NC State senior guard Breon Pass had a perfect script for his last home game at the Lenovo Center.
Pass had 14 points and four three-pointers in helping NC State top Pittsburgh 71-63 on Wednesday to improve to 12-18 overall and 5-14 in the ACC. The Wolfpack play at Miami (Fla.) on Saturday, knowing they are eliminated from next week’s ACC Tournament.
Even with a tough season as a backdrop all of NC State’s seven seniors — though senior wing Marcus Hill still has a year of eligibility remaining — combined to score all 71 points. The positive vibes were flowing, due in part to the impact Pass made in his first ever ACC start. He stuck it out all four years and embraced whatever role he had.
That his first start and last home game against Pittsburgh, and with some important people in his life there to see it, put a bow on his Wolfpack career.
“Thank you for your support all these four years,” said Pass about the Wolfpack fans. “You’ve been for the high’s and the low’s. It’s been a long journey, but I can’t thank you all enough.”
Curtis Pass tragically passed away at 41 years old on June 21, 2019, which was following Breon’s sophomore season. He was the head coach for Reidsville (N.C.) High boys basketball, and also coached cross country and track. Curtis Pass played one year at Old Dominion and then transferred to West Georgia in 1998, where he averaged 23.5 points per game and was a Division II All-American.
Pittsburgh coach Jeff Capel also understood the significance of seeing Pass in the starting lineup, and the two gestured to each other before the game. Capel’s late father, Jeff Capel II, was a successful college coach at North Carolina A&T and Old Dominion, and along the way coached Curtis Pass with the Monarchs.
“I’m really happy for him and his dad was an amazing guy,” Jeff Capel said after the loss. “It is awesome to see the career he’s had. He’s a really good kid. I hate that it was against us, but he made some shots in the first half. I’m really proud of him.”
Pass knows the impact the Capel family has had on his father.
“We have a good relationship and he and my were good friends and his dad coached my dad,” Pass said. “That is long history. Every time I played against him [at Pittsburgh], it was a pleasure. Him being on the sideline for my last game meant something for me too. It is kind of crazy to me.”
Pass had a unique recruitment and not just because he was a standout in both football and basketball for Reidsville High. He earned several early football offers, including from NC State, and it looked like it was heading in that direction. NC State coach Kevin Keatts had Pass, Camren Hayes and Terquavion Smith, unofficially visit when Virginia football played at NSCU, and Keatts offered all three players.
Pass decided later in his prep career that he wanted to play college basketball. Normally, the timing wouldn’t have mattered too much, but due to the COVID shutdown, he didn’t get the chance to play with CP3 and go through the normal showcase events in front of college coaches and media.
It still was poised for a happy ending with Georgia Tech, Providence and East Carolina among his basketball options, and NC State circled back and eventually prioritized him and signed him. Then NCSU assistant coach James Johnson worked for Coach Capel II at Old Dominion when Curtis Pass was there.
Keatts said Pass is special with other recruits and one of the best teammates around. He knows Pass badly wanted to get a NC State degree.
“Breon Pass, what can I say,” Keatts said. “There will never be another guy, a scholarship guy, who starts at NC State or most Universities and graduates at this level. Most guys will either be really good and be a pro [early], or they’ll get impatient and go somewhere else with the transfer portal.”
Another fun wrinkle was having former NC State shooting guard Terquavion Smith in attendance. Smith, Pass and NCSU senior forward Dontrez Styles were all teammates at times with CP3. Add in former NC State guard Camren Hayes, who is now at East Carolina, the quartet of CP3 players were close friends and all ended up playing at NC State at various points
“He [Smith] texted me before the game, so I knew he was coming,” Pass said. “I’m happy to see my guy. Dontrez and I had a moment after the game. He and I have played a lot together. There is college stuff and high school stuff and AAU. To end our career together, means a lot. Everything comes around in circles.”
Styles finished with 13 points and 13 rebounds in the victory.
“That is my dog and I’m so proud of him,” Styles said. “All four years, he got the start on Senior Night. He played well too. That’s big-time and I’m very proud of him. I love him to depth.”
The game itself took on a different tone when Pittsburgh mixed in some zone defense and NC State’s 11-point lead in the second half shrunk to 49-45 with 9:19 left. The Wolfpack seniors came through with a handful of key plays at key moments. Senior center Ben Middlebrooks came through with a 3-point play that extended the lead to 58-54 with 4:27 left.
Senior point guard Michael O’Connell made a crucial three-pointer to give the Wolfpack a 63-58 lead with 2:49 remaining. NC State hit six free throws down the stretch to put away the win.
“I couldn’t have scripted a better night for those guys [the seniors],” Keatts said.
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