This summer, NC State fields its inaugural team for The Basketball Tournament, or TBT. TBT features alumni from several universities and overseas teams coming together to play in one huge summer tournament for a cash prize. NC State’s team, aptly named Team Wolf Blood, features 11 former Wolfpack players, with some serving in coaching roles. Without further ado, let’s take a look at the NC State careers of Team Wolf Blood and break down the team’s roster.
Jordan Collins (2001-05)
Collins, being the oldest member of the team, will serve as the head coach of Team Wolf Blood. Collins didn’t play much in his first few seasons with the Pack but averaged 6.6 points per game in his senior season. During that year, the Wolfpack went 21-14 and went to the Sweet 16, beating UNC-Charlotte and UConn in the process before falling to Wisconsin.
C.J. Williams (2008-12)
Williams, a 6-foot-5 guard out of Fayetteville, North Carolina, came to NC State in the 2008-09 season but didn’t originally receive much playing time. In fact, Williams only averaged 17.5 minutes per game across the first three seasons of his career.
However, Williams saw his playing time and his output jump tremendously in the 2011-12 season, in which he averaged 10.6 points and 3.8 rebounds in 31.1 minutes per game. Though the 2011-12 team wasn’t perfect in the regular season, it was able to make a miracle run in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, making it all the way to the Sweet 16 under Williams’ leadership.
The team overcame San Diego State and Georgetown in the first two round of the tournament before eventually falling to Kansas, who would go on to lose the National Final to Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-Gilchrist’s Kentucky team.
After going undrafted in the 2012 NBA Draft, Williams went five years without an NBA offer. In the 2017-18 season, Williams was signed as a two-way contract player for the Los Angeles Clippers, starting in 17 contests for the team.
Richard Howell (2009-13)
Howell was an integral part of the team’s 2011-12 team that went to the Sweet 16. After departing from NC State, Howell went on to play for the Idaho Stampede and Austin Spurs of the then-NBA D-League and also played overseas in the Philippines, Italy, Domincan Republic and Israel.
For more information on Howell’s time with the Pack, read up on Senior Sports Writer Ben Ellis’ piece on the Wolfpack basketball legend.
Scott Wood (2009-13)
Like Howell, Wood was a huge part of the Wolfpack’s 2011-12 run to the Sweet 16. Wood is by all means a Pack fan favorite, averaging 10.6 points, 2.7 rebounds and 1.4 assists in 138 career appearances for NC State. Wood came to NC State at the same time as Howell, playing alongside future NBA talents in Williams and Dennis Horner early in his career.
Wood was an instant favorite of then-head coach Sidney Lowe, starting all 36 contests that season. His most iconic performance of the season came against a strong Florida State squad that cracked the NCAA Tournament, with Wood posting a whopping 31 points in the win against a roster that boasted three future NBA players in Solomon Alabi, Chris Singleton and Ryan Reid.
In each year of his Wolfpack career, Wood improved his scoring output. During the team’s 2011-12 run to the Sweet 16, Wood posted a total of 36 points across three games, helping propel the team to its Cinderella run.
After playing at NC State, Wood played professionally overseas for several teams, most recently playing in Spain.
Ralston Turner (2013-15)
Like Collins, Turner will serve in a leadership role for Team Wolf Blood, as he is listed as a coach of the team. Turner originally came to NC State as a transfer from LSU, coming over in the 2012-13 season in which he redshirted. The 6-foot-5 guard would go on to play two seasons for the Pack, averaging 10.5 points per game in his first season with the team.
Turner then served a key role in getting the Wolfpack to the Sweet 16 of the NCAA Tournament in the 2014-15 season. That year, Turner averaged 12.8 points and 3.3 rebounds per game while shooting 36.7% from deep on 7.1 attempts per game. In fact, Turner’s 171 made 3-pointers in his NC State career rank ninth in Pack history despite Turner playing just two seasons with the team.
After graduating from NC State, Turner went on to play in the G League for the Grand Rapids Drive and the Greensboro Swarm, the affiliates of the Detroit Pistons and the Charlotte Hornets, respectively.
Dez Lee (2013-15)
Lee joined NC State at the same time as Turner, amid an impressive four-year stretch that saw the team make two Sweet 16 appearances and two rounds of 32 appearances in the NCAA Tournament. Lee originally came to the Pack after a hugely successful stint in JuCo with New Mexico Junior College. Similarly to Turner, Lee’s first season with the Pack was a success, as he averaged 8.4 points per game and helped take the team to the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
Lee was also a member of the 2015 Sweet 16 run, but didn’t play as significant a role as that team was stacked with talent. In fact, six total players on that team made an NBA or G League roster at some point in their careers, including Cody and Caleb Martin of the Hornets. Lee went on to play for several overseas teams, notably playing professionally for the St. John’s Edge of NBL Canada.
Trevor Lacey (2014-15)
Lacey transferred to the Wolfpack after playing his first two collegiate seasons for Alabama. The 6-foot-3 guard out of Huntsville, Alabama was highly productive in his first and only season for the Pack, averaging 15.7 points per game, 4.6 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 0.9 steals per game, which all ranked in the top three for the team. In the team’s Sweet 16 run, Lacey scored a combined 35 points against Villanova and Louisville.
