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What does Malik Abu’s knee injury mean for NC State?

Published

7 years ago

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As you’re probably aware, Malik Abu suffered a grade 2 sprain of his MCL. We went into detail about the injury and timetable last night, but we didn’t really get into how it will affect NC State’s schedule and their rotation.

Will Abu be back in time for the matchup with #5 Arizona?

We have been told by a source close to the program that early expectations are Malik missing 4-6 weeks. If that timetable ends up being correct, then he would return sometime in late November or early December.

If Abu were to miss the minimum of 4 weeks, it would bring him back to the court the very same day NC State faces their first true test in #5 Arizona (part of the ‘Battle for Atlantis’ tournament in the Bahamas). If he were to miss the maximum of 6 weeks it would have him back to play UKMC at the PNC on December 8th.

This is only speculation, as every player heals at their own pace and reacts differently to rehab. If you want our best guess it’s that you will see Abu back closer to a 6-8 week time frame. The reason we say that is because Keatts knows Abu has dreams of playing in the NBA and he also knows that what really matters is ACC play.

This Wolfpack team isn’t going to be a Top 10 team in the nation, but they could surprise some people if all the pieces come together. Obviously, that would include a healthy Abu. They need him 100% when ACC play starts, and that will certainly be a part of the thinking when it comes time to let him back on the court.

Now that we’ve talked timeframe, let’s talk rotation.

Keatts already acknowledged in his media day press conference that he didn’t think there would be a way to play Abu, Freeman, and Yurtseven at the same time. So with Abu out, it becomes obvious that you’re going to see a starting lineup with Lennard Freeman and Omer Yurtseven. Those guys will be backed up by Darius Hicks and possibly Tucker Thompson.

There is also the chance that this could open up Keatts to play a lot more ‘4 guard – 1 big’ lineups. For instance, You could see a Markell Johnson, Lavar Batts, Al Freman, Torin Dorn, and Yurtseven or Freeman. Keatts frequently played a small lineup at UNCW and is not afraid to put out a quick group that can really handle the ball and get up and down the floor.

At the end of the day, losing Abu is going to hurt, but there is some silver lining. His absence will give minutes to guys who likely wouldn’t have seen many. This is always a plus since these are the types of guys you want ready late in the season if an emergency situation arises.

You also have to look at it like this. This could have been way worse. There are tons of tons of examples of guys coming back full strength after an MCL sprain. In fact, there are examples of guys coming back 100% after a full MCL rupture (which is much worse than what Abu suffered.)

This will provide a challenge for Kevin Keatts and the Wolfpack, but it will be a challenge that makes them a better team at the end of the day.

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NC State Basketball

NC State Women’s Basketball Picked to Finish 2nd in the 2024-25 ACC Preseason Poll

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2 days ago

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October 15, 2024

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After the ACC Tipoff last week, the results from the Official 2024-25 ACC Women’s Basketball Preseason Poll (voted on by members of the media) are out, and NC State is picked to finish 2nd.

For perspective, the Wolfpack was picked to finish 8th in last years preseason poll, and went on to finish 2nd.

It’s not shocking that NC State’s stellar Senior duo of Saniya Rivers and Aziaha James were named to the Preseason All-ACC Team, because both of them finished with 1st Team All-ACC honors at the end of last season.

True Freshman Zamareya Jones was named as 1 of 5 players on the Top Newcomers Watch List. Jones was a 5-star prospect in the 2024 recruiting class according to ESPN, ranked as the #21 overall player nationally.

Preseason Player of the Year
Hannah Hidalgo, So., G, Notre Dame

Preseason All-ACC Team (First-place votes – 79 voters)
Hannah Hidalgo So., G, Notre Dame 921 (62 first-place votes)
Ta’Niya Latson, Jr., G, Florida State 734 (9 first-place votes)
Saniya Rivers, Sr., G, NC State 527 (2 first-place votes)
Aziaha James, Sr., G, NC State 473 (1 first-place vote)
Olivia Miles, Jr., G, Notre Dame 457 (4 first-place votes)
Sonia Citron, Jr., G, Notre Dame 331
Makayla Timpson, Sr., F, Florida State 315
Alyssa Ustby, Gr., G/F, North Carolina 308
Reigan Richardson, Sr., G, Duke 202
Kymora Johnson, So., G, Virginia 193 (1 first-place vote)

Newcomer Watch List
Toby Fournier, Fr., F, Duke 222
Imari Berry, Fr., G, Louisville 180
Kate Koval, Fr., F, Notre Dame 177
Zamareya Jones, Fr., G, NC State 116
Liza Karlen, Gr., F, Notre Dame 109

