NC State men’s basketball defies expectations, gets back to winning ways

Sometimes, just when you’re least expecting it, NC State will surprise you.

About this time a year ago, after playing one of its worst seasons in school history, it would have been hard to envision success for NC State men’s basketball in the near future.

Many fans wanted head coach Kevin Keatts gone. Numerous players were leaving the program. There was little hope or optimism for men’s basketball in Raleigh.

But given another chance, Keatts made the most out of his opportunity, assembling a ragtag bunch of transfers and newcomers and leading the Wolfpack back to relevancy.

Picked to finish 10th in the ACC by the preseason media poll, the Pack defied expectations by finishing sixth with a 23-11 overall record and a 12-8 conference record. Those 12 ACC wins marked the most in a season for the Wolfpack since the 1973-74 season, which culminated in a national championship win.

Not only did NC State get back in the win column, but the Pack did so in style, winning electric home games against ACC Tournament champion Duke, ACC regular season champion Miami, and preseason No. 1 North Carolina.

It’s no small feat for NC State to beat Duke and UNC in the same season, and Keatts has now done it twice, the first time being his first year in Raleigh in 2018.

This season bore similarities to that 201718 year in which Keatts also assembled a group of transfers and players left over from the tenure of previous head coach Mark Gottfried. Not much was expected of the Pack then, but as he has done all throughout his tenure in Raleigh, Keatts got the absolute most out of his players and led the team to the NCAA Tournament.

The next few years were defined by bad luck — NC State should have made it in the tournament in 2019, likely would have made it in 2020 had it not been for the pandemic, and faced a slew of injuries and departures in 2021 and 2022, not to mention the challenges brought on by COVID-19.

Whether fairly or unfairly, Keatts took most of the blame for the dismal 2021-22 season, but Athletic Director Boo Corrigan made the decision — a correct one — to keep his head men’s basketball coach.

After the departures of Manny Bates, Dereon Seabron and Jericole Hellems, to name a few, Keatts went to work in the off-season, taking advantage of the transfer portal to add players who addressed many of the team’s needs.

Just like the 2017-18 season, Keatts’ off-season acquisitions paid off. The program brought in difference-makers such as graduate forward Jack Clark, graduate guard Jarkel Joiner and graduate forward — and instant fan favorite — DJ Burns.

Combined with sophomore guard Terquavion Smith, the team’s breakout star from the year prior who decided to run it back after testing the NBA waters, the group turned heads and brought excitement the program hasn’t seen in a long time.

While the first few games were encouraging, it really became evident that this year’s squad was different during the team’s trip to the Bahamas back in November. That week, NC State went 2-1, winning impressive games against Dayton and Butler and taking defending-national champion Kansas down to the wire.

That stretch gave the Pack confidence looking ahead, but after a 1-3 start to ACC play, it would have been easy to feel unsure about the team once again. That all changed on Jan. 4 when NC State pummeled then-No. 16 Duke 84-60 in PNC Arena, giving life to a fanbase that has so desperately needed it after poor attendance from a season ago.

That win kicked off NC State’s best stretch of the season in which the team went 9-1 over the course of January and into early February, including another big win, an 83-81 thriller over Miami. If it wasn’t clear before then, NC State men’s basketball was back in business.

Even after a stretch in mid-February in which the team lost two of three games, the Pack pulled off the win most fans wanted to see more than any other, an electrifying 77-69 contest against UNC that made PNC Arena perhaps as loud as it has ever been.

After a win against Wake Forest, NC State stumbled into March, dropping its final two games of the regular season, including an embarrassing loss on Senior Day to Clemson. The Pack bounced back with an impressive performance against Virginia Tech before falling once again to Clemson in blowout fashion, but in the end, the team had done enough throughout the course of the regular season to earn a bid to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in five years as an 11-seed.

The first round of the NCAA Tournament saw a tough draw against 6-seed Creighton, who eliminated NC State with a 72-63 win in Denver. In the end, NC State played its best basketball of the season in January and February, not March. Despite the loss, there are plenty of reasons for the Pack to hold its head high.

NC State had one of its better seasons in the last 10 years, winning 23 games for just the second time since 2013. All of that started and ended with the players on the court.

Burns proved to be an instant fan favorite with his skill and touch, all coming at the size of 6-foot-9 and 275 pounds. The big man was almost unstoppable at times in the post, backing defenders down from as far away as the 3-point line, and when he wasn’t doing that, he could pass the ball better than almost any other big in the country.

Joiner made the most out of his one season in Raleigh, filling the role of a true point guard like the team desperately needed in the off-season and adding an outside scoring threat. He will perhaps most be remembered by his performance against UNC in which he scored 29 points and led the charge on the team’s exhilarating run down the stretch to seal the win.

Most of all, Smith was the engine that made this team go, and he left it all on the court for the red-and-white. “Baby T” led the team in scoring with 17.9 points per game and earned All-ACC Second-Team honors for his efforts. No matter what he decides to do this off-season, whether he goes pro or not, Smith will always be remembered for everything he gave to NC State and his loyalty to the program, for which he will go down as a Wolfpack legend.

Just when the future looked most bleak for the NC State men’s basketball program, Keatts and company provided just what the doctor ordered. While it won’t go down as the best season the school has ever had, this men’s basketball season will go down as one of the most exciting — and most important — in program history.

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