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Published May 6, 2021

NC State called a 'sleeping giant' in the ACC by ESPN

Justin H. Williams • TheWolfpackCentral

Staff Writer

@JustinHWill

NC State is 39-34 in ACC play in head coach Kevin Keatts' first four seasons in Raleigh, and some in the national media are taking notice.

In ESPN's most recent college basketball "sales pitch discussion", multiple analysts selected the Wolfpack when asked to cite a "sleeping giant" in the ACC. In other words, a program that is often considered off the radar that could gain significant momentum in the coming seasons and on the recruiting trail.

"They call it the Research Triangle, but too often North Carolina State's leg is missing from the Duke-Carolina stool," ESPN Bracketologist and college basketball analyst Joe Lunardi said. "Questionable hires, poor athletic department leadership, dumb scheduling and shady off-court activities have all contributed to many years of underachieving. Either that or NC State simply isn't a good job in the shadow of Chapel Hill and Durham, requiring a generational icon like Jim Valvano to thrive.

"I don't believe it. With the right guy, the Wolfpack should at least occasionally run with the giants of the ACC."

"A 'sleeping giant' has to be a program that was awake at some point, and on that basis, one could suggest that NC State is due to hear its alarm go off anytime now," ESPN college basketball writer John Gasaway added. "Mark Gottfried had a good recruiting run a decade ago, bringing in the likes of T.J. Warren, Cat Barber, Rodney Purvis (a top-20 prospect nationally), Tyler Lewis, BeeJay Anya, Abdul-Malik Abu and Caleb and Cody Martin. One might even add Dennis Smith Jr. and Omer Yurtseven to this who's who list, though of course Smith's recruitment later resulted in the NCAA investigating the NC State program.

"In any event, there's no shortage of players who wore the Wolfpack uniform, however briefly, and are now playing professionally somewhere in the world. Kevin Keatts can and most likely will build on that legacy."

In the past six seasons, NC State has made just one appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

After the Wolfpack produced losing records in each of Gottfried's final two seasons with the program, Keatts returned the Pack to the Big Dance in 2018 in his first season in Raleigh. NC State was 21-12 overall and 11-7 in conference play that year, finishing in a four-way tie for third place in the regular-season ACC standings, the Pack's best finish in the league standings under Keatts.

The Wolfpack was projected to return to the NCAA Tournament for a second time in three seasons under Keatts in 2020, but the postseason was abruptly canceled midway through conference tournaments that season due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

NC State was also close to a tournament bid in 2019 and this past season (2021) but ultimately fell short on the wrong side of the bubble in both of those campaigns. The Pack earned a No. 2 seed in the NIT in both 2019 and 2021, which indicates the program was one of a handful of teams that came just short of making the Big Dance.

The Wolfpack is now coming off of a 14-11 (9-8 ACC) season that included an appearance in the NIT quarterfinals. After losing its leader in points, assists and steals, fifth-year senior guard Devon Daniels, to a season-ending ACL tear in late January, NC State dropped to 4-8 in conference play before finishing the regular season on a five-game winning streak, which included a road victory over the eventual ACC regular-season champions, Virginia.

Next season, the Pack is set to return five players that earned at least eight starts in 2020-21.

In addition to its returning production, NC State will welcome a three-man 2021 recruiting class that includes four-star forward Ernest Ross, four-star shooting guard Terquavion Smith and three-star point guard Breon Pass. The Wolfpack also added a pair of transfers that were each ranked in the national top 55 of the 2019 class according to Rivals: sophomore guard Casey Morsell of Virginia (No. 49 in the 2019 class) and sophomore power forward Greg Gantt Jr. of Providence (No. 55 in the 2019 class).

Keatts will enter his fifth season with the program in 2021-22. The former UNCW head coach has an overall record of 79-47 (.627) and ACC record of 39-34 (.534) in his first four seasons at NC State.