Predicted Order of Finish (79 voters)
1. Notre Dame (70), 1726
2. NC State (8), 1617
3. Duke, 1446
4. Louisville, 1370
5. Florida State, 1335
6. North Carolina, 1279
7. Stanford (1), 1214
8. Miami, 883
9. Virginia, 877
10. Georgia Tech, 855
11. Syracuse, 801
12. Virginia Tech, 786
13. Clemson, 553
14. California, 546
15. Boston College, 533
16. SMU, 274
17. Wake Forest, 259
18. Pitt, 233

(ACC)

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NC State Basketball

NC State Men’s Basketball Picked to Finish 8th in the 2024-25 ACC Preseason Poll

Published

2 days ago

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October 15, 2024

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After the ACC Tipoff last week, the results from the Official 2024-25 ACC Men’s Basketball Preseason Poll (voted on by members of the media) are out, and NC State is picked to finish 8th.

For perspective, the Wolfpack was picked to finish 7th last year, and ended up finishing 10th at the end of the regular season, before they went on to go on a miraculous run, winning their first ACC Tournament since 1987.

2024 ACC Preseason Poll
School, Points
1. Duke (42), 956
2. North Carolina (11), 924
3. Wake Forest (1), 800
4. Clemson, 765
5. Virginia, 743
6. Miami, 659
7. Pitt, 636
8. NC State, 550
9. Louisville, 518
10. Notre Dame, 462
11. Syracuse, 454
12. Georgia Tech, 433
13. SMU, 344
14. Virginia Tech, 252
15. Florida State, 251
16. California, 206
17. Stanford, 165
18. Boston College, 116

First-place votes in parentheses; 54 total voters

Preseason ACC Player of the Year
RJ Davis, North Carolina, 40 votes
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 10
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 3
Maxime Raynaud, Stanford, 1

Preseason ACC Rookie of the Year
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 53 votes
Jeremiah Wilkinson, California, 1

Preseason All-ACC Team
First Team
RJ Davis*, North Carolina, 54
Hunter Sallis, Wake Forest, 52
Cooper Flagg, Duke, 52
Markus Burton, Notre Dame, 41
Nijel Pack, Miami, 37

Second Team
Ian Schieffelin, Clemson, 36
Chase Hunter, Clemson, 31
Jamir Watkins, Florida State, 26
Baye Ndongo, Georgia Tech, 21
Ishmael Leggett, Pitt, 20

*denotes unanimous selection

(ACC)

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NC State Women’s Basketball is Ranked 9th in the 2024-25 Preseason AP Poll

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2 days ago

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October 15, 2024

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The 2024-25 Women’s College Basketball Preseason AP Poll has been released, and NC State will head into the season ranked 9th. The Wolfpack finished last season ranked 4th in the AP Poll, after advancing to the Final Four. For perspective, NC State wasn’t even ranked in the Preseason AP Poll last year.

The highest NC State has ever been ranked in the Preseason AP Poll is 5th, which was prior to the 2021-22 season, when they finished the season ranked 3rd.

The highest the Wolfpack has ever been ranked in the AP Poll is 2nd.

Three weeks in 2021-22

Three weeks in 2020-21

Four weeks in 1990-91

The Wolfpack Women will play non-conference games against two teams ranked in the Preseason Top-25: #1 South Carolina & #20 Ole Miss.

In ACC play, they will play #17 Louisville, #11 Duke, #19 FSU, #15 UNC and #6 Notre Dame.

 

 

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NC State Men’s Basketball Doesn’t Receive a Single Vote in the 2024-25 Preseason AP Poll

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3 days ago

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October 14, 2024

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The 2024-25 Men’s Basketball Preseason AP Poll was released today, and NC State didn’t receive a single vote, after winning the ACC Tournament and advancing to the Final Four last season.

While the rankings will obviously change week-to-week, the Wolfpack enters the 2024-25 season with quite a few opponents on their schedule ranked in the Preseason Top-25.

NC State will play #1 Kansas, #14 Purdue and #19 Texas in non-conference games. There’s also a chance they could play Ole Miss in the Rady Children’s Invitational as well, and the Rebels are ranked 24th.

When it comes to their ACC slate, the Wolfpack will play #9 UNC twice, and #7 Duke once. The Tar Heels and the Blue Devils are the only two ACC teams ranked in the Top-25 to start the season.

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