NC State was left for dead after last season. Keatts was all but finished at NC State and the media picked NC State to finish 10th in the ACC.
If you’re a long-time NC State fan, then you know that this is when you can expect one of those special seasons. When you’ve all but given up, they pull you right back in.
That seems to be in the early stages of happening as we speak.
After a pretty impressive 4 game run to open the season, NC State took the #3 team in the nation to the wire, at times looking like the more talented team. This hasn’t gone unnoticed.
Seth Greenberg on his postgame on ESPN stopped the Kansas hype for a minute to talk about NC State’s guards and how good they are. The ESPN broadcast also pointed out that NC State was picked 10th in the ACC and that’s just not going to happen with the amount of talent on this roster.
There are eyes on NC State now. Analysts starting to see what we’ve been talking about all preseason. Now it’s up to NC State.
With a great showing vs. Dayton today at 4pm (on ESPN News), the momentum will begin to pile up. Chatter about a true contender emerging in the ACC will ramp up. It’s up to the Pack.
There is no doubt that this group will be playing on tired legs. Joiner, Smith and Morsell played 35+ minutes in this one, but if there is a time to suck it up and change the narrative about this team, to make a statement that this team is for real, it’s today vs. Dayton.
Come out flat and lifeless and the Kansas game is just an aberration. The non-believers and blue-blood jockeys can laugh and say “I told you so.” But come out and cut Dayton’s throat, and suddenly those critics will get mighty quiet because the evidence will start mounting up that NC State has arrived.
Today will say a lot about this basketball team and will likely dictate the narrative going forward. Let’s just hope they understand the magnitude of today’s game and come out, not just to beat, but to bury Dayton.
A pasta eatin', Wolfpack lovin' loudmouth from Raleigh by way of New Jersey. Jimmy V and Chuck Amato fanboy. All opinions are my own and you're gonna hear'em.
For the few realists in the Pack community, I think this was going to be the best case path all along. We were unlikely to beat Kansas. A good showing was what we wanted, and we got it. The rest of the OOC schedule looks manageable. 10 games until we host Duke to start 2023. Take two in the Bahamas, and Miami looks like the next tough one. I think we need to win at least 12 of these first 15 in 2022. That leaves 16, and if we can split them we’ll have 20 wins going into the ACCT… Read more »
Dof87
1 year ago
I wish we could have gone deeper than 8 vs Kansas but its not like our opponent won’t be on tired legs, and have a shorter turnaround time. Playing first game is a slight edge.
NC State’s Men’s Basketball team has picked up 4 players from the Transfer Portal this offseason, and the class ranks 10th nationally according to ON3, and 15th nationally according to 247Sports.
Andy Katz is beginning to make his rounds for his Offseason Convo series, and he took the time to meet with NC State Head Coach Kevin Keatts.
In their conversation, Keatts talked about what this run has meant to Raleigh and the Wolfpack fans, how it has helped sell the program the way it deserves to be in recruiting, and even how it helped and hurt in the world of the Transfer Portal.
Today was the final day graduate players could enter the Portal.
This past season, O’Connell averaged 5.7 points, 3.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists for the Wolfpack, starting 22 of the 41 games he played in.
O’Connell took over as NC State’s starting Point Guard on January 30th in a win against Miami.
He only scored in double figures in 9 of his 41 games this season, but 6 of those came in postseason play (5 in the ACC Tournament). O’Connell took things to another level in the ACC Tournament, playing aggressive on the offensive end, looking for his shot, and attacking the rim.
NC State played it’s best basketball of the season when O’Connell was running the show. He ranked 3rd in the ACC in Assist/Turnover Ratio (2.5).
Heading into next season, with a lineup filled with new faces, having the calming presence of a veteran leader like O’Connell is reassuring.
ECU Transfer Power Forward Ezra Ausar (6’9″/240) was on an Official Visit to NC State yesterday, and according to analysts at ON3 and 247Sports, things are trending in the right direction for the Wolfpack.
Jamie Shaw of ON3 submitted a prediction for Ausar to eventually commit to NC State yesterday morning.
Cory Smith of 247Sports submitted a crystal ball projection for Ausar to run with the Wolfpack this morning.
Ausar just wrapped up his Sophomore season in Greenville, averaging 11.4 points and 4.7 rebounds, shooting 51.4% from the field. As a Freshman, he was named to the AAC All-Freshman Team, averaging 9.8 points and 5.3 rebounds.
Ausar is a consensus 4-Star prospect in the Transfer Portal, and ON3 ranks him as the #60 overall player in the Portal and the #10 Power Forward.
Originally from Atlanta, Ausar played his Senior Season of High School at Liberty Heights Athletic Institute in Charlotte, North Carolina. ON3 ranked Ausar as a 4-Star prospect coming out of high school, the #94 overall player nationally, and the #2 player in the state of North Carolina.
Ausar has visited Seton Hall, Georgia Tech, met over Zoom with Georgetown, and had an in-home visit with Utah. John Calipari and his staff at Arkansas have been in touch with Ausar, as well as Oklahoma, Ole Miss, Virginia Tech, Arizona State, West Virginia, Iowa State and St. John’s. (Link)
At this point, it’s good news that Ausar has no visits scheduled after the visit to NC State.
Ausar has 2 years of eligibility remaining, and NC State currently has 1 scholarship remaining.
For the few realists in the Pack community, I think this was going to be the best case path all along. We were unlikely to beat Kansas. A good showing was what we wanted, and we got it. The rest of the OOC schedule looks manageable. 10 games until we host Duke to start 2023. Take two in the Bahamas, and Miami looks like the next tough one. I think we need to win at least 12 of these first 15 in 2022. That leaves 16, and if we can split them we’ll have 20 wins going into the ACCT… Read more »
I wish we could have gone deeper than 8 vs Kansas but its not like our opponent won’t be on tired legs, and have a shorter turnaround time. Playing first game is a slight edge.
Lets grab two Vs there for the taking!