Women’s college basketball is heading into a season with many unknowns.

With teams playing the conference shuffle, nearly 1,000 players entering the transfer portal and stars of yesteryear moving on to the pros, many are left wondering what teams have a shot to contend for a national championship.

For fans of NC State women’s basketball, the question is: Can it be one of those teams that can compete for a title and make it back to the Final Four?

Before we can look ahead, though, we need to look back on the team’s incredible 2023-24 season. Current senior guards Aziaha James and Saniya Rivers and current graduate guard Madison Hayes lit the conference up during the season, totaling 1,460 points between the three. James and Rivers earned All-ACC First Team honors and the latter earned an All-Defensive Team selection and an AP All-America Honorable Mention, becoming the eighth player in program history to earn the recognition.

NC State finished the season 31-7 with a 13-5 ACC record with just one loss coming in Reynolds Coliseum. Impressive accolades the team accomplished included an upset win over then-No.2 UConn, a win over then-No. 3 Colorado and defeating then-No. 4 Texas to make it to the program’s first Final Four since 1998.

So, can the team recreate this magic? I say it can.

Currently, six ACC teams are ranked in the AP Top 25, with NC State coming in at second highest at No. 9 right behind No. 6 Notre Dame. While the rankings are based on current rosters and not game-played statistics, it is only a matter of time before the rankings start to shuffle around. Head coach Wes Moore told the press after the Pack’s exhibition game against Anderson that last year the team was ranked too low, and now believes it is ranked too high.

I agree with Moore, but I believe this high ranking will light another kind of fire under the team. While the Wolfpack started unranked last year and worked its way up, it now has the opportunity to hold itself to a higher standard to ensure it stays in the top 10. With a heavy veteran presence plus some youthful energy, the Wolfpack will not get complacent with a No. 9 ranking.

While the Pack will miss the efforts of forward Mimi Collins and center River Baldwin, I believe the young additions have the potential to fill in the gaps they left, at least until graduate forward Caitlin Weimar recovers from surgery.

As for the Pack’s three-headed monster in Rivers, James and Hayes, they all had a productive offseason to keep their skills sharp. Rivers and James were two of the 12 players throughout the whole nation invited to attend WNBA star Kelsey Plum’s 2024 Dawg Class.

Hayes was recently named to the Cheryl Miller Award Preseason Watch List, given to the best small forward in the country. This will be the final year the three will play together at NC State and they will look to make the most of it with a deep postseason run.

The Pack’s 2024-25 schedule starts hard and fast with the Wolfpack taking on No. 1 South Carolina in its second game of the season followed by a matchup with TCU a week later, then No. 20 Ole Miss and No. 17 Louisville in December.

When looking at the ACC Championship, the Wolfpack will most likely have a repeat of last year’s tournament matchups. While the Pack lost to Notre Dame in the championship game, it was only by four points and included problems that the red-and-white fixed during the NCAA Tournament.

So while NC State had an amazing 2023-24 season, I believe that the Wolfpack has all the tools to have a repeat of last year’s success.

Summary: Last season, NC State women’s basketball made it back to the Final Four for the first time since 1998. This season the expectations are high for the Wolfpack and Staff Writer Erin Ferrare explains why the Pack has what it takes to make it back to basketball’s grandest stage.