CHARLOTTE — NC State coach Kevin Keatts pointed out one of the unique aspects of his tenure Wednesday at ACC Tip Off.
Keatts has never had a returning leading scorer during his time at NC State. He has typically had a senior perimeter player lead the team in scoring — but not always — dating back to his first year. The Wolfpack will be creating a new team with new memories after last year’s historic nine-game winning streak that resulted in the ACC Tournament title, No. 10 seed in the NCAA Tournament and a trip to the Final Four.
“Everybody asks ‘How did you do it?’” Keatts said. “One of the things is that we never panicked because we lost seven games by five points or less [in the ACC]. We always knew that we had a good basketball team, but we just weren’t finishing.
"The one thing we can carry over is our culture and how hard we play. This team has to create their own memories."
NC State returns five players from last year’s 26-15 squad, which went 9-11 in the ACC. Finding a new leading scorer will be one of the tasks going into the season opener Nov. 4 against South Carolina-Upstate.
"I think we have a bunch of guys on our roster that are all 10-to-14 points a game guys," Keatts said. "On any given night, one of those guys can creep up to 18-to-20 points a game. I think what's different about this team is we don't have the big scorers in Terquavion Smith or Jarkell Joiner. and even D.J. Horne."
I think we've got a bunch of guys that are right around the same ability to score the basketball.
Keatts is used to finding new leading scorers. He took over in 2017-18 and Baylor graduate transfer Allerik Freeman entered the program and let it fly, especially from deep or off the pull-up jumper. He was the leading scorer his senior year at 16.1 points per game.
Torin Dorn led the Wolfpack in 2018-19 with 14.0 points per game by playing the small-ball four at around 6-6. The next year was wing C.J. Bryce, who followed Keatts from North-Carolina Wilmington, and he averaged 13.3 points a contest in 2019-20.
Wing Devon Daniels was limited to 12 games, but he averaged 16.5 points, followed by forward Jericole Hellems at 12.9 in 2020-21.
The closest situation Keatts had to having a returning scorer involved wing Smith. Do-it-all guard Dereon Seabron ended up edging out Smith for top scorer title in 2021-22 with 17.3 points per game. Seabron entered the NBA Draft, and Smith led the Wolfpack 17.9 points per game in 2022-23, and then he entered the NBA Draft.
Horne arrived last year from Arizona State and surprised many by becoming the leading scorer at 16.9 points per game.
“Last year, I will tell you this, at this point, we had no idea that D.J. Horne was going to be D.J. Horne,” Keatts said. “ And Mo Diarra was going to rebound the basketball. What we learn as we go through through exhibitions and through games and everything else, is that the cream always rises to the top. Somebody will step into that role. I think we've got several candidates that could be really good.”
Senior shooting guard Jayden Taylor, a former Butler transfer, is the top returning scorer at 11.2 points per game. He showed his moxie when he had back-to-back 18-point efforts in the ACC Tournament wins over Louisville and Syracuse.
“If you're coming to NC State, non-negotiable is playing hard and just talking every day and being confident,” Taylor said. “You can't come here if you're not going to play hard. That's one thing that Coach K harps on every day, is at least come out and compete.”
NC State welcomes eight newcomers this season — five transfers and three freshmen. Incorporating that many new players usually takes time.
”The biggest part of it is we play so hard,” Keatts said. “I think that's one of the things that we have to show the new guys that's coming in, how hard we compete every day.
“We have a standard of how hard we compete. Might not win every game at the beginning, but the way we play is different.”
The Wolfpack will gets their first big test against Purdue on Nov. 28, followed by either BYU or Mississippi on Nov. 29 in San Diego, Calif.
“I want to learn that we are competing and playing hard,” Keatts said. “My toughest challenge when you get eight new guys is to get them ready to play on Thanksgiving or the start of the season. It’s a measuring stick to see where we are at.”
NC State has some roster versatility where it can play Louisville senior center transfer Brandon Huntley-Hatfield and senior post player Middlebrooks together in the post, with Laval University junior power forward Ismael Diouf backing them up.
Keatts can also play former North Carolina and Georgetown transfer Dontrez Styles, who is 6-6 and 212 pounds as the small ball four.
“You will see Ben and Brandon on the floor together, and you can add Ish in there,” Keatts said “Dontrez is going to play some Torin Dorn-kind of roles.”
Styles averaged 12.8 points and 5.8 rebounds per game last year for Georgetown. He was teased at one point that NC State won five games in Washington, D.C., last year, and the Hoyas had seven home victories.
“Super athletic, can really you can tell he's really worked on his outside shot,” Keatts said. “Very efficient from the three-point line. He has a chance to be a really good player for us. Wear a lot of different hats.”
Whatever approach NC State takes with its personnel, Keatts expects the players to play fast. He also said Middlebrooks could be the candidate of having a breakout season.
“With this particular team, we have to get out and run more,” Keatts said. “I think we have to create more opportunities off of our defense.”
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