The NC State men’s basketball team will officially open its season Tuesday night in PNC Arena, as Mount Saint Mary’s comes to Raleigh to kickoff a new year of college basketball.
The Wolfpack beat Chowan 111-62 in an exhibition game last week, but the regular season starts Tuesday. Head coach Kevin Keatts met with the media Monday afternoon to discuss the matchup and the season as a whole:
On Tuesday’s season opener against Mount Saint Mary’s: “I’m excited, obviously, to start the season tomorrow. I’m excited for some of our players. I was thinking about it today. We’ve got three guys, really two when you talk about [redshirt junior] C.J. Bryce and [redshirt sophomore] Devon Daniels who haven’t played in over a year. Obviously [sophomore] Blake [Harris] played a semester at Missouri. I’m excited about it and trying to improve on some things that we didn’t do well in the Chowan exhibition.
“Hopefully we’re getting there. I know our guys are obviously tired of practicing against each other. They’re all excited about playing basketball tomorrow. We’re going to play a very good team that’s got a great tradition. Mount Saint Mary’s, when you think about them the last few years, have done a tremendous job. They play very similar to us where they play up and down and try to pick you up full court. It should be one of those fun exciting games.”
On NC State’s transfers playing their first game: “I’m excited for them. I’m sure there will be a lot of nervous energy when you think about some of these guys that haven’t played in a while. The tough thing for us is that we’ve got so many guys and every day that we’re practicing, anytime we get a chance to play in a game we’re trying to develop more chemistry. I’m looking for chemistry, I’m looking for a lot of different lineups. We’ll do the same thing we did in the exhibition game. I’m excited for these guys.”
On improvements to be made after the exhibition: “I wanted us to do a better job of blocking out. I think we gave up a few more offensive rebounds than I would like. That being said, when you give up offensive rebounds you don’t get a chance to get out and run as much. I know we scored 111 points in the exhibition, but I want to get out and try to get out in transition a little more. That’s one of the things we’ve been focusing on; trying to hit people and with this group, because they’re so new, just communicating more on the court whether it’s on the offensive end or the defensive end.”
On his recruiting philosophy: “Number one, obviously, you have to sell your program and your system. That’s important. Obviously we have a tremendous program that I think families obviously love and players love to play in and is fun for you guys to cover. And then you talk about a great university, and we certainly have that academically and it’s just a great place to go to school in Raleigh. I think you have to hit the high points and you have to get some guys that fit into what you are trying to do.”
On sophomore guard Braxton Beverly’s injury: “Braxton is doing better. We actually threw him into one or two drills to try and shoot the basketball. He’s still a ways away. I don’t know that I have a timetable for you guys. Anytime you have surgery on your hand, and luckily for us it’s his off hand, one of the toughest thing is to dribble with his left hand and catch the ball with his left hand. I don’t know where he’s at. In my mind, I wish he could play tomorrow. But I’m looking at probably two or three weeks out hopefully. I’m going to listen to the doctors and the trainers to tell me when he can play. I hope it’s sooner than later. We need him. We love his leadership. I know he’s a good player and can certainly make shots, but I think we miss his leadership more than anything.”
On replacing lost talent from last year’s team: “The two guys that played for me last year certainly have to do a great job, in [junior] Markell Johnson and [redshirt senior] Torin Dorn. But C.J. Bryce has also played for me for a couple of years, and Devon Daniels I would like to see play well. I think those four guys really have to play well and I think everyone else has to follow. When you look at a guy like [graduate] Wyatt Walker who’s a free-spirited, high-energy guy and everybody loves him, I think his leadership and how hard he plays I think our guys can follow that.”
On the difference between this year’s opener and last year’s: “Ask me tomorrow after the game, I don’t know yet. I’ve got one more day to prepare. What we did last year, and I told our team the other day, what we did last year was a very special year. Especially with some guys that were coming off of a year where they didn’t have a lot of success. We don’t take it for granted that we won 11 games in the ACC, that’s hard to do any given year. That being said, that’s a totally different team and I’m excited about this group.
“We have the pieces to play the way we want to play. That being said, I don’t want to cheat last year’s team. Those guys bought into my system, and we played my style. What I said earlier was that we played 75 percent of our system in, and hopefully now we’ll get up to 90-95 percent. I love the way we can play. I keep using the word for this team as versatility, and I think that’s what we have in this year’s group.”
On NC State’s big men: “The big who played the best for us last year was Omer [Yurtseven], and he was really coming off a freshman campaign where he didn’t have a great year. He stepped up. I think the three bigs that I played in the exhibition game helped me sleep a little better knowing that they could contribute in different ways. When you look at Wyatt he did a tremendous job rebounding the ball, and he’s a great passer. You can’t ignore the way [redshirt sophomore] DJ [Funderburk] played. DJ did a tremendous job, going 7 of 7 from the field. Those guys will do it in a different way.”
On Torin Dorn’s experience: “In college basketball if you can stay older, or in this situation you can stay experienced, I think that’s better. We have some older guys, but what we don’t have is game experience. So having him as a guy who’s been through the wars and obviously played in the system and been able to benefit from the way we played last year, it’s huge for us because his leadership is going to be important for some guys who have never really went through a season of NC State basketball.”
On C.J. Bryce: “I just want him to play. If he can average 17 points per game at this level, then I’m great with him. I try to create an atmosphere where our guys can just play loose and I give them tremendous offensive freedom without getting crazy, and I hope he just plays the way he plays.”
