10/12/2021 basketball Edit

NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts updates his roster's progress

Matt Carter • TheWolfpackCentral

Editor

NC State basketball coach Kevin Keatts met with the media Tuesday in Charlotte as part of ACC Tipoff festivities. During the media breakout session, Keatts went over most of the roster. He noted that redshirt junior center Manny Bates, senior forward Jericole Hellems and “probably” sophomore guard Cam Hayes are starters.

“Nobody knows who [else] is going to start, and that’s a big thing for today’s kids,” Keatts said. “Our competition is really fierce in practice.”

That said, the coach is optimistic about the Wolfpack’s outlook.

“I love our mixture of team because we got four guys, most of them took advantage of our opportunity [last season],” he explained. “At one point, when Devon Daniels went down, we were 4-8 in the league. We found a way to go 9-8 and win five road games which hadn’t been done since 1974 with the championship team.

“I love this group of guys who are back because they have valuable experience, but I also had an opportunity to add a top-25 class and a couple of transfers that are all hungry and want to win, so I’m excited about those guys.”

Here’s a rundown on Keatts’ comments on players that were asked about during his breakout session with the media.

NC State Wolfpack basketball coach Kevin Keatts — Keatts spoke with the media at ACC Tipoff and noted: "I love our mixture of team." (Matt Carter/The Wolfpacker)

Redshirt junior center Manny Bates: “He thinks he can shoot the three. I am going to let him take some. Manny has … showed us that he has an offensive game, and we’re going to throw him the basketball. He gives a dimension that we didn’t have. DJ Funderburk could score, but outside DJ we didn’t have anybody that could score inside. Manny gives us a different dimension."

“What we do defensively, Manny Bates is incredible. I don’t know if I can play the way I play without having a guy like that. He cleans up every mistake that our guards make — they go for gambles, they cheat a little bit, but they know Manny is there on the back end. From an offensive standpoint, with today’s games where there are not a lot of back-to-the-basket guys, he is so important to us because we can throw the ball in for him and now he can finish over both shoulders."

“Manny is fine. Everything we are doing with Manny right now is load management. I don’t want to overwork him. He played a lot of minutes last year. More than I would have ever liked him to play. He was excited about playing that. Manny is going to be one of those things that is day-to-day, and it’s more whether I feel like playing him because he wants to practice every day."

Sophomore forwards Ebenezer Dowuona/Jaylon Gibson: “Both of those guys have gotten a lot better. They are both playing with a lot of confidence. One or both of those guys will play a lot of minutes for us this year.”

Junior forward Greg Gantt, a transfer addition from Providence: “Greg Gantt is a little slowed. He has a sports hernia that we are being very relaxed with, so he really hasn’t had a lot of practice time with us. He did some over the summer. We’ll evaluate him in the next couple of weeks."

“What he brings to the table when he worked out with us in the summer, for you guys who watched him in recruiting, he’s kind of a junkyard dog. He’s a do-it-all guy. He brings great presence. He’s a great leader. He brings toughness to our team. Even though he hasn’t practiced, his voice has been heard and he’s been doing a great job with our young guys.”

Sophomore guard Cam Hayes: “He was very fortunate. … Losing three guards made sure Cam had to grow up really quick. I had to live with his mistakes, but he got the experience. That was good for him.”

Senior forward Jericole Hellems: “He’s my tight end. What I mean by that is a tight end, he can run, he can block, he can catch. Jericole is a combo forward. He can shoot, he can drive it, he can defend. He can do a lot of things. He brings so much to our team. The stuff that you don’t see is what he does in the locker room. He’s a tremendous leader. He’s been through the fire at NC State. He understands what we’re about. He’s an extension of me on the court."

“Jericole gives us the ability to play two different ways. You’ll see him as the starting small forward at times. You’ll see him as a big guard sometimes where we go four guards. You’ll see him as a four man at times. I would love to keep him as a small forward [if] we’re able to bring guys like [freshman] Ernest [Ross] and Greg along to have those guys play four. It won’t be from the development of [Hellems], it’ll be how quickly those guys are ready to play.”

Junior guard Casey Morsell, a transfer addition from Virginia: “We play completely different than Virginia. Their way has been successful. That being said, I think he’ll have a better opportunity at a different role, more of a leadership role and an opportunity to score more baskets. He’s been really good to us."

“What I didn’t know was I was getting a really good locker room guy. What I didn’t know was I was getting an older guy who is a really tremendous defender. Even more so I thought I was getting a top-50 guy who was a scorer in high school, but now I've got a total package with him."

“He’s going to play a huge role for us. In a lot of respects he brings to us what we lost in Devon Daniels. His ability to score inside and out, he’s a physical guard, can put the ball on the floor and get to the rim, is able to shoot the three, shooting the ball better than he ever shot in his career. I think he’ll bring an added dimension to us that we haven’t had the last couple of years."

“He’s energetic. He plays with a chip on his shoulder. He’s hungry. He’s got an opportunity to be a great leader, which I didn’t know coming in. Really, really physical defender and I think he is going to be great for us.”

Freshman guard Breon Pass: “Breon will play a little point guard and also combo, but he brings a toughness that we haven’t had. He’s had a football mentality, which is great for us.”

Freshman forward Ernest Ross: “Ernest Ross is long; he’s athletic. He can defend all five positions. He’ll play some three, some four, some five."

“He doesn’t know how good he can be. He’s just playing. He’s making mistakes but he’s playing through his mistakes."

“Ernest Ross is good, he’s talented, he’s long. He can guard one through five, is athletic. We were talking about Primetime with the Pack and we were throwing around whether we were going have a slam dunk contest. I got those guys on a thread, and Ernest Ross — who is very quiet, if you meet him he don’t say much — man, he started talking about the dunk contest. He’s like, ‘Man, I’m ready.’”

Redshirt sophomore guard/forward Dereon Seabron: “Seabron has become a really good basketball player for us. He’s also a guy that has added some bulk. He’s long; he’s athletic. He’s probably our most athletic guy on the team. He’s a great offensive rebounder. You can put the ball in his hands at times.”

Freshman guard Terquavion Smith: “I know a lot of people would say he’s a bucket. What I mean is he can score the basketball. He’s going to have an opportunity to start some games for us, could start at the beginning of the year.”

“Terquavion Smith, who was the Gatorade Player of the Year in North Carolina, is probably one of the most competitive guys I’ve ever seen. He’ll get under your skin because a freshman shouldn’t be able to talk trash like he does. We were in practice the other day and we were playing competition, they were short games, play to three. He hit three game-winners at the end. Of course, he got up and let everybody know that. One of the things I told him is as a player that you got to whisper that stuff, you can’t say it loud.”

“He’s going to fight for a starting job. I don’t know if he’s going to start day one, I don’t know that he won’t. He’s very competitive, likes to play. As a freshman you have to earn respect from the team, and I think what he’s doing is earning respect by how hard he’s playing. He’s not doing everything right, not the greatest defender right now, but as we work and get him better in areas I think he can be a very good basketball player for us.”