NC State appears to have finalized its roster and are poised to challenge for a top five finish in the ACC next year.
The Wolfpack went 24-12 overall and 9-9 in the ACC, but ended up being a No. 2 seed in the NIT, falling to Lipscomb in the quarterfinals. NCSU will feature four seniors and four juniors, two of which have been in college for four years, for head coach Kevin Keatts' third year.
The return of senior point guard Markell Johnson solidifies the backcourt and ensures that junior Braxton Beverly will play more minutes off the ball than on it.
Johnson announced last Friday that he’d return for his senior year, which was crucial with the likelihood that prep signee Jalen Lecque will remain in the NBA Draft. The 6-foot-1, 175-pounder averaged 12.6 points and 4.2 assists per game, and he shot a career-high 42.2 percent from three-point land last year. He tallied 7.3 assists a contest his sophomore season and had four double-doubles for points and assists that season.
Beverly, junior Blake Harris and possibly even freshman Dereon Seabron of Woodstock (Va.) Massanutten Military Academy could also play point guard when Johnson needs a breather for 5-10 minutes a game next year.
Beverly averaged 9.4 points and 2.5 assists per game, but for the second straight year shot less than 40 percent from the field. The 6-0, 180-pounder shot 36.3 percent from the field and 34.7 percent on three-pointers last year, but down from his freshman year statistics.
Beverly got hot during a a three-game stretch Feb. 5-13, shooting a combined 13 of 22 on three pointers for 55 points, but then his shot went south down the stretch. He scored 21 points against both UNC at home and against the Syracuse zone defense.
The 6-3, 190-pound Harris was in and out of the rotation in ACC action, but he averaged 3.1 points and 1.5 assists in 9.5 minutes per game, and he showed improvement on his three-point shooting range, going 8 of 19 from beyond the arc. The Missouri transfer played at least 10 minutes or more in 12 contests.
Redshirt junior wing C.J. Bryce played all three perimeter positions at times for the Wolfpack last year. The UNC Wilmington transfer averaged 11.6 points and 4.6 rebounds a game in his debut season, and he shot 34.5 percent on three-pointers. The 6-5, 195-pounder saved some of his best ball for the NIT, combining for 44 points and 23 rebounds in three contests. Bryce scored a season-high 23 points and went 5 of 5 on three-pointers in a 77-73 win at Notre Dame on Jan. 19.
Redshirt junior Devon Daniels could emerge on the wing at starter, or the Wolfpack could go with Beverly and Bryce with Johnson. If it ends up being Daniels, the Utah transfer showed flashes, but will need to gain consistency.
The 6-5, 200-pound Daniels averaged nearly the same amount of points (9.3) and rebounds (4.4) as he did at Utah, but his percentages fell off. He went from 57.1 percent from the field with the Utes to 40.9 percent at NC State. He also expanded his shooting by going 37 of 119 from three-point land for 31.1 percent, where he tried just 35 three-point attempts at Utah.
Daniels reached double figures in 17 games and scored a season-high 21 points against Western Carolina on Dec. 5, and he had 19 points, 11 rebounds and five steals in the 89-80 overtime win over Boston College on Feb. 20.
Seabron played point guard in high school, but can defend either wing spots in college. Sophomore Jericole Hellems also could be a factor at small forward if called upon.
NC State loaded up with “stretch four’s” or “small ball” power forwards, however they want to be called. Hellems is joined by Lehigh transfer Pat Andree and Southwest Mississippi C.C. redshirt sophomore Atticus Taylor.
The 6-7, 198-pound Hellems proved to be a spark off the bench for NC State, and particularly adept at drawing charges. The St. Louis native averaged 5.3 points and 2.5 rebounds in 13.6 minutes per game, and he shot 31.9 percent from three-point land. The offensive-minded Hellems cracked double figures in six games, and had a season-high 16 points against both Loyola (Md.) and Western Carolina.
Andree has the biggest listed size of the three, checking in at 6-8 and 225 pounds at Lehigh. He is also the best three-point shooter of the group too. He averaged 12.9 points and 6.2 rebounds per game, and shot 70 of 167 from three-point land for 41.9 percent last year.
The 6-7, 205-pound Taylor has a 7-2 wingspan and averaged 9.0 points and 7.4 rebounds per game, and he shot 37.0 percent on three-pointers this past winter in Summit, Miss.
Andree picked NC State over Texas Christian and Kansas State, and Taylor was originally planning to play for coach Buzz Williams at either Virginia Tech or Texas A&M, but an SEC rule prevented it from happening with the Aggies.
NC State had probably hoped to land a center so redshirt junior DJ Funderburk come off the bench, but it appears the majority of his minutes will come at center again. The slender 6-10, 210-pounder proved he could be effective in that spot, particularly against teams that played zone defense.
The former Ohio State transfer averaged 8.8 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.1 blocks in 19.9 minutes per game last year. He scored in double figures in 16 games, and went for 18 points and nine boards in the 86-80 win vs. Pittsburgh on Jan. 12, and also against Florida State in a 78-73 loss March 2.
Funderburk will be tasked with staying out of foul trouble next year. He fouled out of six games last year and played with four fouls in five others.
Between Manny Bates and Danny Dixon, they could have 12 fouls and form the “Manny and Danny Show” off the bench.
Bates redshirted his freshman year due to a lingering shoulder injury that started before the start of his senior year at Fayetteville (N.C.) Northwood Temple. He only played two games his senior year, but thought he was good to go for his first year at NC State, but ended up having season-ending surgery before the season started.
Rivals.com ranked Bates the No. 139 overall player in the class of 2018, and he was praised for his down the road potential. NC State topped South Carolina and Georgetown to land Bates, who played with Team Felton traveling team ball and had blossomed the spring of his junior year of high school.
The 6-10, 230-pound Dixon averaged 7.5 points and 3.6 rebounds in 19.7 minutes per game at Missouri-Kansas City. Unlike Bates, he isn’t a big shot blocker, but he did show over his last five games he could stick the three-pointer if allowed, going 5 of 6 from beyond the arc.
Dixon started his college career at George Mason, but after playing 25 games his freshman year, he fell out of the rotation in 2016-2017, and only appeared in six contests. He transferred to UMKC, where he played for coach Kareem Richardson, who was an assistant coach with Keatts at Louisville.
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