guess I’ll ask you this as well, in terms of making sure that when these players are going into the game, like checking on them mentally, making sure they’re doing well. She had mentioned that’s something that’s not really talked about a whole lot that needs to be. What kind of check-ins are you doing with the athletes to make sure they’re, again, they’re mentally well and they’re going into the NCAA tournament as refreshed as possible? Because I know it could be growing out there, especially a lot of pressure being on them right now.

Well, first of all, we have great support here in mental health and with different counselors and things like that.

So we definitely have the resources there. Obviously, I don’t get involved in that. I let the professionals handle those things.

I guess I don’t look at it that way. This is a great time of year. Some people call it March Madness.

I like calling it March Gladness. This is what you’ve worked for all year. For the most part, our kids are really excited, and they’re used to playing in big games and performing on this stage.

I feel good where we’re at, and I think everybody’s pretty strong in that regard right now, but definitely, you want to make sure the resources are there and they have an opportunity if they do want to talk with someone, and we have that.

I know early in the season, you were trying to figure some things out at the five position. Obviously, Tilda has emerged, but you’ve also been receiving contributions from the others. Can you just discuss where you are now at that position heading into the tournament?

You still miss River Baldwin and Mimi Collins because they had five years of Power Five experience. So you miss that a little bit.

But like I said, I feel a whole lot better now than I did a couple of months ago. I think what Tilda’s doing is remarkable. She seems to handle it, take it all in stride and doesn’t get phased by it a whole lot.

And Lorena’s had some big moments for us coming on as well. Both of them are improving greatly. Then you got Mallory Collier, a little bit of a steadying force, but she’s only a sophomore.

From that regard, you’d like to have more experience. You wish they had a little bit more under their belt, maybe this NCAA and things like that, but at the same time, it’s basketball.

We’re going out and playing and they’ve played against some great, great teams in the ACC. So I think they’ve been battle tested and now’s another opportunity to take another step.

You mentioned her a little bit when you’re talking about the development of some of the folks in your front court, but what kind of impact has Kayla Jones had on this team? What kind of growth have you seen from her, finishing up her second year as a grad assistant for you?

I’ve seen unbelievable growth from K.J. from when she started here as a freshman and played four years, obviously being drafted in the WNBA, had an opportunity to play overseas a year and then just decided that really wasn’t what she wanted.

She wanted to go ahead and start pursuing a coaching career. She’s been unbelievable for us. I just think it’s great when you have a former player who’s still relatively young that can relate to the players, but also get your message out and the kind of culture you want, those sort of things.

We’re going to miss her a lot. I’m trying to talk her into maybe getting another masters, but I don’t think it’s working. I think she wants to go ahead and have an opportunity to get out there.

Obviously there’s coaching limits with the NCAA on how many coaches we could have, because I’d love to keep her here, but she’s come so far. Even our athletic director, Boo Corrigan, said to me one day, ‘you know, I just can’t believe how far she’s come since a young player here.

It’s just neat when you have someone like that. She’s a great player, great person. The players respect her, but at the same time, they have a relationship caught up with each other and things like that. I hate to see her finish up her two years, but she’s going to be a good one. She works really hard at it, and I think has a great grasp on the game and on people. Really proud of her.