Redshirt freshman Manny Bates missed the entirety of what would have been his true freshman season last year after a shoulder injury forced him to redshirt. Last year’s Wolfpack men’s basketball team went 24-12 in the regular season, but was kept out of the NCAA Tournament after only recording a 9-9 record in ACC play. Bates is hoping to right the ship, and return the Wolfpack to the NCAA Tournament this season and beyond.
Bates has jumped out to an outstanding season for the Pack, averaging 7.1 points, 4.3 rebounds and a ridiculous 3.4 blocks per game through seven games. Bates has started all seven games for the Pack as a freshman, and is only averaging 1.1 turnovers and 2.4 fouls in his 19.3 minutes per game. Stretch his stats out to a per-40 minutes mark, and he averages 7.1 blocks and only 2.4 turnovers, some uncharacteristic discipline for a redshirt freshman center that is 6-foot-11.
“I feel like I did a pretty good job of blocking shots without fouling in high school,” Bates said after the NC State win over Detroit Mercy. “So I feel like that has carried over.”
For reference, Bates averages 0.4 blocks more than, and just 0.1 turnovers and 0.7 fouls less than James Wiseman from Memphis, who, despite having just three games under his belt, is highly regarded as the best big man in the country.
Bates’s impressive defensive marks do not stop there. Bates leads the team in defensive rating, with a strong 88.8 marking, and with his plus-18.8 net rating and 107.6 offensive rating, it is evident that Bates is not clogging up the paint with his ability to guard wings that drive into the paint, or extend to defend the mid-range if needed.
“I embrace everyone driving in and coming to try me,” Bates said. “I can correct that mistake.”
Furthermore, Bates has the third-best player efficiency rating on the team, a metric that combines all of a player’s per game stats and scales them as a combined whole. Bates has a 21.9 PER, only behind redshirt senior C.J. Bryce and redshirt junior D.J. Funderburk. Funderburk has a 31.8 PER, as well as the best box plus/minus on the team.
The tag-team duo of Bates and Funderburk is the most exciting tandem for the Wolfpack, and the pair play off of each other perfectly. While Bates is a defensive monster that mostly settles himself in the middle and does not extend to the 3-point line, Funderburk is a switchable swiss-army knife that can defend nearly every position, as well as extend to the 3-point line while keeping the offense moving. Funderburk posts a plus-55.5 net rating per 100 possessions in five games.
“That time off just helped me realize how physical the game is,” Bates said. “I feel like last year I got to watch DJ [Funderburk] and Wyatt [Walker], just learning from them on and off the court, with stuff I needed to work on.”
In the game against Memphis, a ranked opponent, the duo combined for 20 points, four rebounds, one assist, two steals and two blocks, all on a strong 7-for-10 shooting mark, and despite Bates only playing 12 minutes. Funderburk has one more year of eligibility remaining after the season, so this is just the beginning for the pair.
As for Bates, he posts an 18.1 block percentage, meaning that 18.1% of all opponent shots are blocked by Bates when he is on the floor.
“I have a passion for blocking shots,” Bates said. “I have a lot of pride [in that], that’s my number one skill I have been working on is blocking shots. I still need to work on getting rebounds.”
Bates battled through his shoulder surgery last season, and a small injury at the beginning of this season that had him in a sling for a couple of weeks to get back onto the court, and the results have been nothing but impressive. Bates has slid into a starting role despite being away from basketball for over a year, showing that head coach Kevin Keatts’ trust in the prospect is high at an early stage in his career.
“It’s definitely like riding a bike,” Bates said. “I feel like after the first game, and the practices leading up to this game, I’m just trying to get back and just realizing that it’s a faster pace and you have to be bigger, stronger, faster.”
Despite the Pack having mainly played out-of-conference games, Bates has posted a combined seven blocks in its losses to Georgia Tech and Memphis, the two most difficult games for the Pack thus far this season.
Bates struggled in the first half of the game against Alcorn State, but ended the game with a strong second half, ending with four points, six rebounds and three blocks on the game. The fact that Bates is already able to make halftime adjustments at the age of 19 is telling for his basketball future.
“I did not have to say anything to him,” Kevin Keatts said after the win against Alcorn State Nov. 19. “Players know when they think they don’t play well. Manny’s a freshman and we forget that because he’s such a terrific shot-blocker on the defensive end. So because he’s been here, even my staff at times, they will say ‘Manny’s got to do this, got to do this.’ and I’m saying he’s a freshman, the kid has not played in two years, it’s going to take some time.”
The NC State basketball program will be adding some exciting talents next season in Cam Hayes, Josh Hall, Nick Farrar and Ebenezer Dowuona.
“I’m excited that all four of the in-state guys felt like this program was good enough for them to come here,” Keatts said. “It started with Manny Bates. Manny Bates was a recruit and he could have gone to a lot of programs, but he decided to stay in-state, and I’m happy for him and that’s why I want him to do so well and the other guys coming to the program to do the same thing.”
With Bates and Funderburk likely to return, and a plethora of young prospects joining the team next season, the sky’s the limit for what this program can achieve in the coming years. For now though, Bates is showing the NCAA and NC State that he is one of the best defensive players in the country, and can help this team win now.
