There’s a lot of turnover for the NC State men’s basketball team heading into the 2018-19 season, with only three players on last year’s active roster returning for the Wolfpack.
Perhaps the biggest loss for second-year head coach Kevin Keatts is the transfer of 7-foot center Omer Yurtseven, who left for Georgetown in the offseason. Yurtseven broke out last year, leading the team with 6.7 rebounds per game and finishing third with 13.5 points per game.
Yurtseven’s value and productivity for the Wolfpack extended far beyond the numbers, as the talented big man often sparked the Pack’s offense. Replacing Yurtseven will be no easy task, and there isn’t one player on NC State’s roster that will get the job done. However, Keatts won’t be looking to one man, but instead a platoon of talented new big men on his roster.
“Anytime you lose a guy who averaged 14 [points] and seven [rebounds], it’s a big loss for any type of program,” Keatts said. “Certainly his size and his ability to make shots is something we will miss. But, I do think we have three guys. None of those guys will come in and average 14 points per game, but I think as a three-headed monster they all have a chance to replace him.”
That “three-headed monster” consists of graduate transfer Wyatt Walker, redshirt sophomore transfer DJ Funderburk and freshman Ian Steere. Together, those three will be responsible for replacing Yurtseven on the court for NC State.
Walker transferred from Samford, where he missed most of his final season with a shoulder injury. During his sophomore campaign, he led the Southern Conference in rebounding while averaging 12.9 points per game. At 6-foot-9 and 240 pounds, Walker is a huge presence down low who should carry his weight on the boards for the Pack.
“I think coach Keatts brought me in for one kind of specific thing,” Walker said. “Number one is just rebounding in general. I’ve always been a great rebounder in general. That’s something that translates to any court you ever play on. Just being that hard-working, energy guy to set hard screens, take charges, score on the inside, cut and go to the pass and create from the post. That’s really my role here.”
Walker will likely lead NC State in rebounding, and will bring a strong physical presence down low that even Yurtseven didn’t have. However, Walker isn’t a dynamic stretch forward in the way that Yurtseven was, and his game will probably be limited to in and around the paint.
The role of stretching out the center position like Yurtseven was so good at will fall to Funderburk, a 6-foot-10, 210 pound mobile forward. Funderburk comes to NC State from junior college Northwest Florida State. Before that Funderburk spent a redshirt year at Ohio State. He played high school at Keatts’ former school, Hargrave Military Academy, where he was teammates with Wolfpack sophomore point guard Braxton Beverly.
In his one season at Northwest Florida State, Funderburk averaged 11.5 points and five rebounds per game. Funderburk’s game is more dynamic than Walker’s, and while he isn’t as big, he should play a more similar role that Yurtseven did last year.
“I’m able to get the ball and able to try and use my speed and my handles to get around my defenders,” Funderburk said. “Having the ability to play inside and outside, and run up and down the court, and play defense as well as I can. I think that’s going to be a major asset for this team.”
The other thing that Funderburk brings to the court for the Wolfpack is the thing that was maybe Yurtseven’s biggest strength; the ability to knock down 3-pointers. Yurtseven knocked down 22 of his 44 attempts from outside the arc last year for the Pack, making the straightaway shot from the top of the arc his trademark. In junior college, Funderburk hit 19 triples last season.
“Watching (Yurtseven), he put a stamp on it that he could really shoot the 3-ball,” Funderburk said. “I just hope to prove that. Hopefully people respect my jumper this year.”
The final piece of the puzzle for NC State at center is Steere, a freshman from Sanford and a four-star recruit. Steere is a big freshman at 6-foot-9 and 261 pounds, and his talent is obvious. The learning curve for a freshman is always there and Steere, like Walker and Funderburk as well, knows that it isn’t just him that will play a major role for the Pack at center.
“We each bring different pieces. Whatever coach Keatts needs, at least one of us is going to be able to bring something that he wants,” Steere said. “I’m trying to bring some physicality. Just get in there and dirty up the game a little bit; get on the floor, loose balls and rebounds. I just want to do what I can to help and my offense will come along.”
Replacing Yurtseven will be a trial-and-error task for Keatts and the Pack, but the pieces are there for NC State to seamlessly transition away from the Turkish big man. While one of the three centers may emerge as the main man at some point in the season, they will all be important for the Wolfpack’s success.
“We’ve got to figure out which one of those guys will emerge, but I think all three of those guys bring something different to the table,” Keatts said. “Once we figure those guys out, it will be exciting basketball to watch.”
