One of the most beneficial aspects of NC State basketball’s looming 11-day trip to Italy will occur off the court.
First-year head coach Kevin Keatts has seemingly finalized an overhauled roster from last season after the late addition of guard Braxton Beverly, who played for Wolfpack assistant A.W. Hamilton at Hargrave Military Academy in Chatham, Va., the last two years.
Beverly’s status remains uncertain due to his taking classes at Ohio State in summer school before being granted a release following a coaching change in Columbus. Keatts confirmed that his staff knew about the potential dilemma in Beverly’s case, but the coach’s only official comment would be that compliance is handling the matter.
Whether Beverly could play this year or not is to be determined, but he will be joining the team in Italy. The only player not making the trip is sophomore center Omer Yurtseven, who is with the Turkey national team this summer.
Beverly is one of six newcomers Keatts has brought in, joining Baylor graduate transfer guard Allerik Freeman, North Carolina A&T graduate transfer guard Sam Hunt, guard signee Lavar Batts Jr. from Concord (N.C.) Robinson High, Utah wing transfer Devon Daniels and UNC Wilmington wing transfer C.J. Bryce. The latter two players will have to sit out the 2017-18 season per the NCAA’s undergraduate transfer rules, but will play in Italy.
No wonder NCSU fifth-year senior post player Lennard Freeman joked recently with his former teammate BeeJay Anya that it’s hard to recognize many players.
“I feel like we’ve adapted quick and gotten to know each other,” Freeman, a native of Washington, D.C., said before adding sarcastically: “We got a whole bunch of Charlotte boys on our team. I don’t know how I feel about that.”
Redshirt junior wing Torin Dorn probably feels pretty good about the addition of Charlotte natives Bryce and Freeman. Dorn, himself a Charlotte product, played against both in high school.
Dorn and Freeman will get a chance to know everyone better during their trip to Italy. Keatts is asking players to not spend all their time hanging out with their buddies.
“We’re trying to bring a lot of different guys together when you talk about the transfers and you talk about the returning guys and all the freshmen,” Keatts said. “Just blending those guys together, I think this is coming at a perfect time for us.
Keatts is not concerned about scores or outcomes. He is not even broadcasting opponents and game dates ahead of time, nor does he have an advanced scouting report on opponents, although he hopes they will be competitive.
“I couldn’t tell you what kind of lineups we are going to play,” he noted. “I couldn’t tell you how many guys are going to play. This trip is for our season. It’s a gauge to see what we need to work on and the things that will prepare us for the season, not so much how well we play or how many points we scored.”
By mid-day Wednesday, Keatts will have gotten in 10 practices with his team before it leaves for Italy. He estimated that about a fourth of what he wants to install and implement in his program has been put in during that time.
He has continued to try many different combinations in practice, mixing bigger and smaller lineups, and he is hoping to use the games in Italy to get a better feel for what is clicking.
“I spoke to the team yesterday after we had practice, and I talked about just the great opportunity to be able to take a trip to Italy,” he noted. “It’s a once-and-a-lifetime thing for us.
“We’re going to use it for many different things obviously to come together as a group, to develop some chemistry, some bonding and have the opportunity to be able to play.”
Offseason Conditioning Yielding Results
When Freeman strolled up to the podium, the fact he had lost 22 pounds and recently checked in at 239 pounds was evident.
Keatts noted that the players “think they are in great shape” before adding, “I think they have a long ways to go.”
That may be true, although Dorn stated he feels like he is in the best shape of his life. Freeman’s body transformation may prove to one of the emerging stories from the summer.
The question then becomes: can Freeman and his shin stay healthy? Keatts asked every media member to raise their right hand and knock on the wooden table in front of them when asked about that very subject.
“I feel great,” Freeman added. “I’m not going to say I feel the best I’ve ever felt because I haven’t always had an 18-inch rod in my leg, but I feel better than I’ve felt in the past two years.”
A healthy Freeman is important, a fact not lost on Freeman himself. He knows that he will have to join Yurtseven and senior Abdul-Malik Abu in holding down the fort inside.
“It’s going to be extremely important especially when we go four guards,” Freeman stated.
Thus Freeman and the others have been putting in the work to get ready. Freeman noted that practices are “night and day” different under Keatts compared to the previous staff, and both Dorn and Freeman confirmed that the competitive elements of practice have amped up considerably.
“With Coach Keatts, everything is competitive,” Freeman confirmed. “He wants to bring the best out of everybody.”
“Everything comes down to winning,” Dorn added. “Losing has consequences. You lose a drill, you’re running. If you looked tired, you’re running.”
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