Every game at NC State produces new narratives that mold the foundation of programs, for better or worse. Is it too early to reach a verdict, or is it time to panic? Let’s judge some of the biggest overreactions for the Wolfpack with romance in the air.
“NC State women’s basketball is flirting with an ACC Championship.”
Head coach Wes Moore and NC State women’s basketball have ripped off eight straight wins, climbing back into the AP top 10 and reentering the ACC Championship conversation.
In the last ranking update on Feb. 9, the Wolfpack surpassed No. 12 UNC-Chapel Hill and No. 13 Duke, who it bested a week ago. NC State now sits firmly in second place in the ACC standings, only behind No. 2 Notre Dame, who is 12-0 in ACC play.
After the pivotal win over the Blue Devils, Moore refocused the narrative surrounding the turnaround.
“I’m proud of what they did in January,” Moore said. “Now, February is brutal. Five out of six [games] against ranked teams, three of them on the road and the two at home are Duke and Notre Dame, two top 10 teams. … We still have a lot of speed bumps ahead of us, but this is obviously a big win tonight.”
In an offseason where the team’s top questions surrounded its frontcourt, the Wolfpack have found consistency with 6-foot-6 freshman center Tilda Trygger. The emergence of the Swedish sensation has ignited the offense since her first start in December, averaging 83.4 points.
Most recently, Trygger scored 16 points plus a team-leading 14 rebounds and three blocks in a 97-74 smashing of No. 23 Florida State, the ACC’s highest-scoring offense.
The interior spark puts the Wolfpack in the thick of the hunt, even among the likes of Notre Dame.
NC State has a pair of litmus tests on back-to-back Sundays. The team travels to Chapel Hill to take on the Tar Heels and hosts the Fighting Irish on ESPN one week later. As February unfolds, the Wolfpack’s ability to navigate these high-pressure matchups will determine whether this “turnaround” is the beginning of a conference championship run.
Conclusion: Not an overreaction
“NC State men’s basketball loves Kevin Keatts enough to keep him.”
Amid a nine-game losing streak, athletic director Boo Corrigan has a dilemma on his hands — keep the coach who’s out of answers or fire the coach who led the program to the Final Four.
NC State men’s basketball has looked helpless offensively, going on grueling stretches where there seem to be no quality shots. Head coach Kevin Keatts recognizes that every team is going to throw a 2-3 zone his way and dare the Wolfpack to respond.
In fairness, the head coach and star of a basketball team, specifically in college, often is given too much credit, whether positive or negative. In football, it’s the quarterback and coach who are given too much praise in wins and too much blame in losses. In basketball, the outline is the same.
However, without a primary scorer or “face” like former forward DJ Burns was last year, it’s difficult to point the finger in any other direction as fans feel the heat of a 2-11 conference record. The Wolfpack have yet to win a game outside of Raleigh and now have less than a month to sneak into the ACC Tournament.
In an expanded ACC landscape, three teams will be left out of the conference tournament. Keatts’ Wolfpack currently sits second-to-last and would miss the tournament if it started today. At 2-11, it needs two wins to tie Notre Dame for the final seed, a team it holds a head-to-head win over this season.
Just under a year ago, Technician’s former senior sports writer Ben Ellis wrote a piece on Keatts, claiming that he deserved another chance regardless of the season’s results.
“Keatts has proven that he can maximize the potential of his players, and he has even proven that he can compete with Duke and UNC, beating each three times,” Ellis wrote. “He’s a stand-up guy who runs his program the right way.”
Ellis was proven right after an unforgettable March, but a year later, as NC State struggles through one of its worst conference stretches under Keatts, does that argument still hold?
Four of the Pack’s nine losses during this stretch have been by one possession, hinting that the Wolfpack could be a player away from a more palpable record.
The banners hanging from the Lenovo Center rafters still loom as fresh reminders of a former time when the Memorial Bell Tower shone red night after night. That recent history — and a fully guaranteed six years left on his contract — will be enough to secure Keatts another year in Raleigh.
Conclusion: Not an overreaction
“Gabriella Broadfoot and Maddy Zampardo are doubles soulmates.”
NC State women’s tennis has been brilliant this season, particularly the doubles duo of No. 2 sophomores Gabriella Broadfoot and Maddy Zampardo.
In late September, the two won the ITA All-American doubles championship, setting the stage for magnified winter expectations. Broadfoot and Zampardo have answered, rising to No. 2 nationally with a 23-4 record in which all four losses have been to top 6 ranked opponents.
Zampardo was part of a duo that reached the Sweet 16 in the NCAA Tournament with recently graduated superstar Amelia Rajecki, who won ITA Senior Player of the Year this past spring and is now a British tennis rising star. Zampardo and Rajecki were 28-9 on the court together.
Despite the departure of Rajecki, a First Team All-American, NC State found another formidable pairing with Broadfoot and Zampardo, who have maintained the program’s standard of doubles excellence. The two became the 14th Pack pair to qualify for the NCAA Tournament in November.
So far this winter, the two have won two of three matches against ITA top 10 opponents, including a 6-2 victory over Pepperdine’s No. 7 ranked duo. Their on-court chemistry has been undeniable, with each player anticipating the other’s moves like a well-synced duo.
NC State has five games remaining featuring top 25 doubles opponents, including the No. 1 ranked Virginia duo and a potential rematch with No. 5 UNC-Chapel Hill. Pivotal matches like these will provide key tests ahead of the NCAA Championships.
Broadfoot and Zampardo hope to become the second Wolfpack duo to claim the NCAA Doubles Championship, joining 2022 champs Jaeda Daniel and Nell Miller. The NCAA National Championships take place May 15-18.
The pair would likely be a top seed in May based on their resume in the fall and matches against other top-tier opponents. With an ITA championship already secured and NCAA Tournament experience in hand, the duo aims to make another title run and join the Wolfpack’s growing legacy of doubles champions.
Conclusion: Not an overreaction
