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Quadir Copeland is statistically one of the top PGs in the nation …and everyone is starting to notice

Lou Pascucci

Published

6 months ago

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Quadir Copeland started his career as a tweener who couldn’t find a real role with Syracuse. He then went to McNeese State, where Wade tinkered with him in many roles before settling on him as a primary ball handler.

The problem was never his measurables; it was the fact that he hadn’t really honed the intangibles of the PG position. And do you blame him? The kid is 6’6, has athleticism off the charts, and is an elite scorer around the rim. Not many coaches were itching to cram a guy like this into a PG role where he’d need to put a lot of energy into distributing the basketball and dictating the pace and flow of the game.

But at the end of the day, that’s where Q’s skillset was the most valuable. That’s where things came most naturally to him and where he could be a real game changer.

Will Wade saw this in him last season and committed to him as a lead guard. We wrote a whole story on it here…

But there were bumps in the road. Copeland was a playmaker and sometimes wanted to do too much. This caused turnovers, or for him to become too ball-dominant. He was still growing and learning the position.

But as this year has progressed, so has Copeland’s feel for the PG position.

In fact, it seems you can trace it to a specific moment.

Wade sat down with Q to talk more about his role with the team after the Auburn loss. That came after the the Maui tournament (where NC State underperformed). Copeland had been having some uneven performances. He scored just 14 combined points in NC State’s first 2 games in Maui (on 10 total shots), then turned around and scored 50 points on 26 shots between the Texas and Auburn game.

NC State needed consistency from Copeland. They needed him to be more of a leader on the floor and more of a distributor first, scorer second.

How has he responded?

He’s found that consistent middle, while his game, and his team have taken off.

Over the past 5 games, Copeland is averaging 13 ppg and his assist numbers have skyrocketed.

Prior to the sit down, he was averaging 4.5 assist per game. Since then, 8 per game.

Prior to the sit down, he was averaging just 2.5 rebounds per game. Since then, 5.2

Wade unlocked Quadir Copeland’s potential and the tweener with no clear role at Syracuse, has become one of the nation’s best point guards.

Copeland and LaBaron Philon (Alabama) are the only players in college basketball this season who have an AST% of 35, and is shooting 60% at the rim on 40 makes.

And everyone is taking notice.

Even Julius Hodge, who himself was a 6’7 PG who found his niche and became a star at NC State…

And he’s gone viral on Instagram…

NC State is a different team since Copeland fully embraced the PG role, and Wolfpack fans, Will Wade and Q’s draft stock are reaping the benefits.

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