The ACC media selected 12 players for its all-league teams — five for first-team and seven for second-team — but none were NC State players.
That wasn’t lost on NCSU head coach Kevin Keatts, who hopes it motivates senior forward Jericole Hellems and redshirt junior center Manny Bates.
Hellems averaged 12.9 points and 5.0 rebounds per game last year, and shot 45.2 percent from the field and 38.3 percent from three-point land. It wouldn’t be surprising if he was a top five scorer in the ACC.
Bates has a little bit of “maybe” listed next to him after missing some time due to his shoulder. Normally, it wouldn’t be too much of a concern, but he hurt his shoulder before his senior year at Fayetteville (N.C.) Northwood Temple, and that led to redshirting his freshman year at NCSU. Bates averaged 9.8 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.7 blocks a contest last year.
Hellems and Bates will lead a new-look Wolfpack squad against Bucknell at 8 p.m. Tuesday at PNC Arena. Keatts said he would have voted for them and he hopes they are motivated to bring some fire to the court.
“I do care about it,” said Keatts on them getting recognition. “The reason why I do care about it is because those guys have worked extremely hard in our program. They are really good players and returning players.
“I don’t know why they didn’t. I know they are special to us. Maybe they aren’t in the preseason, but when they do come out in the end, hopefully they’ll get some of the flowers that they deserve.”
Keatts called Hellems his “most valuable player” down the stretch last year. He expects Hellems to be even more versatile due to improving his ballhandling.
“His biggest contribution to our program is that he competes and plays hard every day,” Keatts said. “He’s a guy that gets there early. He’s a guy that gets extra shots. He is a guy that leaves the gym late.”
Keatts expects the offense to pump the ball into Bates on the block, and he can do the rest.
“He can score over both shoulders,” Keatts said. “He can be a big focal point of our offense. That was great for him [last year].”
Two other “veteran” players who return are sophomore point guard Cam Hayes and redshirt sophomore wing Dereon Seabron, who are both vital to NC State’s success. Hayes will run the offense and Seabron could be the top perimeter defender on the team.
“I talk about our freshman but I don’t really include Seabron in that conversation,” Keatts said. “When I go back and look at it, he was a freshman. The two guys that I think benefitted a lot were Cam Hayes and Dereon Seabron, more Seabron because he got the opportunity with Braxton’s [Beverly] back, and Thomas Allen being out and Devon Daniels [suffering season-ending injury].
“Cam Hayes had the chance to grow up. He was thrown into the fire early in the season.”
Keatts expects a smoother season, after the ups and downs of Covid issues last year. NCSU went 14-11 a year ago before falling to Colorado State in the NIT Quarterfinal. Bucknell didn’t have a game until Jan. 2, and went 5-7 on the season due to Covid concerns.
“It’s been a long time coming and last year was such a challenge, with obviously our situation, an unfortunate situation with Devon Daniels and going through a pandemic” Keatts said. “We are really excited to get back to PNC Arena and have some fans there and have an opportunity to play in front of a crowd.”
Keatts said seven of the players have never played in a true game situation with fans before. He expects to play a 10-man rotation early in the season, and seven players are “starting worthy.”
“I would hate to be a student-athlete, a basketball player during the last couple of years,” Keatts said. “It’s been tough. I want our guys to get used to playing in front of fans.”
One player who has not been available dating back to July workouts is Providence forward transfer Greg Gantt. He has been suffering from a sports hernia.
“We’ve had limited action with him, but he’s been able to get into some practices and go through some individual workouts,” Keatts said. “He’s strong, athletic, can guard multiple positions and can score the ball inside and out. He brings a toughness to your team and can rebound the basketball.”
Follow on Twitter:
@NCStateRivals or @JaceyZembal
Subscribe for free on YouTube:
For Jacey Zembal or The Wolfpack Central
Like on Facebook:
