Former NFL wide receiver Steve Smith Sr. predicted NC State athletics’ fate, just one year too early.

“NC State, unfortunately, is waiting for basketball season to start,” Smith said in a late October 2023 episode of “College Gameday.”

Many took offense as NC State football went on to finish 9-3 with an appearance in the Pop-Tarts Bowl. But few could have predicted the history that NC State basketball would create just five months later.

Now, a year removed from Smith’s statement, Wolfpack fans eagerly await basketball season as NC State football has fallen short of its lofty expectations, looking to experience NC State basketball’s postseason journey as it tries to recreate its 2023-24 campaign.

For years, NC State has been considered by many as a football school. However, the Wolfpack has a chance to flip the script and join elite company as one of the premier all-around basketball schools in the nation. 

Last season, NC State made history by reaching the Final Four in both men’s and women’s basketball — a feat accomplished by just 10 other schools since the Women’s NCAA Tournament began in 1982.

I’m not saying it will reach the same level of success in men’s basketball as the Blue Bloods. It’s far from it. But if both men’s and women’s basketball can comfortably make their respective NCAA Tournaments this season, there is an argument for NC State to officially hold the title of a basketball school.

Seven months ago, the nation witnessed history as the men went on one of the most surprising runs since the conception of college basketball itself. Before the postseason, nobody could’ve predicted the magic it pulled off. It will forever go down as one of the greatest Cinderella stories ever.

Besides the 2024 postseason run, NC State also holds claim to one of the greatest National Championship titles in history, winning the 1983 NCAA Tournament behind legendary head coach Jim Valvano. Two of the greatest stories in college basketball have been authored by NC State.

But the common thought is last year was a fluke and the Wolfpack will be a middling team in the ACC again. To be fair, it’s a pretty substantial argument.

For the four decades between its Final Four runs, NC State made the NCAA Tournament just 17 times, including an 11-year drought between 1991 and 2002. It made the Sweet Sixteen just six times and the Elite Eight only twice.

Though it finally got its first Final Four appearance in the 21st century, the Wolfpack continues to be slept on, getting ranked at No. 67 in CBS Sports Top 100 And 1 list — the only Final Four team from the 2024 NCAA Tournament to not be ranked within the top seven. NC State did lose four of its top five scorers from last season, but head coach Kevin Keatts brought in a massive transfer class to compensate for the losses.

Besides reigning National Champion UConn, NC State is the hottest school in men’s basketball, going 9-1 in its last 10 games, all of which were in the postseason. If the Wolfpack can carry that momentum into next season, perform well in its regular season matchups and make a decent postseason run, it can beat the ‘Cinderella’ title it currently holds.

NC State women’s basketball doesn’t face the same ‘Cinderella’ accusations that men’s basketball has. It has been a dominant force for the better part of the last decade, making the NCAA Tournament in seven of the past eight years.

Though it doesn’t have the same storied history as men’s basketball, with no national championship victories or even appearances, NC State women’s basketball holds seven total ACC Championships, including three straight from 2020-2022.

The Wolfpack was slept on, ranked eighth in the ACC before the 2023-24 season. But NC State quickly proved why the Pack should never be underestimated, taking down then-No. 2 UConn and then-No. 3 Colorado before launching into the top five before its Final Four run.

This season, the Wolfpack is projected to be one of the best women’s basketball teams in the country, getting ranked No. 9 in the AP Top 25. With most key players returning and a few talented new faces, NC State is slated to be a force to be reckoned with.

With both basketball teams in prime position to make a statement and the recent failures of the football program, the time is now for NC State to make the transition from a football school to a basketball school.