The turnaround of the NC State men’s basketball program last season was impressive, to say the least. After finishing the 2021-22 season dead last in the ACC with an 11-21 overall record and a 4-16 ACC record, head coach Kevin Keatts instilled new life into the program through the transfer portal and finished the 2022-23 season 23-11 overall and 12-8 in the ACC.
In the span of about a month, the team went from pleading on Twitter to get fans to show up, to easily filling PNC Arena for big games against Triangle rivals Duke and UNC-Chapel Hill. When the fans showed up, so did the team — last year NC State earned big wins at home against No. 16 Duke, 84-60 and against UNC, 77-69.
While in-state rivals have continued to cement themselves as college basketball bluebloods, NC State’s turbulent seasons and recruiting scandals have made it hard to build hype around the team year after year. However, this year there is a buzz amongst fans that the Wolfpack can go deeper than the first round of the NCAA tournament.
It’s no secret that football and men’s basketball generate the most revenue for college programs, and NC State is no exception. As the basketball program has struggled to establish itself, football has served as the backbone of red-and-white athletics. In the 10 full seasons under head coach Dave Doeren, NC State football has only finished with a losing record twice and has won three bowl games in that time.
Despite past success, it’s been a rocky start to the 2023 season for Doeren and the Wolfpack. Disappointing losses to Louisville and Duke have dampened the mood for many State fans, but here and there the Pack has managed to get some scrappy wins including a recent 24-17 win over Clemson.
As Doeren made abundantly clear that NC State wasn’t a basketball school this weekend, some fans are still looking ahead to basketball season to ease the pain of a down year for Wolfpack football.
Although some members of last season’s core, such as guards Terquavion Smith and Jarkel Joiner, have gone on to the NBA, NC State has retained some veteran leadership as well as bringing in some new faces.
Graduate forward DJ Burns and graduate guard Casey Morsell are running it back with the Pack this year and were key pieces to NC State’s success in the previous season. Burns, a fan favorite, looks to use his size and dominate the paint again while Morsell’s lethal-perimeter shooting and lockdown defense make him an enticing fifth or sixth man on the roster.
Similar to last year, Keatts has been active in the transfer portal acquiring notable big names and setting up NC State’s most talented roster in recent memory. Keatts brought in multiple former three- and four-star recruits such as junior forward Ben Middlebrooks, junior guard Jayden Taylor and sophomore guard MJ Rice.
This upcoming season will mark Keatts’ seventh season as head coach, and yet NC State hasn’t made it past the first round of the NCAA tournament one time in that span. At this point, Keatts doesn’t have an excuse for why this team can’t make deep runs in the ACC or NCAA tournaments.
The talent, leadership and experience are all there; now Keatts has to do his job and utilize those pieces correctly. Just last year, Clemson point guard Brevin Galloway called out the team for “playing undisciplined” and for “playing AAU ball”. Whether the comments were warranted or not, the Pack still has much to improve on from last season.
While NC State football is battling to stay above 0.500 and secure a bowl game appearance, the expectations on this basketball team are higher than it has ever been in the Keatts era.
Pressure makes diamonds, but it also bursts pipes.
The weight of NC State’s fan base rests on the shoulders of the men’s basketball team. If Keatts and the rest of the squad live up to the lofty expectations then this season will be a joy to watch. But if they can’t, it might be a long, long winter.