After going undrafted in the 2015 NBA Draft, Lacey played for the Cleveland Cavaliers of the NBA in that year’s Las Vegas Summer League. Lacey would later go on to play for the Wisconsin Herd of the G League, the affiliate of the Milwaukee Bucks. Lacey also played professionally overseas for Russia, Italy and Germany.
Abdul-Malik Abu (2014-18)
Abu came to the Pack as a four-star recruit who still ranks as the 13th-best prospect that has committed to NC State since 247sports.com began tracking prospects. Abu played in all four seasons with the Pack after arriving in 2014, boasting career averages of 9.2 points and 6.1 rebounds per game with NC State.
Like Lacey, Turner and Lee, Abu was a member of the 2014-15 team that made a run to the Sweet 16. Abu was highly productive in the team’s first two games of the tournament, posting 13 points in the first round against LSU and then 13 points and 12 rebounds in the Pack’s round of 32 game against Villanova. In the Sweet 16 loss to Louisville, Abu started and played 29 minutes after not starting the first half of the season.
Abu continued to progress as a member of the Pack, starting in all 33 contests for the team while moving his averages up to 12.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Unfortunately for Abu, his freshman season’s team was the most successful group the Pack trotted out in Abu’s four years. After graduating from NC State, Abu has played professionally overseas in Croatia, Portugal and Turkey.
Terry Henderson (2015-17)
After transferring from West Virginia in 2014, Henderson redshirted in the 2014-15 season. Henderson was expected to provide a big boost to the 2015-16 Wolfpack team in Cat Barber’s last season, but he unfortunately broke a ligament in his knee just seven minutes into the team’s first game of the season and missed the rest of the year.
In his first full season with the Pack, Henderson averaged 13.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 1.6 assists and 1.3 stocks per game, a stat that combines blocks and steals. Though his Wolfpack career was short-lived, Henderson still put up plenty of memorable performances. Some of Henderson’s best work came in the team’s game against Creighton, where he posted a season-high 28 points. The 6-foot-4 guard finished the year making an impressive 38.4% of his 6.3 3-pointers per game.
Henderson went on to apply for a sixth year of eligibility, but was denied by the NCAA. After going undrafted in the 2017 NBA Draft, Henderson played in two separate stints with the Greensboro Hornets. Impressively, Henderson managed to catch on with the Hornets in training camp and the preseason prior to the 2017-18 NBA season.
Torin Dorn (2016-19)
Dorn originally came to the Wolfpack as a transfer out of UNC-Charlotte, redshirting for the Pack in the 2015-16 season. When Dorn played in his first season with the team, he made an instant impact and averaged 9.5 points and 4.6 rebounds per game while starting in 18 contests. On that team, Dorn played alongside NBA talents in Dennis Smith Jr. and Omer Yurtseven, and fellow Wolf Blood teammates in Abu and Henderson. Despite the star power on that team, the Pack finished with a mediocre 15-17 record and missed the NCAA Tournament.
In his next season, Dorn took on an elevated role in head coach Kevin Keatts’ first year with the team. Dorn started 32 of 33 contests and moved his per-game averages to 13.9 points, 6.3 rebounds, 1.4 assists and one block. That year, the Pack went 21-12 and made the NCAA Tournament, losing in the first round to Seton Hall. In the game against Seton Hall, Dorn was impactful, notching 18 points, 12 rebounds and three assists, but the Pack still fell by 11 points.
In Dorn’s senior season, the Pack once again experienced disappointment, but Dorn was able to average 14 points and 7.2 boards on the year. In perhaps his best stretch as a member of the Wolfpack, Dorn averaged 21 points and 8.7 rebounds per game in the NIT. Though the Pack lost the game, Dorn put up a heroic 34 points in the team’s third-round loss to Lipscomb.
After going undrafted following his NC State tenure, Dorn went overseas to play in Poland.
Wyatt Walker (2018-19)
Walker, a 6-foot-9 forward from Jacksonville, Florida, originally came to NC State as a graduate transfer out of Samford. In his first and only season with the Pack, Walker averaged 4.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 0.8 assists and 0.9 blocks per game. Though his time with the Wolfpack was relatively uneventful, the team did manage to make the NIT with Walker starting 35 of 36 games for the team.
Walker’s best outing as a member of NC State came in a five-point win over the Miami Hurricanes. In that game, Walker tallied eight offensive boards, along with nine points to secure the win. Another good outing for Walker came in a close one-point loss against the eventual NCAA champions, Virginia. In that game, Walker had 11 points, five offensive rebounds, one steal and three blocks.
After his time at NC State, Walker went on to be drafted in the first round of the 2019 NBA G League draft by the Oklahoma City Blue. Walker was waived by the Blue before appearing in a game and then went on to play in two games with the Salt Lake City Stars, the G League affiliate of the Utah Jazz.
The Basketball Tournament begins play on Friday, July 16 and will stream on the ESPN family of networks. Team Wolf Blood starts off against Category 5, the University of Miami’s inaugural TBT team. Category 5 features several professional basketball players including Davon Reed, who recently played in the NBA. For sponsorship inquiries, reach out to WolfbloodTBT@gmail.com. The team also has a GoFundMe page, which can be located here to help the team with expenses.
