Head coach Kevin Keatts worked wonders for NC State men’s basketball last season and righted the Wolfpack’s previously sinking ship. Meanwhile, NC State women’s basketball took more blows to its roster after its worst season in years, losing multiple key players in the 2023 offseason.
What’s drastically changed the trajectories of two of the most storied basketball programs in the ACC? For better or for worse, it’s been the transfer portal.
NC State’s tale of two portals started in the 2021 offseason.
Keatts used the portal to revolutionize the men’s team. Season-changing additions like former guard Jarkel Joiner and graduate forward DJ Burns propelled the red-and-white to its first NCAA tournament appearance in years. Joiner and Burns quickly became household names in Raleigh, providing major and immediate impacts that arguably saved Keatts’ tenure at NC State.
At the end of the men’s much-improved 2022-23 campaign, Keatts kept the portal magic going by bringing in a whopping seven transfers to bolster his roster. Key additions such as junior guard Jayden Taylor, junior forward Ben Middlebrooks and graduate guard DJ Horne have shot another round of life into a team that lost Joiner and star guard Terquavion Smith to the NBA.
Keatts successfully proved that big swings in the transfer portal are a viable way to reverse a program’s trajectory, and a big momentum shift is exactly what Moore and the women’s team need.
Head coach Wes Moore was burned by the transfer portal when the women’s team lost guards Diamond Johnson and Jakia Brown-Turner — losses that added to the Pack’s downward trend after the end of the 2022-23 season. Johnson and Brown-Turner were both key pieces of NC State’s three-peat squad, and Johnson was the Pack’s leading scorer before she hit the portal. Starting center Camille Hobby transferred away as well, leaving Moore’s squad even more depleted.
While it hasn’t spelled the total demise of the former three-peat ACC Champions, the Pack should take after its counterparts to aggressively pursue another conference title.
While the head coach added junior forward Katie Peneueta and graduate center Lizzy Williamson in the offseason, he can afford to take it even further. In general, Moore should take an aggressive and ambitious approach to the portal and consider using it to do exactly what Keatts did not once, but twice — provide a jolt of energy and talent to a team that needs a burst of momentum.
This is in no way a must-do for Moore. With a bevy of skilled players under his command, such as junior guards Saniya Rivers and Aziaha James, and promising youngsters such as freshman guard Zoe Brooks, there’s no doubt that Moore can find success this season.
However, when considering the success Keatts has found and is likely to keep finding with the portal, Moore could afford to take some more chances to potentially find his own versions of Joiner and Burns.
Granted, no two teams are the same. Just because it worked for Keatts and company doesn’t mean it’ll work for Moore. However, trying to add through the ever-growing and always-useful transfer portal rarely ends in disaster. It’s a low risk, high reward move that has paid dividends for the men’s squad, so why hesitate on the women’s side?
With the popularity and prevalence of the transfer portal increasing year after year in college basketball, it’s time for the women’s team to be aggressive, follow in Keatts’ footsteps and take some big swings. Who knows, maybe NC State women’s basketball will add the final pieces to another ACC Championship-caliber team.
