With Elissa Cunane, Kayla Jones, Raina Perez and Kai Crutchfield exiting the NC State women’s basketball program, a new era is entering Raleigh. However, head coach Wes Moore strategically built this program to withstand such departures. With seven scholarships to hand out, Moore already snagged a top transfer from the portal in Mimi Collins.

However, Moore will surely continue to be hard at work in replacing the four program icons by adding more names through the portal. Last year, Moore brought in the No. 1 recruit in the portal in sophomore guard Diamond Johnson. Let’s take a look at how the Wolfpack rotation could look next season and what other names the Pack may target.

Ball handlers

As for the lead guard position, it’s Johnson’s spot to lose. Despite seeming frustrated by the lack of playing time in the Elite Eight game, it appears that Johnson will be the lead guard for the Wolfpack barring something unforeseen.

Johnson got off to a hot start last season but fizzled out as the year went on, leading to some sporadic playing time in spots. Still, Johnson is more than capable of holding it down, proven by her 50/40/90 freshman season at Rutgers and her heroics in some of the Wolfpack’s games this year, such as the miracle comeback against Louisville.

Behind Johnson, the Pack is losing tons of depth. Perez and Crutchfield graduated and Genesis Bryant and Kendal Moore both hit the transfer portal. The primary potential option from the transfer portal is Ashley Owusu, who could follow Maryland teammate Collins to the Wolfpack.

Though Owusu is more of a two guard, she plays often with the ball in her hands and averaged 5.9 assists per game in 2020-21.

Wings

This is the year of junior wing Jakia Brown-Turner. NC State fans all saw what Brown-Turner is capable of in a featured role toward the end of the season, as she improved on a game-by-game basis and hit one of the biggest shots in program history in the NCAA Tournament. Brown-Turner and Johnson will likely be the Pack’s leading scorers next season.

But there is plenty of optimism outside of Brown-Turner on the wing. Freshman guards Aziaha James and Jessica Timmons showed a ton of potential, particularly James, who was named to the All-ACC Freshman team and was the definition of a microwave scorer. When James got playing time, she showed out every step of the way.

Outside of Timmons and James, NC State has sophomore guard Madison Hayes on the roster, someone that showed tons of potential in limited minutes. Hayes plays with a hard-nosed attitude, always chasing the ball out of bounds, trying to make the extra play. Further, Hayes has the ability to knock down the 3 ball and is one of the best on-ball defenders on the roster. There should be a huge role for Hayes on this year’s roster.

With four players capable of running the two and three positions, it doesn’t seem likely that the Pack’s biggest portal options will come on the wing.

Bigs

The biggest news at NC State’s four and five positions came Monday in the form of Collins, who averaged 10.6 points, 6.2 rebounds and shot 52.1% from the floor in the 2020-21 season. Collins has a chance to compete for a starting spot at the four or the five, but according to The Wolfpack Central, she expects to play the four more often.

Collins, unlike junior center Camille Hobby and freshman center Sophie Hart, has shown the ability to stretch the floor, which may allow her to run the five in certain situations.

Speaking of Hobby, her patience will be rewarded this season, as she has a legitimate chance to compete for the starting center role for the first time in her Wolfpack career. In an age of transfers, Moore spoke to Hobby’s unique patience several times last season.

Hobby showed flashes this past season, particularly when she matched up with Kansas State juggernaut Ayoka Lee when Cunane got in foul trouble. Outside of that, Hobby needs to improve her footwork on both ends of the floor in order to play an even larger role than projected.

Boyd, like Johnson, projects to be a former Sixth Player of the Year that will join the starting lineup in the coming season. Boyd also has a chance to be one of the leading scorers for the Wolfpack, looking especially good in the team’s postseason play in each of her three years with the team.

Hart is another big on the team, a former five-star center, but it remains to be seen how much playing time she will get. If Hart and Hayes don’t appear to be in line for more playing time, especially given the Pack’s sheer amount of scholarship spots, they may be candidates to transfer.

Outside of Collins, it isn’t clear what players the Wolfpack could be targeting on the portal in terms of bigs. Former Maryland forward Angel Reese, who averaged 17.7 points and 10.6 rebounds per game last season would be a huge addition to the team but appears less likely to join the team than her teammate Owusu.