The NC State basketball team begins its season Friday night when the William and Mary Tribe travel to PNC Arena. The game marks the end of the long off-season as the new-look Wolfpack will look to find cohesiveness early in the squad’s first game meaningful game together.
The Wolfpack won 22 games last season, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen after defeating No. 9 seed LSU and No. 1 seed Villanova. The Wolfpack rode the scoring and leadership of guards Trevor Lacey and Ralston Turner, both of which have now moved on from the program.
While Turner’s graduation was expected, Lacey’s departure caught everyone off guard. The 6-foot-3 junior still had one year of eligibility left, however he decided to pursue a professional career overseas instead, citing age concerns as his reason for leaving.
In addition to the losses of Dez Lee to graduation and forward Kyle Washington to transfer, the losses leave the Wolfpack with a roster full of unproven players.
The burden of picking up the scoring slack will fall on the shoulders of junior guard Anthony “Cat” Barber. The junior is expected to take another leap forward after improving vastly in his sophomore campaign.
Joining him will be West Virginia transfer guard Terry Henderson, who averaged 11.7 ppg as a Mountaineer, and freshman guard Maverick Rowan, a late signee in the 2015 recruiting class.
Also back are the Martin twins, Caleb and Cody, and the strong frontcourt of juniors Lennard Freeman and Beejay Anya and sophomore forward Abdul-Malik Abu.
They will face a tough test in their opener, hosting a Tribe team that won 20 games last season and tied for first in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).
The Tribe returns four starters from last year’s squad, led by juniors guard Dennis Dixon and forward Omar Prewitt.
Dixon shot a ridiculous 45.1 percent from behind the arc last season, which ranked fifth in the nation. The 6-foot-6 guard will create matchup problems for whom ever is guarding him on Friday and the Wolfpack would be smart to not give him any open looks from deep.
Dixon will have to replace the production lost from guard Marcus Thornton, who graduated from the program as the school’s all-time leading scorer.
Helping Dixon with that task will be Prewitt, who averaged 13.5 PPG last season along with 4.4 RPG. Prewitt is another matchup problem, as he can score off the dribble or from long range and is tall enough at 6-foot-7 to rank second on the team in rebounds.
Returning at forward are two seniors, Terry Tarpley and Sean Sheldon. Tarpley is a star for the Tribe, averaging 11.8 PPG and 8.4 RPG. The 6-foot-5 forward is a first-team preseason All-CAA selection and was the league’s leading rebounder last season and was the CAA Defensive Player of the Year.
The Wolfpack will need to contain the Tribe’s numerous scorers and avoid dumb mistakes early to avoid losing to a dangerous opening opponent. With so many new faces rotating in and out of the lineup, an adjustment period is expected for the Wolfpack. NC State head coach Mark Gottfried needs to ensure that the team doesn’t stay in neutral too long, or the season could start in a very bad way.
